Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A MDS-based localization algorithm for underwater wireless sensor network

This study is to propose a multidimensional scaling localization algorithm based on cluster structure [MDS-MAP (C, E)], and used in underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSN) node self-positioning. MDS-MAP (C, E) algorithm: First, underwater wireless sensor network is divided into more than one cluster head of the local network; Secondly, local positioning, using the Euclidean algorithm to calculate the Euclidean distance between each node and its two-hop neighbors, and then take this Euclidean distance for multidimensional scaling in each cluster, instead of the shortest distance from Dijkstra or Floyd algorithm. Simulation results show that: the localization algorithm achieves self-positioning of the whole network in the case of underwater anchor node sparse sensor nodes; the algorithm can obtain higher positioning accuracy than traditional MDS-MAP algorithm, at the same time reducing the computational overhead.
Alternative remedies used by resource-limited farmers to manage ophthalmia in cattle, from Ntabazinduna communal area, Umguza district, Matabeleland North Province, Zimbabwe

Many people around the world depend on cattle for their livelihood as a result farmershave an obligation to properly manage their cattle for maximum production. However, due to limited resources, some farmers cannot afford to use conventional veterinary drugs to manage some cattle diseases. Hence, resource- limited farmers resort tothe use of low or non-cost alternative remedies which are cheap and locally available. One disease which has become problematic is ophthalmia which poses an economic threat to the beef industry. The objective of this study was to determine and document the alternative remedies used by communal farmers in Ntabazinduna communal area to manage ophthalmia in beef cattle. The survey was done at ward 5 in Ntabazinduna communal area found in Umguza district of Matabeleland North province of Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was administered to 100 cattle-keeping households in January 2015, to determine alternative remedies used in treating ophthalmia. Ophthalmia was reported to be most prevalent during the rainy season and all respondents (100%) of the respondents considered the disease (ophthalmia) as a common problem in cattle. About 89% of the respondents used alternative remedies, 6% used conventional drugs, while 5% used both to treat opthalmia. The following alternative remedies were used; Solanum incanum (36%), millipede shell (31%), hot wire (17%) while those using sugar granules and Terramcyin eye powder were both at 8%. Resource-limited farmers exhibited exceptional knowledge and understanding of alternative remedies and their effective use.
Coalitional Bargaining in Stationary Markets

I study a new model of coalitional bargaining in stationary markets featuring strategic choice of bargaining partners. The set of coalitions that form in the unique stationary equilibrium has a tier structure, with payoffs determined from the top tier down: Shocks propagate from higher to lower tiers, but not vice versa. In the limit as bargaining frictions vanish, the equilibrium payoff profile is the only one that gives each player her maximum Nash bargaining payoff—over all coalitions—subject to the other players’ participation constraints. A player is made better off when she becomes less risk averse or the coalitions that she belongs to become more productive. But she may be made worse off when other players become more risk averse or some coalitions that she is not part of become less productive. Some players may be worse off after a uniform increase in the productivity of each coalition. In the special case of bilateral matching markets, independent tier structures—or submarkets—emerge in equilibrium, each with exactly one top-tier match: Shocks propagate within submarkets but not across them.
A Comparative Study of Bacterial Isolates Cultured From the Nasopharynx of Children With and Without Sickle Cell Disease at a Tertiary Healthcare Institution in Nigeria

Background: Children with sickle cell disease have been shown to be at greater risk of bacterial infections from Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae and Salmonella enteritidis and from complications of septicaemia, pneumonia, respiratory difficulty and bone pain. The study compared the nasopharyngeal bacterial carriage of 87 children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and 160 children without SCD, ranging in age from four months to fifteen years. The study, conducted at the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa in southwestern Nigeria between January and November 2014, also looked at the antibiotic resistance profiles of the bacterial isolates and the presence of specific resistance and virulence genes. Methods: Samples were collected from each study participant with the aid of a cotton-tipped applicator initially dipped into sterile saline and introduced into nasopharynx of subject, applied onto sterile thioglycolate fluid medium and incubated at 37oC for 24 hr. When growth was noticed, a loopful was retrieved and applied onto blood and chocolate agar as well as other selective and differential media. Bacterial colonies that grew on such media were picked and studied initially by Gram reaction, cultural and biochemical methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done for selected bacterial isolatesalong with PCR demonstration of resistance and virulence genes. Results: The results showed that the 1-5 and the 5-10 year SCD childrenhad the highest frequency of bone pain episode, hospitalization for malaria, bacterial infections and sepsis and blood transfusions for chronic anemia. Corynebacterium spp predominated among the nasopharyngeal isolates from both SCD and non-SCD children. C. Xerosis accounted for 55.38% among the nonSCD isolates and C. Ulcerans represented 35.84%of the SCD isolates.We recorded low carriage rates for H. influenzae, S. Pneumonia and S.aureus in the nasopharynx of the study participants. Widespread antibiotic resistance was observed among SCD and non-SCD isolates, with demonstration of resistance blaZ and tetK resistance genes and sea, and eta virulence genes by PCR. Conclusion: The predominance in this study of Corynebacterium spp over organisms such as H. influenzae,S. Pneumonia and S. aureus that are common invasive pathogens of the nasopharynxwas both interesting and unexpected. The predominance suggested a shift in the community nasopharyngeal flora that may have resulted from long-term prophylactic use of antibiotics and successful administration of bacterial vaccines in the study population.
A PSO optimized fractional-order PID controller for a PV system with DC-DC boost converter

In this study, a fractional-order PID (FOPID) controller is designed to control a DC-DC boost converter in a PV-system. Because of the nonlinear V-I characteristic of a PV-panel, a power electronic interface is required to obtain a desired and fixed voltage level. In order to obtain the best system performance, parameters of the proposed controller are tuned by using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. Both of the system responses with the FOPID and classical PID are tested under various power conditions by changing the load resistor and solar irradiation values. The simulation results are compared in terms of integral of time weighted squared error (ITSE) criterion, percentage overshoot (Mp) and rising time (Tr). The results show that the FOPID controller performs better performance than the classical PID controller.
Cluster-weighted stochastic subgrid-scale modelling

This paper presents the main results of a recent publication (Kwasniok, 2011a). A new approach for data-based stochastic parametrisation o f unresolved scales and processes in numerical weather and climate prediction models is introduced. The subgrid-s cale model is conditional on the state of the resolved scales, consisting of a collection of local models. A cluste ring algorithm in the space of the resolved variables is combined with statistical modelling of the impact of the unr esolved variables. The clusters and the parameters of the associated subgrid models are estimated simultaneousl y from data. The method is implemented and explored in the framework of the Lorenz ’96 model using discrete Marko v processes as local statistical models. Performance of the cluster-weighted Markov chain (CWMC) scheme is investigated for long-term simulations as well as ensemble prediction. It clearly outperforms simple para metrisation schemes and compares favourably with another recently proposed subgrid modelling scheme also ba ed on conditional Markov chains.
The Effects of Ethanol Leaf-Extract of Pterocarpus santalinoides on Liver Enzymes of Albino Rats

The effects of ethanol leaf-extract of Pterocarpus santalinoides on liver enzymes were investigated in albino rats using spectrophotometric methods. Sixteen albino rats were grouped into four (A, B, C and D). Animals were administered the extract through oral intubation at the doses (mg/kg) of 0, 200, 400 and 600 respectively for two weeks. The blood samples were collected on the fifteenth day following the last day of administration. The alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities (u/l) recorded 28.77±1.39, 27.72±1.52, 25.92±1.34 and 23.83±1.57 for the animals in groups A, B, C and D respectively with corresponding activities (u/l) of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) as 76.57±2.58, 74.99±1.62, 71.61±2.01 and 70.23±1.34. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities (u/l) recorded 70.14±2.27, 67.04±2.32, 65.17±1.87 and 59.19±2.04 for the animals in groups A, B, C and D respectively. The results recorded a significant (p<0.05) dose-dependent decrease in the activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase of the animals that received the ethanol leaf-extract of Pterocarpus santalinoides. Thus ethanol leaf-extract of Pterocarpus santalinoides could be hepato-protective.
In Vitro Susceptibilities of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to Fatty Acids and Monoglycerides

ABSTRACT The susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to several medium-chain fatty acids and their 1-monoglycerides was tested at a short inactivation time of 1 min. The results indicate that monocaprin, a monoglyceride of capric acid (10 carbon atoms, no double bonds), causes the fastest and most effective killing of all strains ofN. gonorrhoeae tested.
The Reincarnation of Grille Cipher: A Generative Approach

In order to keep the data secret, various techniques have been implemented to encrypt and decrypt the secret data. Cryptography is committed to the security of content, i.e. it cannot be restored with a given ciphertext. Steganography is to hiding the existence of a communication channel within a stego. However, it has been difficult to construct a cipher (cypher) that simultaneously satisfy both channel and content security for secure communication. Inspired by the Cardan grille, this paper presents a new generative framework for grille cipher. A digital cardan grille is used for message encryption and decryption. The ciphertext is directly sampled by a powerful generator without an explicit cover. Message loss and prior loss are proposed for penalizing message extraction error and unrealistic ciphertext. Jensen-Shannon Divergence is introduced as new criteria for channel security. A simple practical data-driven grille cipher is proposed using semantic image inpainting and generative adversarial network. Experimental results demonstrate the promising of the proposed method.
Home Ranges of Gopher Snakes (Pituophis catenifer, Colubridae) in Central California

Abstract Knowledge of the home range of an animal can provide insights for studies of behavioral interactions among individuals, and long-term monitoring of particular animals is necessary to determine whether they exhibit seasonal variation in space-use patterns. I radio-tracked four adult male Pituophis catenifer (gopher snake) in central California for 14 consecutive months to investigate spatial and seasonal movement patterns. Using the fixed kernel density estimator to produce a probability contour, the 95% home ranges of P. catenifer ranged from 0.89–1.78 ha, whereas their core areas (50% polygons), the most heavily used areas of their home ranges, ranged from 0.1–0.29 ha. Movements of male P. catenifer were similar in spring and summer and decreased in autumn and winter. The telemetered snakes were close to marshes and Eucalyptus woodlands but were routinely found in grassland areas, perhaps because this habitat type may provide abundant food resources and partial protection from predators. Despite their proximity, the estimated home ranges of males 2, 3, and 4 did not overlap. These findings, and those of a previous investigation of activity patterns of P. catenifer in eastern Nebraska, suggest that syntopic gopher snakes occupy exclusive home ranges during at least part of their active season.
Risk-Based Selection in Unemployment Insurance: Evidence and Implications

This paper studies whether adverse selection can rationalize a universal mandate for unemployment insurance (UI). Building on a unique feature of the unemployment policy in Sweden, where workers can opt for supplemental UI coverage above a minimum mandate, we provide the first direct evidence for adverse selection in UI and derive its implications for UI design. We find that the unemployment risk is more than twice as high for workers who buy supplemental coverage. Exploiting variation in risk and prices, we show how 25–30 percent of this correlation is driven by risk-based selection, with the remainder driven by moral hazard. Due to the moral hazard and despite the adverse selection we find that mandating the supplemental coverage to individuals with low willingness-to-pay would be suboptimal. We show under which conditions a design leaving choice to workers would dominate a UI system with a single mandate. In this design, using a subsidy for supplemental coverage is optimal and complementary to the use of a minimum mandate. (JEL D82, G22, J65)
Aging increases the cardiotoxicity of daunorubicin and daunorubicinol in the rat.

This study examined effects of aging on the cardiac response in vitro to daunorubicin, a cancer chemotherapeutic agent that causes cardiotoxicity. Left ventricular trabeculae carneae from adult (aged 6-9 months) and old (aged 24-28 months) Fischer 344 rats were placed in oxygenated, physiological buffer. Preparations were treated with daunorubicin (175 microM) or saline (controls) over a 210-minute study period. Daunorubicin-induced decline in contractility (DS and dS/dt) was greater in old compared to adult myocardium (p < .02). Similarly, cardiac relaxation (90% relaxation time) was more impaired by daunorubicin in older preparations (p < 01). Although daunorubicin concentrations were unaffected by age, daunorubicinol concentrations in ventricular strips increased with time to a greater extent in the older group (p < .05). This study suggests that senescence increases the acute in vitro cardiotoxicity of daunorubicin and that the metabolite, daunorubicinol, may contribute to this toxicity.
On one problem of uniqueness of meromorphic functions concerning small functions

In this paper, we show that if two non-constant meromorphic functions f and g satisfy E(a j , k, f) = E(a j , k, g) for j = 1, 2,. ,5, where aj are five distinct small functions with respect to f and g, and k is a positive integer or oo with k > 14, then f ≡ g. As a special case this also answers the longstanding problem on uniqueness of meromorphic functions concerning small functions.
Assessment of disordered voices based on an optimized glottal source model

In this paper, a method for the assessment of disordered voices is proposed. A feature named mean opening quotient (MOQ) obtained from the glottal source estimation is used as an acoustic cue to summarize the degree of severity of the voice disorder. The analysis method uses the empirical mode decomposition algorithm to estimate the glottal source excitation signal from the speech signal. The logarithm of the magnitude spectrum of the speech signal is decomposed into oscillatory modes, called intrinsic mode functions, that are clustered into two classes, the spectral envelope and the harmonic component. The exploitation of the phase information jointly with the estimated harmonic component enables the estimation of the glottal source signal. An appropriate parametric model is fitted to the estimated glottal source excitation signal. The optimal parameters of the glottal source excitation model from which the MOQ is defined are obtained by using a genetic algorithm. The presented method is tested on a corpus of natural speech including the vowel [a] uttered by 22 normophonic speakers and 229 speakers with different degrees of dysphonia. Experimental results show that the proposed method is very effective for assessing the degree of severity of the voice disorder.
Interfacial Stability In Turbulent Pressure-Driven Channel Flow

We consider the motion of a deformable interface that separates a fully-developed turbulent gas flow from a thin layer of laminar liquid. We outline a linear model to describe the interaction between the turbulent gas flow and the interfacial waves; this consists of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation with the appropriate turbulent mean flow profile, together with a turbulent stress closure scheme. This approach permits us to determine numerically the growth rate of the wave amplitude, as a function of the relevant dimensionless system parameters and turbulence closure relations. It also extends previous work by accounting for the effects of the thin liquid layer on the dynamics. The growth rate of the wave amplitude depends sensitively on the choice of mean flow. Therefore, it is necessary to derive a mean-flow profile that incorporates the characteristics of the flow observed in experiments. The mean flow profile we obtain demonstrates the features of turbulence in the gas layer: it is linear near the channel wall and interface, and logarithmic in the core. By writing down the functional form of the profile, it is also possible to express the wall and interfacial shear stresses as a function of the applied pressure gradient. The other ingredient necessary to complete the model is a turbulent closure scheme. The simplest possible closure is the mixing-length model: since turbulent eddies are limited in size by the wall and interface, the eddy viscosity can be constituted as a simple function of the vertical coordinate. Using these inputs, we calculate the growth rate of the interfacial waves. We find that the incorporation of turbulent stresses through this model enhances the growth rate of the interfacial mode, while the growth rate of the internal mode is suppressed. The inclusion of the Reynolds stresses therefore gives rise to a significant correction in the wave growth rates. Previous work on this problem used a boundary-layer mean profile to model the mean flow, and we compare our results with this framework. (See, for example, [4], [1], and [3].) Although the models agree at shorter wavelengths, at long wavelengths it is necessary to take account of the bounded nature of the problem domain to obtain a correct picture of the wave growth rates.
High-Accuracy Electromagnetic Field Simulation Using Numerical Human Body Models

We have investigated a high-accuracy analysis for the electromagnetic field of numerical human body models using the finite-element method. The numerical human body models generated from computed tomography images are represented as voxel data, and composed of skin layers, blood vessels, bones, internal organs, and so on. In this paper, we propose a mesh smoothing technique to reduce the noise caused by reflection and scattering of the electric fields around material boundaries. Therefore, using a supercomputer, we successfully evaluated the electromagnetic field distribution inside the whole body model with a high accuracy.
Rigidity of pseudo-free group actions on contractible manifolds (Geometry of Transformation Groups and Combinatorics)

This article announces joint work with Frank Connolly and Jim Davis. We generalize our classification of pseudo-free involutions on the n-torus, by studying the action of the associated infinite group with torsion in the universal cover. Included is a non-Riemannian example obtained from the restriction of the action of a Coxeter group on a CAT(0) manifold.
the carpophoroids associated with Entoloma abortivum and Armillaria

Carpophoroids traditionally attributed to Entoloma abortivum (“Aborted Entolomas”) represent malformed Armillaria fruiting bodies permeated by E. abortivum hyphae, as shown by our field observations and preliminary laboratory work. This contradicts the generally accepted hypothesis that carpophoroids are E. abortivum fruiting bodies colonized by Armillaria. Carpophoroids possess many of the structural characteristics of Armillaria fruiting bodies, including growth and development from rhizomorphs and the production of Armillaria-like spores on basidia. Our inoculation experiments demonstrate the ability of E. abortivum to abort the development of A. tabescens fruiting structures in vitro. In rare instances the introduction of E. abortivum disrupts A. tabescens fruiting structures to the point where they macroscopically resemble immature carpophoroids as observed in nature. If E. abortivum is a parasite of Armillaria species under natural conditions, E. abortivum may contribute to the regulation of Armillaria populations and could be investigated as a candidate for the biological control of destructive Armillaria species. We recommend “Abortive Entoloma” be used as the common name for E. abortivum.
Design and Characteristics of Guardring-Free Planar AlInAs Avalanche Photodiodes

This paper reports a guardring-free planar AlInAs avalanche photodiode (APD) for optical fiber communications. AlInAs APDs can achieve a larger gain-bandwidth product (GBP) with lower excess noise than commercial InP APDs, and the guardring-free planar structure enables these superior AlInAs APDs to have both a low dark current and high reliability for practical use. We present the structure, fabrication, designs, APD characteristics, and receiver sensitivity, systematically. The guardring-free planar structure and its peculiarities are described, and we show APD designs for 2.5-Gb/s and 10-Gb/s applications and their characteristics. A 0.2-mum -thick AlInAs multiplication layer achieves a GBP of 120 GHz and an excess noise factor of 2.9 at a multiplication factor of 10. Their dark currents are less than 20 nA and their lifetime is evaluated to be 25 million hours at 85degC. Lastly, we demonstrate that the guardring-free planar AlInAs APDs with a transimpedance amplifier achieve the remarkable sensitivity of -37.0 dBm at a bit error rate of 10-10 for 2.5-Gb/s signals and of -29.9 dBm at a bit error rate of 10-12 for 10-Gb/s signals. This performance indicates that the guardring-free planar AlInAs APDs have made great advances against commercial InP APDs and other AlInAs APDs.
Improved synchronisation for superimposed training based channel estimation

This paper introduces a synchronisation method for super-imposed training (ST) based channel estimation, using periodic ST sequences. The method exploits the particular structure, occurring when the ST sequence period is larger than the channel length, of the vector containing the received signal's first-order cyclostationary statistics. After synchronisation, any DC-offset can be removed and an unbiased channel estimate can be obtained. Necessary and sufficient conditions for synchronisation are provided. The problem of training sequence design for an improved synchronisation is also addressed. An expression for the variance of the channel estimate is obtained as well, assuming perfect synchronisation and using the designed training sequences. The proposed synchronisation method is computationally more efficient than existing methods, and yet its performance, in term of channel estimation MSE and BER, is not diminished as shown by simulations