Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits on diets with milk fat and different proteins

In this thesis the literature about the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis has been reviewed. The various risk indicators for atherosclerosis are discussed and related to the theory about atherogenesis. A review of the influence of milk fat constituents and dietary proteins on serum lipids and atherosclerosis is presented. Experimental results obtained with rabbits fed on semi-synthetic diets are reported. It is shown that large amounts of butyric acid have the same effect on blood, liver and tissue lipids and fatty acids as starch. Hypercholesterolemic affects of butter oil can be mainly ascribed to its cholesterol content. The hypercholesterolemic effects of semi-synthetic diets containing saturated fats can be mainly ascribed to the use of casein as protein source. The hypercholesterolemia induced by semisynthetic diets is shown to be the consequence of decreased faecal steroid excretion. It is suggested that the different serum cholesterol levels induced by various dietary proteins are due to a redistribution of serum cholesterol to other body compartments.
Power Allocation of Sensor Transmission for Remote Estimation Over an Unknown Gilbert-Elliott Channel

In this paper, we consider the problem of scheduling the power of a sensor when transmitting over an unknown Gilbert-Elliott (GE) channel for remote state estimation. The sensor supports two power modes, namely low power and high power, which are to be selected for transmission over the channel in order to minimize a cost on the error covariance, while satisfying the energy constraints. The remote estimator provides error-free acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) messages to the sensor only when low power is utilized. We first consider the Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) problem for the case of known GE channels and derive conditions for optimality of a stationary schedule. Next, a Bayesian inference approach is used through which the channels statistics are approximately learned when they are initially unknown. An algorithm is proposed in which the sensor adjusts its scheduling policy based on the energy constraint.
Open Innovation in Government Services: An Empirical View of Citizens’ Participation

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the perception of citizens on their participation in open innovation in government services. This is a quantitative study that applied descriptive statistics in analysing the findings. Participants were selected from the general public and several governmental organisations. The findings suggest that the participants believed that citizens’ participation in open innovation could lead to innovative solutions, simple access to government information, effective service delivery, speedy and responsive public service delivery. Participants also believed that involving citizens in governance could reduce the potential failure of government policies. However, the majority of the participants did not believe that citizens’ participation in open innovation would lower costs in terms of service delivery. It was recommended that further studies should be conducted to create awareness of the benefits of citizens’ participation in open innovation in government services in terms of reducing costs of public services. The findings of this study will inform government policy makers on citizens’ participation in open innovation in government services.
Preliminary assessment of tree species diversity in Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern Nigeria

Appraisal of flora species which form an integral part of animal ecology, in wildlife based protected areas is necessary before any meaningful conservation work can commence. This informed the study on the preliminary assessment of tree species diversity in Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS) and its adjoining communal forest, a biodiversity hotspot in Nigeria. The Point Centre Quarter Method (PCQM) was employed for the study while the Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H) and student t test were used to analyse data generated. The study revealed a total of 102 tree species in 35 families and 74 tree species in 31 families for the protected (sanctuary) and communal forests respectively. Afzelia bipidensis (RD = 5.00) and Ceiba pentandra (RD = 7.50) were the abundant species in the protected and communal forests respectively. Forty-nine (49) and twenty-seven (27) tree species were recorded as threatened in the protected and communal forests respectively. The Shannon-Weiner Diversity Indices obtained for the sanctuary (H1 = 4.3459) and communal forest (H2 = 4.0250) are not significantly different (p > 0.05). The dominance of Ceiba pentandra and presence of Harungana madagascariensis, and Musanga cecropioides in the communal forest indicated a characteristic of a secondary forest occasioned by anthropogenic impacts.
A Point-Based Fully Convolutional Neural Network for Airborne LiDAR Ground Point Filtering in Forested Environments

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) data is one of the most commonly used data for terrain products generation. Filtering ground points is a prerequisite step for ALS data processing. Traditional filtering methods mainly use handcrafted features or predefined classification rules with preprocessing/post-processing operations to filter ground points iteratively, which is empirical and cumbersome. Deep learning provides a new approach to solve classification and segmentation problems because of its ability to self-learn features, which has been favored in many fields, particularly remote sensing. In this article, we proposed a point-based fully convolutional neural network (PFCN) which directly consumed points with only geometric information and extracted both point-wise and tile-wise features to classify each point. The network was trained with 37449157 points from 14 sites and evaluated on 6 sites in various forested environments. Additionally, the method was compared with five widely used filtering methods and one of the best point-based deep learning methods (PointNet++). Results showed that the PFCN achieved the best results in terms of mean omission error (T1 = 1.10%), total error (Te = 1.73%), and Kappa coefficient (93.88%), but ranked second for the root mean square error of the digital Terrain model caused by the worst commission error. Additionally, our method was on par with or even better than PointNet++ in accuracy. Moreover, the method consumes one-third of the computational resource and one-seventh of the training time. We believe that PFCN is a simple and flexible method that can be widely applied for ground point filtering.
Adaptive multi-stage NMPC using sigma point principles *

A novel robust nonlinear model predictive control scheme (NMPC) based on the multi-stage formulation is introduced in this paper. The scenario tree of Multi-stage NMPC is often built by assuming parametric uncertainty and by considering the minimum and maximum values of the parameters. This can augment the uncertainty set and can result in a performance loss, if more information is available, e.g. in a form of a parametric confidence region. We propose to mitigate this problem by tightly over-approximating the uncertainty set using the so-called sigma-points parameterization. In addition, the plant measurements are used to reduce the size of the uncertainty set and the scenario tree is updated online. The advantages of the proposed scheme over the traditional multistage NMPC are demonstrated for a benchmark case study.
Checkpointing as a Counter to Security Issues in Cloud Computing Infrastructures

The growth of cloud computing over the years has been phenomenal with users and organizations alike relying more and more on the services offered on the cloud. Outages, however, have been a thorn in the flesh for service providers over the years. The objective of this study was to determine whether checkpointing can be proactively used as a counter to security issues. FTCloudSim was used as a simulator to test the effect of checkpointing on data losses caused by security breaches. The simulator was set up to create checkpoints at recommended intervals thus saving images of the state of cloudlets periodically. Outages were then randomly injected during the simulation. Results showed that checkpointing recovered 93% of the tasks using both service availability and execution availability as parametric measures. The results show that checkpointing can effectively be used in cloud computing infrastructure as a suitable measure against data losses caused by security breaches.
Phenotypic variability of Leptosphaeria lindquistii (anamorph: Phoma macdonaldii), a fungal pathogen of sunflower

Growth of 17 isolates of Phoma macdonaldii, the causal agent of sunflower black stem, was investigated for response to pH and temperature, and for morphology and asexual morphogenesis (pycnidiogenesis and pycnidium size). For all isolates, the optimum pH for growth was between 4 and 5, and the optimum temperature varied between 20 and 30°C and radial growth was slowest at 5 and 35°C. Significant differences in the number and size of pycnidia were observed between isolates. Pycniospore germination was investigated under various conditions in five isolates chosen for their geographical origins, pigmentation, optimum growth temperature and pycnidiogenesis. Increasing the concentration from 106 to 107 pycniospores per mL decreased the germination rate. The optimum temperature for pycniospore germination varied between 15 and 30°C, depending on the isolate, and the optimum and maximum pH values were 5 and 7, respectively. The optimum and minimum relative humidities allowing pycniospore germination were 100 and 95%, respectively. Pycniospore germination was photo-independent. An artificial inoculation method was developed and the aggressiveness of the pathogen was assessed on a susceptible sunflower cultivar, using a 1–9 scale that integrated the percentage of necrotic area on the cotyledon petiole at the stage when the first pair of leaves was fully developed. Significant differences in aggressiveness were observed among the 17 isolates. The parameters investigated clearly suggest the occurrence of a wide phenotypic variability in Phoma macdonaldii.
Coupling of an individual-based population dynamic model of Calanus finmarchicus to a circulation model for the Georges Bank region

An individual-based life history and population dynamic model for the winter‐spring dominant copepod of the subarctic North Atlantic, Calanus finmarchicus, is coupled with a regional model of advection for the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. Large numbers of vectors, each representing individual copepods with elements for age, stage, ovarian status and other population dynamic variables, are carried in a computation through hourly time steps. Each vector is updated at each time step according to development rate and reproductive functions derived from experimental data. Newly spawned eggs are each assigned new vectors as needed. All vectors are subject to random mortality. Thus, both life history progression and population dynamics of C. finmarchicus are represented for the temperatures in the Gulf of Maine‐Georges Bank region in the active season. All vectors include elements representing depth, latitude and longitude. This allows coupling of the population dynamics to the tide- and wind-driven Dartmouth model of New England regional circulation. Summary data from the physical model are used to advance vectors from resting-stock locations in Gulf of Maine basins through two generations to sites of readiness for return to rest. Supply of Calanus stock to Georges Bank comes from all of the gulf and from the Scotian Shelf. The top of the bank is stocked from western gulf basins; the North-east Peak is stocked from Georges Basin and the Scotian Shelf. All sources contribute to stock that accumulates in the SCOPEX gyre off the north-west shoulder of Georges Bank, explaining the high abundance recurrently seen in that region. There is some return of resting stock to Wilkinson Basin in the western gulf, but other basins must mostly be restocked from upstream sources to the north-east.
Quercus rugosa Seedling Dynamics in Relation to Its Re-Introduction in a Disturbed Mexican Landscape

In order to define the ‘regeneration niche’ and then promote the re-introduction of Quercus rugosa into a disturbed area we studied seed predation, germination, seedling survival and growth of this species at three different sites: the forest interior, the forest border and a disturbed site, along a disturbance gradient. Acorn removal on the ground was high at the sites, with higher removal rates from 25-seed clusters than from 5- and 1-seed clusters. More seeds were removed at the forest border than at the other two sites, although in all cases some seeds remained in the soil for periods long enough for them to germinate and produce seedlings. Seed germination and seedling establishment were more successful and similar in the forest interior and the forest border, and much less successful at the disturbed site, due to acorn desiccation. Seedling survival was strongly affected by site, with the highest survival at the forest border and the lowest survival at the disturbed site after a year. The subsequent dry season, which was particularly harsh, caused a drop in survival both at the forest border and the disturbed site. In the former, a closer analysis revealed that partially shaded microsites enhanced survival, while in the latter overall survival was very low, with approximately 5 % of the seedlings surviving, compared to 50 % final survival at the other sites. There was a positive correlation between seed size and seedling survival at the forest border. The three size variables measured (seedling height, basal diameter and crown area) did not increase noticeably during the 20-month study period at the forest interior, while growth still occurred at the forest border and the disturbed site. However, during the two dry seasons there were large drops in mean seedling height and crown area at the disturbed site, due to more frequent dieback, causing large variation in seedling size. These results show that extensive re-introduction of this species to the disturbed area will probably fail under present conditions, and that careful selection or duplication of microsites that mimic the partial shade of the forest border is a sound method for improving oak establishment at this site.
Design and Performance Analysis of Magnetic Shape Memory Alloy Actuator With a Compact Electromagnetic Coil Configuration

Magnetic shape memory alloy (MSMA), which has emerged in recent years, has been proven to have great potential for electromagnetic actuators due to the long life cycle, fast response, and relatively large load capacity. Current research on such material mainly focuses on the fundamentals, thermal effect, composition, and magnetic induction strain, but issues involved in its application to the industry are rarely addressed in detail. This article first analyzed the principle of magnetically induced strain and the corresponding constitutive equations, and investigated the magnetomechanical characteristics of the MSMA sample through measurement carried out on a specially designed experimental setup. Taking advantage of good drive performance, MSMA electromagnetic actuator with spring recovery was designed in detail. In order to resolve the contradiction between compactness and high magnetic field strength, a novel configuration with double-layered coils was proposed to achieve the required magnetic flux density. Influences of input current, prepressure, and spring stiffness on the dynamic response characteristics of the actuator excited by step signal and square wave signal input were analyzed by simulation. Finally, the experimental platform is built to verify the feasibility of the configuration and dynamic characteristics of the actuator. The experimental results show that the designed actuator has good output performance with a response time of 25 ms, demonstrating the superiority of MSMA in microdisplacement actuator with high dynamics.
Nigerian Instructors’ Acceptance of Learning Management Systems: A Structural Modeling Approach

Learning management systems are an important tool used in the delivery of educational courses and programs. Unfortunately, very little is known about the factors that influence Nigerian instructors to accept these systems. This is because there are very few Nigerian higher education institutions that have implemented LMS for teaching and learning. As a result, there are little or no studies that have investigated this phenomenon in the context of the Nigerian culture. This study bridges this gap by using the original technology acceptance model with job relevance as an external construct to examine the acceptance of learning management systems (LMS) by instructors of two universities in Nigeria. Data was obtained from 134 instructors and their responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results from the analysis validated all the relationships in the TAM model, however there was no support for the relationship between job relevance and perceived usefulness. This indicates that job relevance is not a contributing factor to Nigerian instructors’ perceived usefulness of the learning management system. Education administrators and governing bodies such as the National University Commission can use the findings from this study to orient Nigerian instructors on the relevance and usefulness of LMS’ for teaching and learning through workshops and conferences. Also, the usefulness and ease of using the system are factors that software developers can consider when developing learning management systems.
Seed germination and viability in two African Acacia species growing under different water stress levels.

Acacia species are important in forestation programs and for producing non-timber forest products in arid and semiarid zones, but few studies have been carried out concerning the effects of drought in the germination in order to understand the regeneration process of the species. In this paper, we studied the morphology and the germination pattern under different water stress of Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal. Seeds were subjected to a water stress test for 45 days with four levels of water potential achieved by different concentrations of polyethylene glycol 6000. The germination process was studied by adjusting a Gompertz function, and obtaining related parameters of the curve (total germination, maximum germination rate and the t value corresponding to the inflection point of the curve, and time in reaching the, 50 and 90% of the total germination). The germination process in these species was rapid; there were no significant differences in any of the parameters of the curves depending on the stress treatment except for the total germination. Total germination was higher in A. senegal, and this species was more sensitive to the water availability than A. seyal, as deduced from the reaction norms in the two environments. The probability of germination was also modeled by a logistic regression, indicating the higher values for non stressed seeds. A consistent pattern is detected among the treatments. The results presented in this paper could be applied in forestation programs to improve germination in nurseries, and by incorporating the logistic models in more complete models describing the dynamic of regeneration under natural conditions.
The relative influence of prey abundance and co-breeders on the reproductive performance of polyandrous Pale Chanting-goshawks

This study investigates if the reproductive performance of polyandrous Pale Chanting-goshawks, Melierax canorus, is governed by the abundance of dominant rodent-prey species or a co-breeding male participating fully in prey being delivered to the female and young. Polyandrous trios in prey-rich habitat, the only habitat where these trios occurred, failed to produce more offspring than monogamous pairs, but attempted more second broods in years of high prey abundance. The higher the prey-delivering rates at the nesting sites by either one monogamous male or two polyandrous males (combined effort), the higher the proportion of time their females spent in close proximity to the nest. Since there were no significant differences between the body masses of nestlings fledged by polyandrous and monogamous groups, higher delivery rates relieved females from away-from-the-nest hunting duties and permitted them to feed on prey not fed to offspring. Although breeding in polyandrous trios held fitness benefits for females, e.g. to accumulate the necessary body reserves for laying a second clutch in years of high prey abundance, it is still not clear how males benefited. The reproductive performance of each group was strongly linked to the abundance of the dominant, otomyine rodent prey (Otomys unisulcatus and Parotomys brantsii) and it was therefore prey abundance, and not the number of males delivering prey to the female and nestlings at each nesting site, that controlled the reproductive performance of cooperative-breeding Pale Chanting-goshawks.
Morfología del aparato digestivo de Enteroctopus megalocyathus y Loligo sanpaulensis (Mollusca, Cephalopoda)

A detailed description of the morphology of the digestive organs of Enteroctopus megalocyathus (Gould, 1852) and Loligo sanpaulensis Brakoniecki, 1984 is given. The mandibles, the crop diverticulum, a doubly coiled caecum, the loop of the medium intestine and the appendages of the digestive gland are first described for E. megalocyathus. The most outstanding finding in L. sanpaulensis is the location of the single posterior salivary gland, wholly embedded in the digestive gland.
Efficient Receiver for Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems with Low-Resolution ADCs

Cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is considered as a promising technology for providing uniformly good services in future networks. The aim of this paper is to provide the first comparison of the uplink performance of cell-free massive MIMO systems with low-resolution analogto-digital converters under the zero-forcing (ZF) and maximum ratio combining (MRC) receivers. By utilizing an addictive quantization model, a novel closed-form uplink spectral efficiency (SE) expression is derived for the ZF receiver. Moreover, the energy efficiency (EE) of the considered system is analyzed. In contrast to previous works, it turns out that the ZF receiver outperforms the MRC receiver with a large number of quantization bits in terms of SE and EE. Furthermore, it is interesting to find that a better EE-SE trade-off can be achieved by employing a large number of antennas at the access point. Finally, pilot assignment schemes are used to minimize the pilot contamination and a maxmin power control scheme is proposed to improve both SE and EE performance.