Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CRRP: A cooperative relay routing protocol for IoT networks

Wireless communication is increasing along with improvements in chipset performance. New applications associated with the Internet of Things (IoT) often involve self-organization and collaboration among many autonomous wireless devices for which traditional infrastructure-based wireless networks are not suitable. Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs), with their infrastructure-less, spontaneous and arbitrary multi-hop features are considered a popular approach for such scenarios, although they also face certain inherent challenges. These include: the limited communication range of each mobile node, power supply restrictions and frequent link breaks due to node movements. In this paper, in order to address the lack of a systematic cooperative routing scheme, we propose a novel protocol called Cooperative Relay Routing Protocol (CRRP) for data transmission in MANETs. Since node mobility can cause frequent radio link breaks, one of CRRP's pivotal design features is to enhance resilience, therefore improving the overall network throughput. This is achieved by forming localised cooperative (COP) topologies where appropriate. Furthermore, as nodes are often battery-powered, CRRP reduces the energy consumption when packets are forwarded by exploiting cooperative diversity. We assess the performance of CRRP via simulations and the results confirm its favorable operation compared to both classic and newer energy-aware MANET routing protocols.
Integration of technical trading behaviour in asset pricing

This thesis investigates methods applied to technical analysis based on particle filtering for detecting the presence of technical trading on foreign exchange and futures markets. The objective is to measure the intensity of that trading and its influence on short term price formation of the traded securities. Technical trading is a type of trading that is based on technical analysis. This is a method to form a view on the future development of the price of a traded security based on the currently observed pattern of the price itself. Technical analysis and trading strategies based on price patterns are not isolated phenomena. They are extremely popular among a very large group of financial markets professionals. The experiments of this research rely on extensive amount of data. We use prices for a wide range of securities representing different markets, countries and liquidity profiles. More than ten years of data at different level of aggregation are processed in order to test the ideas during different economic cycles. The research comprises an experimental software environment and three experiments: 1. Experimental software environment The experiments carried out in this project require a robust software environment and a significant amount of coding. An intuitive choice for this purpose is R1, a language and environment for statistical computing. Most of the programming is done in R utilising the flexibility of the language and the environment. The code has been consolidated into an R package a library module for the environment. Wherever better speed or interfacing to other systems are needed, additional modules have been developed. 2. Detection and tracking of technical trading We developed a method based on particle filtering for detecting and measuring the intensity of technical trading. We tested the methodology on a simulation framework created for this purpose. The technique has been used to test whether a set of technical price patterns are actively traded on the market. 3. Option pricing in the presence of technical trading
What Makes Arab Economies Fail? An Assessment of the Complementary Relationship between Socioeconomic Reforms and Institutions

Following the Arab spring, Arabs today are passing through a dangerous time of tough and difficult choices that bear far-reaching consequences. This paper argues that there was a significant economic element to the Arab Spring, which relies mainly on the Arab economies’ failure to achieve sustained inclusive growth. The purpose of the study is to understand whether the economic growth of the region has been unsatisfactory due to Arab economies lagging in terms of reforms, or because of the reform programs themselves. In this paper, the empirical model analyses the linkages between economic reforms, human capital, physical infrastructure, and governance and growth for a panel of 87 countries, including 20 from the Arab region over the period 1995 to 2014. The analysis finds that macroeconomic and external stability are primary variables for the reform development and the growth prospects of the developing countries. The efficiency of structural reforms depends on success in stabilising the economy. The most striking result from the baseline model is that the coefficient of governance is significant and positively determines growth in the whole sample, while it is harmful in Arab sample. Additionally, the result tends to show that the resource curse in the Arab region is largely an “institutional curse”, even though it has several macroeconomic manifestations. The conclusion of the study confirms that reform is simultaneously political, social and economic. Economic reform should not be seen in a vacuum, in isolation from the political and social choices that society makes.
Factors influencing productive and reproductive performance of Sahiwal cattle maintained at organized farm conditions

The effect of certain non-genetic factors, viz. season, period, age group and days open on the first lactation production and reproduction traits of Sahiwal cattle reared at organized farm under tropical condition was assessed. The records on first lactation production and reproduction performance of 961 Sahiwal cattle spread over a period of 47 years (1961-2007) were used for the study. The first lactation traits considered were age at first calving (AFC), first lactation 305-day or less milk yield (FL305DMY), first lactation length (FLL), first service period (FSP) and first dry period (FDP). The non-genetic factors incorporated in the model for AFC, FL305DMY, FLL, FSP and FDP accounted for 19.25, 21.25, 35.45, 07.09 and 21.12 per cent of total variation, respectively. Among the non-genetic factors, the period had highly significant effect on all the traits; while the age group had no effect on FL305DMY, FLL, FSP and FDP and the season had highly significant effect only on FDP. The days open had highly significant effect on FL305DMY, FLL and FDP. The overall least squares means for AFC, FL305DMY, FLL, FSP and FDP were 1117.02 days, 1759.86 kg, 303.46 days, 149.63 days and 163.75 days, respectively in Sahiwal cattle. It was concluded that the first lactation traits were highly influenced by the period of birth/ calving. It also reflected that the milch stock was maintained under comparatively favorable farm conditions and the fluctuations in extreme climatic conditions did not affect these traits in Sahiwal cattle.
Characterization of Immune Responses Following Neonatal DNA Immunization: A Dissertation

Neonatal mice have immature immune systems with defects in several components of inflammatory, innate, and specific immune responses and develop a preferential T helper type 2 (Th2) response following immunization with many vaccine antigens. Although maternal antibody is the major form of protection from disease in early life when the neonatal immune system is still immature, the presence of maternal antibody also interferes with active immunization, placing infants at risk for severe bacterial and viral infection. Recent studies have suggested that immunizing with DNA plasmids encoding the vaccine antigen of interest is highly efficacious in a variety of adult animal models. However, similar extensive studies have not been conducted in infants. In this dissertation, we examine both the quantitative and qualitative differences between neonatal and adult humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in the presence or absence of maternal antibody. First, we wished to determine if one-day-old neonatal mice immunized with plasmid DNA expressing influenza A/PR/8/34 hemagglutinin (HA) by either intramuscular (i.m.) or gene gun (g.g.) inoculation were capable of generating humoral responses comparable to those in mice immunized as adults. We found that newborn mice developed stable, long-lived, protective anti-HA-specific IgG responses similar in titer to those of adult DNA-immunized mice. However, unlike the adult i.m. and g.g. DNA immunizations, which develop polarized IgG2a and IgG1 responses, respectively, mice immunized as neonates developed a variety of IgG1-, IgG2a-, and mixed IgG1/IgG2a responses regardless of the inoculation method. Boosting increased, but did not change these antibody profiles. We also found that, in contrast to the DNA immunizations, inoculations of newborn mice with an A/PR/8/34 viral protein subunit preparation failed to elicit an antibody response. Further, temporal studies revealed that both responsiveness to protein vaccination and development of polarized patterns of T help following DNA immunization appeared by 2 weeks of age. To determine if the disparity of polarized IgG responses between neonatal and adult DNA vaccinated mice was due to deficiencies in Th1 promoting cytokines, we addressed the ability of DNA encoding Th1 cytokines to bias the isotype of antibody raised by neonatal DNA immunization. We found that neonatal mice coimmunized with HA and either IL-12 or IFNγ-expressing DNAs developed IgG2a-biased immune responses, regardless of inoculation method, whereas these DNAs had no effect on IgG subtype patterns in adult DNA immunized mice. Consistent with the Th1-promoting effects of these cytokines, we also observed that codelivery of IL-12 or IFNγ DNAs raised T helper responses toward Th1 in mice immunized both as neonates or adults. Thus, codelivery of cytokine DNAs may be effective at tailoring immune responses depending on the required correlates of protection for a given pathogen. Finally, we addressed the effect of maternal antibody on the elicitation of…
Curriculum as a Vehicle for Agency in Gifted Learners.

Student agency is a hot topic in education in New Zealand at the moment. Future-focused learning and innovative learning environments seem to focus on student agency, but what does ‘agency’ actually mean? What does it look like for gifted students? And how do teachers to develop it in their students? In response to these questions, this position paper reviews the concept of student agency from an empirical base, asserts that curricula can be used to develop and support student agency, then looks at one example of a specialist curriculum for gifted learners that intentionally supports student agency.
Biology, management, and conservation of lampreys in North America

Lampreys represent an ancient lineage extending back to the ostracoderms and are one of the most successful groups of living fishes. Perhaps best known for feeding on and killing bony fishes valued by humans, such as salmonids, lampreys exhibit a variety of fascinating life histories. Most lamprey species have lost the adult predatory stage of the life cycle and metamorphose, spawn, and die in the same stream in which they were spawned. Unfortunately, the bad reputation of predatory lampreys and the inconspicuous nature of small non‐predaceous lampreys have resulted in their importance and special requirements in aquatic ecosystems being ignored. The impetus for this book was a petition to list four species of lamprey under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, which was denied in 2004 because of insufficient information. This decision energized many biologists to gather the scattered existing information on lampreys and to begin new research.
The effect of date palm fruit ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) on serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in rats fed cholesterol- supplemented diet

BACKGROUND: The date palm fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) has been known for many health benefits, but its antihyperlipidaemic activity still remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects of Birhi date palm fruit, “Khalal” and “Tamr", on serum lipids, body weight and food intake in cholesterol-fed rats. METHODS: Sixty male Sprague–Dawley rats were assigned into 5 cholesterol-free (control) or 5 cholesterol-supplemented (experimental) diets containing 0%, 5% and 10% of either Khalal or Tamr and given ad libitum to the rats for 6 weeks. Serum total cholesterol (TC), low- and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C and VLDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) were then quantified and other biological parameters were assessed. RESULTS: Compared to control, cholesterol induced significant (p < 0.05) increase in serum LDL-C, TC/TG ratio and atherogenic index and decrease in TG and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio, whereas other lipid fractions, food intake and weight gain were unchanged. In all rats, none of the studied variables were appreciably affected by dates feeding, except for increased (p < 0.05) and linearly responded (r 2 = 0.348, p < 0.01) atherogenic index induced by Khalal. Lipid variables and their calculated ratios that were increased or decreased by cholesterol remained unaffected by dates feeding. CONCLUSON: In normal or cholesterol-fed rats, Birhi Khalal or Tamr exert little or no effect on serum lipids and are ineffective to counteract the atherogenic effect of cholesterol.
New Chinese amphibians and reptiles

The Chinese collections of The American Museum of Natural History contain four new forms of frogs and toads. In the course of the preparation of more extended reports on the Chinese amphibians and reptiles of the Third Asiatic Expedition (now ready for the press), seven additional new reptiles have been brought to light. Diagnosis of these new forms supplement the seiies describ.ed in American Museum Novitates No. 157, bringing the total number of new forms, in the collections reported upon, to twenty-six.
The Effect of Service Quality And Relationship Marketing Towards Customer Loyalty for Sharia Banking (Sharia Banking Study in Makassar Indonesia)

This research aims to empirically test and explain the effect of service quality and relationship marketing towards customer loyalty through the fairness (profit share) and customer satisfaction at Sharia General Bank in Makassar, Indonesia. Data analysis method which use is SEM (Structural Equation Model) with the use of AMOS programme. This approach analysis is quantitative. Service quality affected significantly upon fairness in profit share system and customer satisfaction while relationship marketing affected in customer satisfaction only. This research only take sharia bank customer as the sample and confine the experiment subject in Makassar only. The increase in customer service for those aspectis hoped to build the customer strength to the sharia bank market share. The application of allegiance in sharia banking system would append customer satisfaction value among services offered by the bank and increase the loyalty and product sales of the bank entirely.
Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of Arunachal Pradesh

The ropresentatives of the family Cerambycidae are commonly known as longhorn beetles and can be easily recognised from other families of Coleoptera by its elongated and somewhat parallel-sided body, with long antennae and pseudotetramerous tarsi. Fowler (1912) mentioned that around 1000 species belong under this family from India, of which Cerambycina~ represents 400 species and Lamiinae represents 600 species. Beeson and Bhatia (1939) noted 1182 species of Cerambycidae from Indian subregion, of which 470 belong to Cerambycinae and 712 to Lamiinae. Around 350 species are known to attack various trees, shrubs, wood-climbers and vines, of which 37 species of Cerambycidae are recorded from Shorea robusta alone and the species Stromatium barbatum (Fabricius) bores 311 types of trees.
The eIF2 phosphatase : characterization and modulation

Cellular needs are fulfilled by the combined activity of functional proteins. Consequently, cells are equipped with a complex proteostatic network that controls protein production in response to cellular requisites. Thereby, protein synthesis is induced or attenuated depending on the particular cellular conditions. One of the mechanisms to control protein synthesis is the phosphorylation of eIF2, which triggers the so-called Integrated Stress Response (ISR). Kinases that sense stresses induce the phosphorylation of eIF2, which, on the one hand, attenuates global rates of protein synthesis and, on the other hand, activates the expression of specific proteins that help to alleviate the stress. One of the proteins preferentially expressed during the ISR is PPP1R15A, a regulatory subunit of Protein Phosphatase 1 (PP1). The PP1/PPP1R15A holophosphatase dephosphorylates eIF2 and terminates the ISR once the stresses are resolved. Hence, eIF2 kinases and phosphatases work together to control levels of phosphorylated eIF2. Maintaining the right balance between the activity of these kinases and phosphatases is important, as is seen by the correlation between their perturbance and the appearance of certain cellular malfunctions or diseases. However, affecting this balance has been also suggested to have beneficial effects. For example, genetic interference with the PPP1R15A regulatory subunit is proposed to confer protection to mice and cells under ER-stress conditions. This observation led to the search for compounds with the ability to modulate the ISR, in particular, by acting on the eIF2 phosphatases. Three compounds (Salubrinal, Guanabenz and Sephin1) have been proposed as eIF2 phosphatase inhibitors with potential use as therapeutic tools in protein misfolding diseases. However, their precise mechanism of action and their direct effect on the enzyme remains an open question.
The Effect of Spice Powder on Blood Glucose, Lipid Profile and Body Composition in Adults at Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Controlled, Randomized, Single-Blind, Parallel-Design Study

A cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus have become known as the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). In the United Arab Emirates, 42% of the population was diagnosed with MetS. Previous researchers observed the anti-diabetic, hypolipidemic anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and antiantitumorigenic properties of spices on body composition, blood parameters and blood pressure. The aim of the study was to assess the macronutrient, micronutrient, sugar and caffeine content for seven commonly consumed spices. Moreover, the aim of the study was to measure the effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale), cinnamon (Cinnamomum) and black seed (Nigella sativa) consumption on blood glucose, lipid profile and body composition in participants at risk of cardiovascular diseases. Seven spices were analyzed to investigate their proximate content, minerals, vitamins, sugars and caffeine. One hundred and twenty (N=120) participants with risk of cardiovascular diseases were randomly allocated to three treatment arms (ginger, cinnamon and black seed) and a control group (placebo) for a period of 12-weeks. Each participant consumed 3 g/day of powder (spice or placebo). Data related to different parameters were collected from participants at baseline, midpoint and at endpoint of the intervention. Analysis of the chemical composition of spices showed that the spices had considerable amount of macronutrients (especially oils) and micronutrients. Therefore, spices’ active compounds could be used in nutritional supplements and for treatments considering their decent source of valuable nutrients. Furthermore, consumption of spices powder significantly improved waist circumference, body fat mass, weight, body mass index, percent body fat, fasting blood glucose and triglycerides when compared to placebo group (P ≤ 0.05). Ingestion of 3 grams per day for 12 weeks of spices powder showed significant improvement in body composition, blood glucose and lipid profile. Overall this study demonstrates that the consumption of ginger, cinnamon and black seed powder could help in the management of cardiovascular risk factors.
Not So Fast: Strike Kinematics of the Araneoid Trap-Jaw Spider Pararchaea alba (Malkaridae: Pararchaeinae)

Synopsis To capture prey otherwise unattainable by muscle function alone, some animal lineages have evolved movements that are driven by stored elastic energy, producing movements of remarkable speed and force. One such example that has evolved multiple times is a trap-jaw mechanism, in which the mouthparts of an animal are loaded with energy as they open to a wide gape and then, when triggered to close, produce a terrific force. Within the spiders (Araneae), this type of attack has thus far solely been documented in the palpimanoid family Mecysmaucheniidae but a similar morphology has also been observed in the distantly related araneoid subfamily Pararchaeinae, leading to speculation of a trap-jaw attack in that lineage as well. Here, using high-speed videography, we test whether cheliceral strike power output suggests elastic-driven movements in the pararchaeine Pararchaea alba. The strike speed attained places P. alba as a moderately fast striker exceeding the slowest mecysmaucheniids, but failing to the reach the most extreme high-speed strikers that have elastic-driven mechanisms. Using microcomputed tomography, we compare the morphology of P. alba chelicerae in the resting and open positions, and their related musculature, and based on results propose a mechanism for cheliceral strike function that includes a torque reversal latching mechanism. Similar to the distantly related trap-jaw mecysmaucheniid spiders, the unusual prosoma morphology in P. alba seemingly allows for highly maneuverable chelicerae with a much wider gape than typical spiders, suggesting that increasingly maneuverable joints coupled with a latching mechanism may serve as a precursor to elastic-driven movements.