Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cleft, Crevice, or the Inner Thigh: ‘Another Place’ for the Establishment of the Invasive Barnacle Austrominius modestus (Darwin, 1854)

The proliferation of anthropogenic infrastructure in the marine environment has aided the establishment and spread of invasive species. These structures can create novel habitats in areas normally characterised as void of suitable settlement sites. The habitat requirements of the invasive acorn barnacle Austrominius modestus (Darwin, 1854) were assessed using a novel sampling site at Crosby Beach, Liverpool. Austrominius modestus has spread rapidly around the UK since its initial introduction, becoming locally dominant in many estuarine areas including the Antony Gormley art installation, ‘Another Place’, at Crosby Beach. The installation consists of 100 replicate solid cast-iron life-size human figures, located at a range of heights on the shore. We recorded the distribution and abundance of A. modestus present on all of the statues at various positions during the summer of 2006. The positions varied in location, exposure, direction, and rugosity. Although parameters such as rugosity and exposure did influence patterns of recruitment, they were less important than interactions between shore height and direction, and specific location on the beach. The addition of a suitable substrate to a sheltered and estuarine region of Liverpool Bay has facilitated the establishment of A. modestus. Understanding the habitat requirements of invasive species is important if we are to make predictions about their spread and the likelihood of invasion success. Austrominius modestus has already become locally dominant in some regions of the UK and, with projections of favourable warming conditions and the global expansion of artificial structures, the continued spread of this species can be expected. The implications of this on the balance between native and invasive species dominance should be considered.
A 3D Hydrodynamic Model for Shallow Water Flow Through a Circular Patch of Emergent Cylinders

3D numerical computations are performed to simulate the shallow water flow through an array of non-submerged cylinders occupying a circular area in the middle of the domain. A hydrodynamic model capable of capturing the free surface positions is developed with the SST (shear strain transport) k-ω turbulence closure. The model is first verified and validated against experimental data available in the literature. It is demonstrated that the present model can predict both the average velocity and turbulence structure well. In addition, both cylinder-scale flow as well as patch-scale flow can be well reproduced. The velocity field and distribution of bed stress are then analyzed to study the flow patterns and sediment deposition with different solid volume fractions and water depths.
Table Recognition and Understanding from PDF Files

We propose a flexible method for detecting and understanding tables in PDF files, which is not reliant upon one particular feature being present, for example ruling lines or indentations, and is therefore applicable to a wide variety of visual presentations. We describe the steps required in transforming the low-level PDF instructions into text segments, lines and boxes on a page. We propose three different classifications for published tables, and develop methods to detect these tables and correctly identify their respective rows and columns. We also explain how to recognize spanning rows and columns, and multi-line rows. Experimental results show that our algorithm is effective in converting a wide variety of tabular presentations into HTML for information extraction purposes.
Effect of Aminated Mesoporous Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles on the Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells

Mesoporous bioactive nanoparticles (MBNs) have been developed as promising additives to various types of bone or dentin regenerative material. However, biofunctionality of MBNs as dentin regenerative additive to dental materials have rarely been studied. We investigated the uptake efficiency of MBNs-NH2 with their endocytosis pathway and the role of MBNs-NH2 in odontogenic differentiation to clarify inherent biofunctionality. MBNs were fabricated by sol-gel synthesis, and 3% APTES was used to aminate these nanoparticles (MBNs-NH2) to reverse their charge from negative to positive. To characterize the MBNs-NH2, TEM, XRD, FTIR, zeta(ξ)-potential measurements, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis were performed. After primary cultured rat dental pulp stem cells (rDPSCs) were incubated with various concentrations of MBNs-NH2, stem cell viability (24 hours) with or without differentiated media, internalization of MBNs-NH2 in rDPSCs (~4 hours) via specific endocytosis pathway, intra or extracellular ion concentration and odontoblastic differentiation (~28 days) were investigated. Incubation with up to 50 μg/mL of MBNs-NH2 had no effect on rDPSCs viability with differentiated media (p>0.05). The internalization of MBNs-NH2 in rDPSCs was determined about 92% after 4 hours of incubation. Uptake was significantly decreased with ATP depletion and after 1 hour of pre-treatment with the inhibitor of macropinocytosis (p<0.05). There was significant increase of intracellular Ca and Si ion concentration in MBNs-NH2 treated cells compared to no-treated counterpart (p<0.05). The expression of odontogenic-related genes (BSP, COL1A, DMP-1, DSPP, and OCN) and the capacity for biomineralization (based on alkaline phosphatase activity and alizarin red staining) were significantly upregulated with MBNs-NH2. These results indicate that MBNs-NH2 induce odontogenic differentiation of rDPSCs and may serve as a potential dentin regenerative additive to dental material for promoting odontoblast differentiation.
The impact of unemployment insurance benefits on the probability of migration of the unemployed.

"By ignoring individual unemployment compensation benefits and conditions of job termination, past migration research has concluded that personal unemployment doubles the likelihood of interstate labor-force migration. Findings from the present study indicate that aggregating the unemployed, without adjusting for these two factors, overstates the probability of migration for the involuntarily unemployed benefit recipient and understates the likelihood of migration for the voluntarily unemployed benefit recipient. The results suggest that federal discretionary unemployment-compensation programs, which are implemented during recessionary periods, likely serve to retard out-migration of those who are involuntarily unemployed. " Data are from a 1982 sample of unemployed U.S. workers.
Application of Herbivore Optimization Theory to Rangelands of the Western United States.

The central assumption for management of range condition-that plant response to selective grazing drives changes in plant community structure-is only weakly supported by evidence from semi-arid rangelands. Most of the vegetation changes attributed to selective grazing can instead be explained through proper interpretation of grazing intensity. Specialized livestock grazing systems, which assume that selective seasonal grazing controls ecosystem function, work poorly on semi-arid rangelands when compared to simpler grazing methods based on managing grazing intensity. Compensatory growth has been well linked to ecosystem processes in highly productive and intensively managed pastures, but not on semi-arid rangelands.
A three-dimensional data model in HBase for large time-series dataset analysis

In the transition of applications from the traditional enterprise infrastructures to cloud infrastructures, scalable database management system plays an important role in efficiently managing and analysing unprecedented massive amount of data. Compared to RDBMSs, NoSQL databases, are more attractive in addressing this challenge. However, it is not easy to manage data in NoSQL database effectively for non-expert users because of the rare data-organization support. A poor data organization may accidentally abuse the features of NoSQL database and achieve unsatisfactory performance. Therefore, a systematic method for NoSQL database data-schema design is a timely and important problem for researchers and practitioners. HBase, as a particular NoSQL database offering, relies (a) on HDFS, for its distributed and replicated storage, and (b) on coprocessors, for efficient parallel query processing. To harness the potential parallelism benefits, an appropriate partitioning of the data across the HBase storage is required. we investigate the effectiveness of the three-dimensional data model, which uses the “version” dimension of HBase to store the values of a data item over time. We have experimented and evaluated the performance impact of this type of data model with two data sets, of different sizes and different time lengths. For each of these data sets, we have compared the performance of several ad-hoc queries, implemented with HBase Coprocessors framework, across different data schemas, some of which (do not) use the third HBase dimension. The experiment results demonstrate improved performance with the data schemas that use the third dimension of HBase.
Corporate Governance in Asia: A Survey

An extractive distillation agent consisting essentially of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol is fed to an extractive distillation column used for the distillation of propylene oxide contaminated with water, acetone and methanol to obtain an overhead distillate fraction consisting of essentially anhydrous propylene oxide contaminated with reduced quantities of acetone and methanol, and a heavier bottoms distillation fraction containing substantially all of the 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, water and acetone and some of the methanol introduced into the distillation column.
Demand-Side Contribution to Primary Frequency Control With Wind Farm Auxiliary Control

Maintaining a close balance between power generation and demand is essential for sustaining the quality and reliability of a power system. Currently, due to increased renewable energy generation, frequency deviations and power fluctuations of greater concern are being introduced to the grid, particularly in regions that are weakly interconnected with their surrounding areas, such as small islands. This paper addresses the problem of frequency control in isolated power systems with relevant inclusion of wind power generation. With this aim, we have analyzed the contribution of the demand side to the primary frequency control together with an auxiliary frequency control, which is carried out by variable-speed wind turbines through an additional control loop that synthesizes virtual inertia. We have evaluated both the suitability of these two additional control actions counteracting frequency deviation and their potential reserves and compatibility. The results indicate a substantial improvement in both the dynamic performance and grid frequency stability. Simulations also indicate a decrease in the steady-state frequency error, which may relieve the secondary frequency control.
Serotonin Selectively Modulates Reward Value in Human Decision-Making

Establishing a function for the neuromodulator serotonin in human decision-making has proved remarkably difficult because if its complex role in reward and punishment processing. In a novel choice task where actions led concurrently and independently to the stochastic delivery of both money and pain, we studied the impact of decreased brain serotonin induced by acute dietary tryptophan depletion. Depletion selectively impaired both behavioral and neural representations of reward outcome value, and hence the effective exchange rate by which rewards and punishments were compared. This effect was computationally and anatomically distinct from a separate effect on increasing outcome-independent choice perseveration. Our results provide evidence for a surprising role for serotonin in reward processing, while illustrating its complex and multifarious effects.
Measurement of dyspnea in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: what is the tool telling you?

Aims: Dyspnea is the most common symptom experienced by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is linked to decreases in patient activity levels and quality of life. Use of standardized tools to measure dyspnea has a long history in respiratory care. However, in many cases it is not clear what is being quantified when using a particular tool. This review will consider the definition of and mechanisms believed to contribute to dyspnea, attempting to clarify what is being quantified in common tools currently available for dyspnea measurement.
Time Efficient Radio Broadcasting in Planar Graphs

We study the communication primitive of broadcasting (one-to-all communication) in known topology radio networks, i.e., where for each primitive the schedule of transmissions is precomputed based on full knowledge about the size and the topology of the network. We show that radio broadcasting can be completed in D + O( log n) time units in planar graphs of size n , and with diameter D . This improves the currently best known D+O( log 3 n) time schedule proposed by Elkin and Kortsarz in [16] [SODA’05], and 3 D time schedule due to G ˛ asieniec, Peleg and Xin in [23] [PODC’05]. In this paper, we also explore broadcasting in radio networks in the presence of edge failures.
API Design Challenges for Open Router Platforms on Proprietary Hardware

Most switch vendors have launched “open” platform designs for routers and switches, allowing code from customers or third-party vendors to run on their proprietary hardware. An open platform needs a programming interface, to provide switchlets sufficient access to platform features without exposing too much detail. We discuss the design of an abstraction layer and API designed to support portability between vendor platforms, isolation between switchlets and both the platform and other switchlets, high performance, and programming simplicity. The API would also support resource-management abstractions; for example, to allow policy-based allocation of TCAM entries among multiple switchlets.
Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering

There has been a great interest in application of nanoparticles as biomaterials for delivery of therapeutic molecules such as drugs and genes, and for tissue engineering. In particular, biopolymers are suitable materials as nanoparticles for clinical application due to their versatile traits, including biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity. Biopolymers are polymers that are produced from living organisms, which are classified in three groups: polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. It is important to control particle size, charge, morphology of surface and release rate of loaded molecules to use biopolymer-based nanoparticles as drug/gene delivery carriers. To obtain a nano-carrier for therapeutic purposes, a variety of materials and preparation process has been attempted. This review focuses on fabrication of biocompatible nanoparticles consisting of biopolymers such as protein (silk, collagen, gelatin, β-casein, zein and albumin), protein-mimicked polypeptides and polysaccharides (chitosan, alginate, pullulan, starch and heparin). The effects of the nature of the materials and the fabrication process on the characteristics of the nanoparticles are described. In addition, their application as delivery carriers of therapeutic drugs and genes and biomaterials for tissue engineering are also reviewed.
A novel sender authentication scheme based on hash chain for Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are receiving enormous research attention in the wake of rising challenges of safe driving, and demand for infotainment services on the move. Information security in VANETs is a critical design issue, since public lives could be at stake. This paper presents a novel sender authentication scheme for enhancing VANET security. The scheme makes use of hash chaining, a well-known concept in cryptography, to authenticate vehicles. The authentication process takes place at a trusted third party site, called the Authentication Centre, and the RSUs (Road Side Units) help relay information exchanged between a vehicle and the Authentication Centre. A detailed discussion of the scheme is provided in the paper, and a security analysis is presented.
Gaze direction as a Back-Channel inviting Cue in Dialogue

In this study, we experimentally explore the relationship between gaze direction and backchannels in face-to-face interaction. The overall motivation is to use gaze direction in a virtual agent as a mean to elicit user feedback. The relationship between gaze and backchannels was tested in an experiment in which participants were asked to provide feedback when listening to a story-telling virtual agent. When speaking, the agent shifted her gaze towards the listener at predefined positions in the dialogue. The results show that listeners are more prone to backchannel when the virtual agent’s gaze is directed towards them than when it is directed away. However, there is a high response variability for different dialogue contexts which suggests that the timing of backchannels cannot be explained by gaze direction alone.
Sex estimation using foot measurements, stature and body mass index (BMI) in a Nigerian population

Abstract Identification of dismembered bodies recovered in disasters or crime scene is very important in forensic. This study was carried out to ascertain if foot size, body weight, height, stature and BMI can be used to predict sex using tape rule and Stadiometer scale. 150 subjects between 18 - 25yrs were recruited. Independent T-test, Pearson Correlation, Linear and Multiple Regression Analysis were determined using SPSS version 23. All measurements were higher in male than female and there was significant (p≤0.05) difference in the sex. The average foot length of 257.39mm was used to determine sex of the subjects. All foot lengths ≤ 257.39mm were presumed to belong to females while all values > 257.39mm was presumed males. Foot size and weight had the highest correlation values. Foot length gave better estimation of sex than foot breadth, BMI and weight. Results of Multiple regression equation was better than linear regression equation. In forensic anthropology, foot size has been used to predict sex. Limitation of this study is the formulae generated can only be applied to Nigerians aged 18-25 yrs. Studies should be carried out on diverse population for future inferences
The Equivalence of Information-Theoretic and Likelihood-Based Methods for Neural Dimensionality Reduction

Stimulus dimensionality-reduction methods in neuroscience seek to identify a low-dimensional space of stimulus features that affect a neuron’s probability of spiking. One popular method, known as maximally informative dimensions (MID), uses an information-theoretic quantity known as “single-spike information” to identify this space. Here we examine MID from a model-based perspective. We show that MID is a maximum-likelihood estimator for the parameters of a linear-nonlinear-Poisson (LNP) model, and that the empirical single-spike information corresponds to the normalized log-likelihood under a Poisson model. This equivalence implies that MID does not necessarily find maximally informative stimulus dimensions when spiking is not well described as Poisson. We provide several examples to illustrate this shortcoming, and derive a lower bound on the information lost when spiking is Bernoulli in discrete time bins. To overcome this limitation, we introduce model-based dimensionality reduction methods for neurons with non-Poisson firing statistics, and show that they can be framed equivalently in likelihood-based or information-theoretic terms. Finally, we show how to overcome practical limitations on the number of stimulus dimensions that MID can estimate by constraining the form of the non-parametric nonlinearity in an LNP model. We illustrate these methods with simulations and data from primate visual cortex.
Performance of women with fibromyalgia in walking up stairs while carrying a load

Background. Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease characterized by widespread pain and other associated symptoms. It has a relevant impact on physical fitness and the ability to perform daily living tasks. The objective of the study was to analyze the step-by-step-performance and the trunk tilt of women with fibromyalgia in the 10-step stair climbing test compared with healthy controls. Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out. Twelve women suffering from fibromyalgia and eight healthy controls were recruited from a local association. Participants were asked to climb 10 stairs without carrying a load and 10 stairs carrying a load of 5 kg in each hand. Mediolateral trunk tilt was assessed using the “Functional Assessment of Biomechanics (FAB)” wireless motion capture device, and the time between steps was assessed via weight-bearing insoles. Results. Trunk tilt in the stair-climbing task carrying a load was significantly higher in women with fibromyalgia when compared to the healthy controls (2.31 (0.63) vs. 1.69 (0.51) respectively). The effect of carrying a load was significantly higher for women with fibromyalgia compared with healthy controls at the intermediate and final part of the task. Discussion. Trunk tilt during stair climbing while carrying a load was higher in women with FM, which could increase the risk of falling. Additionally, women with FM experienced a higher pace slowdown as a consequence of the load, which supports the need of including specific strength and resistance training to physical therapies for this population.