Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phylogenetic Relationships of Some Ajuga L. Taxa Based on the Ribosomal DNA Internal Transcribed Spacer Region

Ajuga L. is represented by 14 species and 27 taxa in the flora of Turkey. Eleven species of Ajuga have been studied for phylogeny based on sequence data of the nuclear ribosomal DNA region (ITS). According to the findings, morphologically similar species collected in the same group. The polymorphism in sequences of internal transcribed spacers ITS1 and ITS2 and 5.8 S rDNA coding region was used to determine relationships among different species of genus Ajuga. The taxonomy of several Ajuga species is need of revision based on the ITS phylogeny. Understanding the phylogenetic relationships among Ajuga species would contribute to the systematics of the genus, comprehension of the origins and evolution of species and sections and the use of species of genus Ajuga.
AViC: a cache for adaptive bitrate video

Video dominates Internet traffic today. Users retrieve on-demand video from Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) which cache video chunks at front-ends. In this paper, we describe AViC, a caching algorithm that leverages properties of video delivery, such as request predictability and the presence of highly unpopular chunks. AViC's eviction policy exploits request predictability to estimate a chunk's future request time and evict the chunk with the furthest future request time. Its admission control policy uses a classifier to predict singletons --- chunks evicted before a second reference. Using real world CDN traces from a commercial video service, we show that AViC outperforms a range of algorithm including LRU, GDSF, AdaptSize and LHD. In particular LRU requires up to 3.5× the cache size to match AViC's performance. Further, AViC has low time complexity and has memory complexity comparable to GDSF.
Generative Adversarial Training for Weakly Supervised Cloud Matting

The detection and removal of cloud in remote sensing images are essential for earth observation applications. Most previous methods consider cloud detection as a pixel-wise semantic segmentation process (cloud v.s. background), which inevitably leads to a category-ambiguity problem when dealing with semi-transparent clouds. We re-examine the cloud detection under a totally different point of view, i.e. to formulate it as a mixed energy separation process between foreground and background images, which can be equivalently implemented under an image matting paradigm with a clear physical significance. We further propose a generative adversarial framework where the training of our model neither requires any pixel-wise ground truth reference nor any additional user interactions. Our model consists of three networks, a cloud generator G, a cloud discriminator D, and a cloud matting network F, where G and D aim to generate realistic and physically meaningful cloud images by adversarial training, and F learns to predict the cloud reflectance and attenuation. Experimental results on a global set of satellite images demonstrate that our method, without ever using any pixel-wise ground truth during training, achieves comparable and even higher accuracy over other fully supervised methods, including some recent popular cloud detectors and some well-known semantic segmentation frameworks.
Executable Rounds: a Programming Abstraction for Fault-Tolerant Protocols

Fault-tolerant distributed systems are notoriously difficult to design and implement. Although programming languages for distributed systems is an active research area, appropriate synchronization primitives for fault-tolerance and group communication remains an important challenge. We present a new programming abstraction, HSync , for implementing benign and Byzantine distributed protocols. HSync is based on communication-closed rounds. Round models offer a simple abstraction for group communication and communication-closed rounds simplify dealing with faults. Protocols are implemented in a modular way in HSync . The language separates the message reception from the process local computation. It extends classic rounds with language constructs that give to the programmer the possibility to implement network and algorithm-specific policies for message reception. We have implemented an execution platform for HSync that runs on top of commodity hardware. We evaluate experimentally its performance, by comparing consensus implementations in HSync with LibPaxos3 and Bft-SMaRt, two consensus libraries tolerant to benign, resp. Byzantine faults.
Determinants of Financial Inclusion: Comparative Study of Asian Countries

Using panel data of twenty Asian countries over a period of six years (2011-2016), this research investigated the key determinants of financial inclusion among Asian countries via the Random Effects Model (REM). Financial inclusion has been considered as enabler for seven of the seventeen sustainable development goals, which brings access to financial services to all and directly contributes to poverty reduction, capacity buildings and equality. The main findings are that: (i) the countries with stronger economic growth and higher income have a significantly higher financial inclusion index, as people have more resources/incomes and better chances to utilize financial services; (ii) the higher the literacy, the better the financial inclusion as people with higher literacy understand the pros and cons of financial services and providers, better knowledge of using financial services wisely; (iii) unemployment rates had a negative impact on the financial inclusion index; (iv) surprisingly differing from previous studies, inflation, population density, network and deposit interest rate were not statistically significantly correlated with financial inclusion.
A Dominance-Based Analysis of Inter-temporal Dependence and Multivariate Welfare with Discrete and Continuous Variables

Motivated by a concern for societal wellbeing which is seen as dependent upon both economic and institutional (polity) factors, a key issue in the economic growth and development literature is the interaction between polity and growth and the extent to which one promotes or is promoted by the other. The development literature is rife with debates over whether it is institutional improvements that “cause” growth or growth that “causes” institutional improvements. Unfortunately analysis of their mutual dependence and whether or not general wellbeing has progressed in terms of both types of variable is hindered by the continuous nature of economic variables combined with the discrete nature of political ones. Here both dependence and wellbeing development issues are attacked in the context of jointly distributed discrete and continuous random variables. The wellbeing issue is addressed by proposing dominance tests for comparing joint distributions of continuous and discrete variables to examine changes in welfare in that context. With respect to dependence it is argued that the relevant question is not which causal direction hypothesis is correct (for they need not be mutually exclusive hypotheses) but rather, which hypothesis dominates in some sense. A notion of dependence dominance is proposed which involves a measure of the degree of inter-temporal dependence which facilitates examination of whether or not the degree of dependence of present “A” on past “B” is greater than the dependence of present “B” on past “A”. Based upon a discrete index of institutional quality and per capita GDP for 84 countries our results suggest that, while economic growth exerted a positive impact from 1960 to 2000, declines in polity over the earlier part of this period were sufficient to produce a decline in overall wellbeing until the mid-1970s. Subsequent increases in polity then reversed the trend and, ultimately, wellbeing in 2000 was higher than that in 1960. Evidence on dependence indicates that growth is more influenced by past polity than is polity influenced by past growth.
THE LATENT SEMANTIC ANALYSIS AND ITS APPLICATION TO AUTOMATED GRADING OF WRITTEN TESTS

Some algorithms and techniques for automated gradin g of the conceptual content of written tests are described. The algorithms are bas ed on a statistical approach the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) [6]. Other applications of LSA are also described, such as the crosslanguage information retrieval. An LSA-based automa ted free-form written test assessment application is under development at the Department of Computer Science, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. It will be part of a Web -based virtual university.
effects of indooR cycling in body composition , musculaR enduRance , flexibility , balance and daily activities in physically active eldeRs

Introduction: To investigate the effects of indoor cycling in body composition, lower limb muscular endurance, flexibility and daily activities in physically active elders. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of ten volunteers (seven females and three males), with ages between 60 and 74 years old (64.6±5.1 years), who participated in an indoor cycling program during 12 weeks. Evaluated measures included body composition, lower limb muscular endurance, balance and daily activities, before and after training. Wilcoxon signed-rank and Student’s t-test were used for paired samples. Results: The tests of daily activities showed a significant improvement (p≤0.05) in: getting up from the floor (-14.3%); total time for 800-meter walk (-13.5%); total time for climbing up stairs (-15.2%). Lower limb muscular endurance was increased by 23.7% and total time for the Stork (Balance) Standing test was increased in 59.3%. Other variables showed no significant improvements. Discussion: In spite of the limited sample size, indoor cycling showed positive results in the daily activities, muscular endurance and balance in physically active elders.
Physico-mechanical properties of composite briquettes from corncob and rice husk.

Densification of agricultural residues into briquettes as the alternative renewable feedstock can improve their physico-mechanical and storage properties as solid fuels. This paper presents the physico-mechanical properties of the composite briquettes made from corncob and rice husk. Raw samples of corncob and rice husk were collected, sorted and pulverised into fines of 0.25, 1.00 and 1.75 mm particle sizes. The fines were blended at mixing ratios of 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, and 50:50, bonded with 5% starch on weight percentage basis and compressed at compaction pressures of 25, 50, and 65 kPa to produce the briquette samples. The briquette made from 80:20 ratio of corncob to rice husk, 0.25 mm particle size and 65 kPa pressure exhibited the highest compressive strength of 111 kN/m2 and the least of 39 kN/m2 from briquette with 50:50 ratio of corncob to rice husk, 1.75 mm particle size and 25 kPa pressure. The briquette made from 50:50 ratio of corncob to rice husk, 0.25 mm particle size and 65 kPa pressure had the highest water resistance capacity, and the least from briquette of 80:20 ratio of corncob to rice husk, 1.75 mm particle size and 25 kPa pressure. The resulting physico-mechanical qualities of the produced corncob and rice husk briquettes suggested that they could be used as the solid fuels for domestic and industrial applications.
INVESTIGATING TIME DELAY NEURAL NETWORK (TDNN) FOR LANGUAGE MODELING IN LOW RESOURCE AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION

This work discusses the potential of using Time Delay Neural Networks (TDNN) for language modeling in automatic speech recognition (ASR) of low resource languages. Recently, TDNN for language modeling has been shown to achieve better perplexity than an equivalent Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN). However, its potential for ASR decoding has not been explored yet. In this work, we focus on exploring the strength of TDNN as a language model for ASR in low resource languages. TDNNs are significantly easier to train than RNN since they have a feedforward structure instead of a recurrent structure. We explore a TDNN-based language model both directly in the decoding graph and as well as in the rescoring phase. Experiments show that the TDNN LMs perform as the RNN, although it is faster and easier to train the TDNN compared to RNN. Two languages from the BABEL corpora are considered in this work: Tagalog and Swahili.
Heavy metals accumulation in plankton and water of four aquatic complexes from Danube Delta area

The aim of the present study is to determine the accumulation of heavy metals in plankton collected from four aquatic complexes: Somova-Parcheş, Şontea-Fortuna, Holbina-Dunavăţ (with the highest concentrations of heavy metals) and Matiţa-Merhei, from the Danube Delta area, one of the most important Biodiversity Reserve in Europe. In order to achieve this study, the concentrations of six heavy metals were taken into account: cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead, manganese, and zinc. The study was conducted during a five year period 2007-2011 and the statistical analysis were based on mean concentrations, expressed in μg/g. Samples were digested at the Anton Paar microwave oven and analyzed by mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICPMS). High values of bioconcentration factor in plankton (BCF) have been found for cadmium; expressed as a ratio of the concentration of a chemical inside an organism to the concentration in the surrounding environment. Also, the results show that plankton has a very high potential of heavy metals accumulation, most significant variation of heavy metals concentrations in plankton is depend on the aquatic complexes position from the Danube River and also on the influence of anthropogenic sources.
Prevalence of bad outcome among VLBW in Tikrit city and its associated maternal risk factors

Objectives:-To know the maternal risk factors that affect the VLBW and to determine the outcome of the VLBW infants. Patients and methods: A cross sectional study extended from january2013 to June 2014. During which, about 100 mother with their babies were collected from delivery room, theatre and neonatal care unit of Tikrit teaching hospital. The data were taken by direct interview with the mothers by a special questionnaire include variables in the maternal history considered as a major risk factors for VLBW infants like mothers age ,parity , systemic
WHO EMRO | Fruit and vegetable intake among Emirati adolescents: a mixed methods study

Background: Interventions to promote healthy eating in adolescents are needed in the United Arab Emirates. To design effective interventions, adolescent eating behaviours need to be understood. Aims: This study aimed to describe eating behaviours of adolescents in Dubai and the factors associated with fruit and vegetable intake. Methods: This was a sequential explanatory study using a mixed methods approach. Ten of the 34 Arabic high schools in Dubai were randomly selected and students in grades 10–12 were included. Data were collected on self-reported fruit and vegetables intake, eating behaviours, food availability and sociodemographic variables. In the qualitative phase, 14 students were interviewed about their eating behaviour. Results: A total of 620 students were included: 57% were boys and most reported medium/high family affluence. Only 28% of the participants met the recommended daily fruit and vegetable intake, with significantly more males than females meeting it (P < 0.01). Lunch was the most frequently eaten meal, breakfast was frequently skipped, and there were high levels of fast food and soft drink consumption. Adequate fruit and vegetable intake was positively associated with increased lunch frequency, being male, parental support for healthy eating, and positive perception of family meals.
8 Altruism, status and the origin of relevance

In his 430-page book The Language Instinct, S. Pinker (1994) devotes only five pages to issues related to pragmatics and relevance. The minor role played by pragmatics in this natural history of language is quite surprising. Perhaps we are so accustomed to relevance that, like fish unaware of water, we fail to notice how strong a constraint it is. Relevance is indeed not limited to language. In front of a judge, you may be asked to give relevant justifications for your actions. If you see somebody in danger and begin to look for four-leaf clovers, your behaviour will probably be perceived as irrelevant: relevant behaviour would be some direct or indirect attempt to ward off danger. If relevance applies to human behaviour in general, it is of special importance when we deal with language: as we shall see, the structure of conversation is a consequence of the requirement that utterances be relevant. Even if you see casual conversation as a behaviour of secondary importance, the specific form which utterances have to meet in order to appear relevant has still to be explained. If you see conversation as the most basic and most natural use of language, as I do, then understanding why conversation is organized to meet the relevance requirement may be of crucial importance to understanding why language, in its argumentative form, emerged. I shall first present a formal criterion for relevance in conversation. From this, it will follow that relevant information is valuable information, and thus that any relevant utterance is potentially altruistic. This will bring us to a first paradox: if it is altruistic, the communicative behaviour of human beings should not exist, unless we are able to show that some cheating detection device is systematically employed by talking people. The quest for such a device will lead us to a second paradox:
Testicular dislocation: a rare consequence of blunt scrotal injury

Nous decrivons le cas d’un homme de 22 ans presentant une luxation testiculaire unilaterale par suite d’un traumatisme scrotal ferme. Une cartographie Doppler couleur a revele une testicule viable ayant penetre le canal inguinal. L’exploration inguinale a confirme que la testicule etait saine et viable, et cette derniere a ete replacee dans le scrotum par orchidopexie. Le patient s’est bien retabli, sans aucune complication. Nous recommandons une intervention rapide apres la pose du diagnostic de luxation testiculaire afin de preserver la fonction testiculaire. Testicular dislocation is a rare clinical presentation that occurs most commonly as a result of blunt scrotal injury. It is immensely important to prevent any delay in diagnosis as this can lead to loss of spermatogenic function of the testis and increased risk of orchiectomy.1 We report a case of unilateral testicular dislocation, in which the patient presented to the emergency department 4 months after the initial injury.
Quantitative Analysis of Mitral Valve Morphology in Mitral Valve Prolapse Using Real-Time Three-Dimensional Echocardiography: Importance of Annular Saddle-Shape in Pathogenesis of Mitral Regurgitation Running title: Lee et al.; 3D echocardiographic morphology of mitral valve prolapse

Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR; Division of Cardiology, Heart Center, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Philips Healthcare, Andover, MA; Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Assessing Uncertainty in the Dynamical Ice Response to Ocean Warming in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica

Ice mass loss from the Amundsen Sea Embayment ice streams in West Antarctica is a major source of uncertainty in projections of future sea level rise. Physically based ice flow models rely on a number of parameters that represent unobservable quantities and processes, and accounting for uncertainty in these parameters can lead to a wide range of dynamic responses. Here we perform a Bayesian calibration of a perturbed parameter ensemble, in which we score each ensemble member on its ability to match the magnitude and broad spatial pattern of present‐day observations of ice sheet surface elevation change. We apply an idealized melt rate forcing to extend the most likely simulations forward to 2200. We find that diverging grounding line response between ensemble members drives an exaggeration in the upper tail of the distribution of sea level rise by 2200, demonstrating that extreme future outcomes cannot be excluded.
Older couples with long-term disabilities: Multiple jeopardy or successful ageing?

In a study where older couples who had lived long lives with physical disabilities were interviewed about mutual care, an unexpected finding that while the couples reported worsening disabilities, they also described themselves as advantaged, and as maintaining a high level of activity in some areas of life. In this article, we investigate how the couples achieve this sense of ageing successfully when the participants’ stories of physical decline, from an outsider’s perspective, might be thought to produce double-, tripleor multiple jeopardy. The results show how the couples use different types of reference groups and refer to various resources to frame themselves as privileged. Furthermore, through environmental adaptations, technical aids and supportive services, they managed to maintain a high level of activity, despite living with disabilities. Notably, the couples described themselves as advantaged by referring to being older, to the long life with disabilities and to ageing with disabilities together. The overarching ambition of the article is to problematize established notions of successful ageing. Considering that the couples referred to the very conditions that might be seen as disadvantageous, the problem of pre-defined criteria for successful ageing becomes particularly apparent.
Clinical and experimental studies on portal vein embolization / Diagnosis of hepatocellular adenoma and focal nodular hyperplasia

The first part of this thesis concerns liver regeneration after portal vein embolization (PVE). The use of PVE over the past 20 years is reviewed and its effect on tumor growth and (postresectional) hypertrophy response discussed. The effects of several portal vein occlusion techniques are evaluated in experimental studies using a rabbit model of PVE. The second part of this thesis deals with two liver tumors, hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) and focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), which are relatively rare, benign liver tumors. The main focus is on differentiation of these tumors using current imaging modalities.