Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technical and tactical analysis of high level kickboxing matches

The purpose of the study was to analyze the technical and tactical aspects of high level Kickboxing matches. A total of 45 matches (135 rounds) from the World Championship 2009 and 2011 of male kickboxers were analyzed using notational analysis system to determine the technical and tactical aspects (i.e., offensive, defensive techniques and combined actions) considering combat rounds, weight divisions and match outcome. Kickboxers were engaged in offensive actions more than defensive ones (P<0.001). The most used techniques were straight punches, roundhouse kick, block/parry and foot defense (P<0.001), while punch combinations were the most used combination type. Winners used more offensive (i.e., hook punches), defensive techniques (i.e., foot defense and clinch) and punch combinations than losers. Significant interation effect of weight category, match outcome and rounds were found on offensive and defensive techniques. The activity in international kickboxing competitions was modulated by weight categories with a significant effect of combat stage. Winners applied more offensives and defensives techniques than defeated athletes. Our findings suggest that to win a match, athletes should be motivated by developing the most used offensives techniques and coaches should structure specific training to maintain a high rate of techniques ‘delivery during the combat.
Trait Self-Control as a Predictor of Weight Loss and Treatment Adherence

Robert Carels, Advisor Obesity is a major epidemic that affects nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012). It is a serious public health concern because of its associated health risks, including cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, and premature mortality (Pi-Sunyer, 2009). As such, various interventions have been established to counteract the rising rate of obesity, such as behavioral interventions that focus on dietary recommendations, reduced caloric intake, increased physical activity, and behavioral modification. Researchers have focused on identifying specific factors, such as self-control, that may be associated with increased weight loss and health behavior change. The current study examined the relationship between trait selfcontrol, weight loss and various health behaviors commonly associated with successful weight loss. Forty-three overweight and obese individuals participated in an 18 week behavioral weight loss program. Results showed a relationship between baseline trait self-control and baseline body fat percentage. In addition, results indicated that trait self-control increased throughout the intervention and this change in trait self-control was moderately associated with self-monitoring, calories expended through physical activity and percent weight loss from baseline to post treatment and baseline to six month follow-up. Future research should explore factors that contribute to change in trait self-control, such as motivation and creation of habits, and their relationship to weight loss.
Molecular Characterization of Circulating Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Genotypes in Gilgit Baltistan Province of Pakistan during 2011-2012 Winter Season

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections in young children, but very little is known about its epidemiology and circulating genotypes in Pakistan. This study analyzed the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of RSV genotypes detected in Pakistani children less than 2 years of age with acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) in a tertiary care hospital in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) province during 2011-12 winter season. RSV was detected in 75 out of 105 children presenting with acute respiratory infection. Male infants between 2-6 months age made up the highest percentage of RSV positive cases. Epidemiological factors such as pre-maturity, mean weight, clinical features and diagnosis when compared between RSV positive and negative groups were found to be statistically insignificant. Phylogenetic analysis classified all 75 of the RSV strains into 71 strains of subgroups A and 4 strains of subgroup B, respectively. Strains belonging to subgroups A and B were further subdivided into NA1/GA2 and BA, respectively. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence identities were relatively high among these strains (>90%). Both RSV-A and RSV-B isolates had two potential N-glycosylation sites in HVR2 of G protein and with heavy O-glycosylation of serine and threonine residues (G scores of 0.5-0.7). This report highlights the significance of RSV as a dominant viral etiologic agent of pediatric ARIs, and need for continued molecular epidemiological surveys for early detection of prevalent strains and newly emerging genotypes to understand epidemiology of RSV infections in various regions of Pakistan.
Upper and Lower Bounds of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and Evidence for Germany and the US

Theories of distributive justice distinguish between ethically acceptable inequalities due to di¤erences in e¤ort and unfair inequalities due to circumstances beyond the sphere of individual responsibility. In this paper, we suggest a new estimator of inequality of opportunity (IOp) which allows identifying an upper bound for unfair inequalities in addition to the well-known lower bound estimator. We illustrate our approach by comparing IOp estimates for Germany and the US based on harmonized micro data. Our lower bound estimates yield IOp shares of 30% for annual earnings in Germany. The upper bound of IOp, in contrast, accounts for around 70% of the observed inequality. Results for the US are signi cantly lower with shares of 16 and 40% respectively. Hence, equality of opportunity is higher in the "land of opportunities". Our results further suggest that lower bound estimates of IOp might demand for too little redistribution in order to equalize unfair inequalities. A policy simulation reveals that the abolishment of joint taxation in favor of individual taxation signi cantly reduces IOp. JEL Codes: D31, D63, H24, J62
Impaired expression of key molecules of ammoniagenesis underlies renal acidosis in a rat model of chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND Advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with the development of renal metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis per se may represent a trigger for progression of CKD. Renal acidosis of CKD is characterized by low urinary ammonium excretion with preserved urinary acidification indicating a defect in renal ammoniagenesis, ammonia excretion or both. The underlying molecular mechanisms, however, have not been addressed to date. METHODS We examined the Han:SPRD rat model and used a combination of metabolic studies, mRNA and protein analysis of renal molecules involved in acid-base handling. RESULTS We demonstrate that rats with reduced kidney function as evident from lower creatinine clearance, lower haematocrit, higher plasma blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, phosphate and potassium had metabolic acidosis that could be aggravated by HCl acid loading. Urinary ammonium excretion was highly reduced whereas urinary pH was more acidic in CKD compared with control animals. The abundance of key enzymes and transporters of proximal tubular ammoniagenesis (phosphate-dependent glutaminase, PEPCK and SNAT3) and bicarbonate transport (NBCe1) was reduced in CKD compared with control animals. In the collecting duct, normal expression of the B1 H(+)-ATPase subunit is in agreement with low urinary pH. In contrast, the RhCG ammonia transporter, critical for the final secretion of ammonia into urine was strongly down-regulated in CKD animals. CONCLUSION In the Han:SPRD rat model for CKD, key molecules required for renal ammoniagenesis and ammonia excretion are highly down-regulated providing a possible molecular explanation for the development and maintenance of renal acidosis in CKD patients.
A Framework for Cost Sensitive Assessment of Intrusion Response Selection

In recent years, cost-sensitive intrusion response has gained significant interest, mainly due to its emphasis on the balance between potential damage incurred by the intrusion and cost of the response. However, one of the challenges in applying this approach is defining a consistent and adaptable measurement of these cost factors on the basis of system requirements and policy. In this paper,we present a host-based framework for the cost-sensitive assessment and selection of intrusion response. Specifically,we introduce a set of measurements that characterize the potential costs associated with the intrusion handling process, and propose an intrusion response evaluation method with respect to the risk of potential intrusion damage, the effectiveness of the response action and the response cost for a system. We provide an implementation of the proposed solution as an IDS-independent plugin tool and demonstrate its advantages on the several attack examples.
New constructions of (α, β)-spanners and purely additive spanners

An (α, β)-spanner of an unweighted graph <i>G</i> is a subgraph <i>H</i> that approximates distances in <i>G</i> in the following sense. For any two vertices <i>u, v: Δ<inf>H</inf></i> (<i>u, v</i>) ≤ αΔ<i>G</i>(<i>u, v</i>) + β, where Δ<i>G</i> is the distance w.r. t. <i>G. </i> It is well known that there exist (multiplicative) (2<i>k</i> - 1, 0)-spanners of size <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>1+1/<i>k</i></sup>) and that there exist (purely additive) (1, 2)-spanners of size <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>3/2</sup>). However no other (1, <i>O</i>(1))-spanners are known to exist.In this paper we develop a couple new techniques for constructing (α, β)-spanners. The first result is a purely additive (1, 6)-spanner of size <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>4/3</sup>). Our construction algorithm can be understood as an economical agent that assigns <i>costs</i> and <i>values</i> to paths in the graph, <i>purchasing</i> affordable paths and ignoring expensive ones, which are intuitively well-approximated by paths already purchased. This general approach should lead to new spanner constructions.The second result is a truly simple linear time construction of (<i>k, k</i> - 1)-spanners with size <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>1+1</sup>/k). In a distributed network the algorithm terminates in a <i>constant</i> number of rounds and has expected size <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>1+1</sup>/k). The new idea here is primarily in the analysis of the construction. We show that a few simple and local rules for picking spanner edges induce seemingly coordinated global behavior.
A simple convection model for selfgravitating fluid dynamics. Time-dependent convective energy transfer in protostars and nonlinear stellar pulsations

We describe a relatively simple time-dependent con- vection model that can be coupled to the equations of radiation hydrodynamics. We show that it behaves in a physically plau- sible way in protostellar collapse flows and is quantitatively correct for nonlinear RR-Lyrae pulsations and the Sun. To- gether with the equations of radiation hydrodynamics the model closely approximates the classical stellar structure equations with mixing length convection for a set of standard assump- tions.
Economic precarity, modern liberal arts and creating a resilient graduate

Abstract From the perspective of a recent graduate, this article offers a critique of non-STEM higher education in England as unfit for purpose. Whilst universities blindly focus on employability, transferable skills and narrow bands of subject knowledge, the economic world around them has collapsed into absurdity. The graduate today is now faced with economic, social and cultural precarity which is unreflected in the rigid structures and narrow focus of their degree. This article seeks a radical return to the ancient principles of a liberal arts education. Far from this being regressive, I argue that this education can and should be reclaimed and reinvigorated by the flexibility, difficulty and complexity of modern philosophy. Drawing on both Zygmunt Bauman’s liquid modernity and Nigel Tubbs' modern metaphysics, this article argues that higher education is far from obsolete but that its continuing relevance in late Capitalism can only arise from a return to the questions of how graduates can best thrive in the economic world after graduation.
Multicolour imaging of z = 2 QSO hosts

ABSTRA C T We present multicolour images of the hosts of three z o 2 QSOs previously detected in the R band by our group. The luminosities, colours and sizes of the hosts overlap with those of actively star-forming galaxies in the nearby Universe. Surface brightness radial profiles over the outer resolved areas roughly follow either an r 1=4 or an exponential law. These properties give support to the young host galaxy interpretation of the extended light around QSOs at high redshift. The rest-frame UV and UV‐optical colours are inconsistent with the hypothesis of a scattered halo of light from the active nucleus by a simple optically thin scattering process produced by dust or hot electrons. If the UV light is indeed stellar, star formation rates of hundreds of solar masses per year are implied, an order of magnitude larger than in field galaxies at similar redshifts and above. This might indicate that the QSO phenomenon (at least the high-luminosity one) is preferentially accompanied by enhanced galactic activity at high redshifts.
Citizens in policing: the lived reality of being a Police Support Volunteer

ABSTRACT The focus of this article is the Police Support Volunteer (PSV), a brand of non-warranted and usually non-uniformed volunteer that was introduced in England and Wales from the 1990s onwards. The article draws on participatory action research with PSVs in Lancashire Constabulary. The background to greater use of volunteers within policing is discussed with particular reference to the political projects of austerity and responsibilisation – the later involving calls for citizens to take greater responsibility for their own safety and security. In these contexts, the article considers volunteers’ motivations, skills and deployment. The article focuses particularly on the lived reality of being a PSV, including the assumed role of PSVs within the wider police family. A subordinate relationship with other paid colleagues within the police family is challenged. The effective use of PSVs is discussed, including the introduction of police powers for volunteers with the 2017 Policing and Crime Act. Implications for our understanding of policing, and for the future of non-warranted volunteers, are discussed.
ON IMAGE SEGMENTATION TECHNIQUES

Digital image processing supports strong research program in areas of image enhancement and image based pattern recognition.Among the various image processing techniques image segmentation plays a vital role in step to analyze the given image. Image segmentation is the fundamental step to analyze images and extract data from them. This work deals on the basic principles on the methods used to segment an image. Segmentation has become a prominent objective in image analysis and computer vision. To segment the images, from segmentation techniques edge detection, thresholding, region growing and clustering are taken for this study. Segmentation algorithms are based on two properties similarity and discontinuity. This paper focuses on the various methods that are widely used to segment the image. I. INTRODUCTION Digital image processing is having many recent applications in the fields of remote sensing, medicine, photography, film and video production, security monitoring. New innovative technologies are emerging in the fields of image processing, especially in image segmentation domain.
The role of VET in the (dis)placing of migrants’ skills in Australia

Abstract Vocational Education and Training (VET) in a policy and institutional sense plays an important role in the migration experiences of people who settle in Australia. This article draws on qualitative empirical work using narrative accounts from VET practitioners along with a cross section of ethnically diverse migrants to reveal how race and ethnicity are central to and constitutive of the experiences of both humanitarian and skilled migrants in Australian VET. The article employs critical race theory (CRT) building on research developed by others in the Journal of VET to analyse these experiences and the role of VET and labour markets in this process of (dis)placing migrants’ skills. The article argues firstly, that skilled migrants are not absent in VET, but are rather rendered invisible in a policy sense. Secondly, CRT provides a theoretical resource for coming to grips with how, in a marketised Australian VET context where institutional responses to skilled migration can either be beneficial or exploitative, practices privilege advantaged groups and are always at once culturally loaded.
An error model for pointing based on Fitts' law

For decades, Fitts' law (1954) has been used to model pointing time in user interfaces. As with any rapid motor act, faster pointing movements result in increased errors. But although prior work has examined accuracy as the "spread of hits," no work has formulated a predictive model for error rates (0-100%) based on Fitts' law parameters. We show that Fitts' law mathematically implies a predictive error rate model, which we derive. We then describe an experiment in which target size, target distance, and movement time are manipulated. Our results show a strong model fit: a regression analysis of observed vs. predicted error rates yields a correlation of R2=. 959 for N=90 points. Furthermore, we show that the effect on error rate of target size (W) is greater than that of target distance (A), indicating a departure from Fitts' law, which maintains that W and A contribute proportionally to index of difficulty (ID). Our error model can be used with Fitts' law to estimate and predict error rates along with speeds, providing a framework for unifying this dichotomy.
Black-white residential segregation and physical activity.

This multilevel study explores the potential relationship between Black-White residential segregation and physical activity. It combines data on physical activity from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a national telephone survey of adults overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with a measure of racial segregation. Using hierarchical linear modeling, it controlled for age, sex, Black race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, income, and amount of urban sprawl. For each one-point increase in the Black-White Dissimilarity Index (on a 0-100 scale), the modeled risk of being physically inactive increased by . 7% (odds ratio [OR] = 1.007, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.003, 1.011). The relationship between segregation and physical activity was similar for Blacks and Whites, though not statistically significant for the Black-only analysis. This finding may imply that the pathway between segregation and ill health includes physical inactivity.
Learning Spatial Regularization with Image-Level Supervisions for Multi-label Image Classification

Multi-label image classification is a fundamental but challenging task in computer vision. Great progress has been achieved by exploiting semantic relations between labels in recent years. However, conventional approaches are unable to model the underlying spatial relations between labels in multi-label images, because spatial annotations of the labels are generally not provided. In this paper, we propose a unified deep neural network that exploits both semantic and spatial relations between labels with only image-level supervisions. Given a multi-label image, our proposed Spatial Regularization Network (SRN) generates attention maps for all labels and captures the underlying relations between them via learnable convolutions. By aggregating the regularized classification results with original results by a ResNet-101 network, the classification performance can be consistently improved. The whole deep neural network is trained end-to-end with only image-level annotations, thus requires no additional efforts on image annotations. Extensive evaluations on 3 public datasets with different types of labels show that our approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-arts and has strong generalization capability. Analysis of the learned SRN model demonstrates that it can effectively capture both semantic and spatial relations of labels for improving classification performance.
Asymptomatic bacteriuria among elderly and middle-aged rural community-dwellers in South-Western Nigeria

Asymptomatic bacteriuria in elderly individuals has been well described in institutionalized settings, but to a lesser extent in the community. The purpose of this study was to determine the pathogens responsible for asymptomatic bacteriuria in elderly and middle-aged individuals in Alajue-Ede, South-Western Nigeria, and to identify any associated factors. Mid-stream urine samples were collected from apparently healthy elderly and middle-aged volunteers who were participating in community health screening. Samples were processed and bacterial isolates were identified following standard procedures. In total, 128 volunteers (48 men, 76 women) participated in the study. Twenty-eight (22.6%) urinary pathogens were isolated, comprising Klebsiella species in five (17.9%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa in one (3.6%), Escherichia coli in 19 (67.9%), and Proteus species in three (10.7%) cases. Women were identified as being at higher risk of asymptomatic bacteriuria, and the prevalence also increased with increasing age in men. The elderly in this community have a high prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria, and screening for comorbid medical conditions may be of benefit.
In-loop feature tracking for structure and motion with out-of-core optimization

In this paper, a novel and approach for obtaining 3D models from video sequences captured with hand-held cameras is addressed. We define a pipeline that robustly deals with different types of sequences and acquiring devices. Our system follows a divide and conquer approach: after a frame decimation that pre-conditions the input sequence, the video is split into short-length clips. This allows to parallelize the reconstruction step which translates into a reduction in the amount of computational resources required. The short length of the clips allows an intensive search for the best solution at each step of reconstruction which robustifies the system. The process of feature tracking is embedded within the reconstruction loop for each clip as opposed to other approaches. A final registration step, merges all the processed clips to the same coordinate frame *
Gaussian Accelerated Molecular Dynamics: Unconstrained Enhanced Sampling and Free Energy Calculation

A Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (GaMD) approach for simultaneous enhanced sampling and free energy calculation of biomolecules is presented. By constructing a boost potential that follows Gaussian distribution, accurate reweighting of the GaMD simulations is achieved using cumulant expansion to the second order. Here, GaMD is demonstrated on three biomolecular model systems: alanine dipeptide, chignolin folding, and ligand binding to the T4-lysozyme. Without the need to set predefined reaction coordinates, GaMD enables unconstrained enhanced sampling of these biomolecules. Furthermore, the free energy profiles obtained from reweighting of the GaMD simulations allow us to identify distinct low-energy states of the biomolecules and characterize the protein-folding and ligand-binding pathways quantitatively.