Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two-Stage Adaptive Relay Selection and Power Allocation Strategy for Cooperative CR-NOMA Networks in Underlay Spectrum Sharing

In this paper, we consider a novel cooperative underlay cognitive radio network based on non-orthogonal multiple access (CR-NOMA) with adaptive relay selection and power allocation. In secondary networks, dedicated relay assistance and user assistance are used to achieve communication between the base station and the far (and near) user. Here, a two-stage adaptive relay selection and power allocation strategy is proposed to maximize the achievable data rate of the far user while ensuring the service quality of near user. Furthermore, the closed-form expressions of outage probability of two secondary users are derived, respectively, under interference power constraints, revealing the impact of transmit power, number of relays, interference threshold and target data rate on system outage probability. Numerical results and simulations validate the advantages of the established cooperation and show that the proposed adaptive relay selection and power allocation strategy has better outage performance.
Human resources in advanced environmental approaches–a case analysis

A weak organizational culture creates an environment that leads to inefficiencies in human resources. Both a weak organizational culture and inefficiencies in human resources are major barriers to the implementation of environmental action processes. However, very few studies have been published in this area. The objective of this study, therefore, is to conduct an exploratory case analysis and develop some proposals based on the conclusions arrived at. We have analyzed a total of 8 factories to ensure a sufficient number of sources of information. Some factors linked to organizational culture and the human resource management in a factory that favour environmental performance were found.
Deep Hybrid Convolutional Neural Network for Segmentation of Melanoma Skin Lesion

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that often leads to poor prognostic responses and survival rates. Melanoma usually develops in the limbs, including in fingers, palms, and the margins of the nails. When melanoma is detected early, surgical treatment may achieve a higher cure rate. The early diagnosis of melanoma depends on the manual segmentation of suspected lesions. However, manual segmentation can lead to problems, including misclassification and low efficiency. Therefore, it is essential to devise a method for automatic image segmentation that overcomes the aforementioned issues. In this study, an improved algorithm is proposed, termed EfficientUNet++, which is developed from the U-Net model. In EfficientUNet++, the pretrained EfficientNet model is added to the UNet++ model to accelerate segmentation process, leading to more reliable and precise results in skin cancer image segmentation. Two skin lesion datasets were used to compare the performance of the proposed EfficientUNet++ algorithm with other common models. In the PH2 dataset, EfficientUNet++ achieved a better Dice coefficient (93% vs. 76%–91%), Intersection over Union (IoU, 96% vs. 74%–95%), and loss value (30% vs. 44%–32%) compared with other models. In the International Skin Imaging Collaboration dataset, EfficientUNet++ obtained a similar Dice coefficient (96% vs. 94%–96%) but a better IoU (94% vs. 89%–93%) and loss value (11% vs. 13%–11%) than other models. In conclusion, the EfficientUNet++ model efficiently detects skin lesions by improving composite coefficients and structurally expanding the size of the convolution network. Moreover, the use of residual units deepens the network to further improve performance.
Antibacterial Effect of Nymphaea lotus (Linn) Extracts on Enteric Bacteria Isolated from River Ogbese, Nigeria

The increase in multidrug resistance pathogenic bacteria and decrease in efficiency of existing antibiotics is a serious global health concern which call for development of new alternative medicine and continuous research for new classes of antimicrobial agents that can be effective in destroying these multidrug resistant pathogens without or with minimal side effect and at an affordable cost. N. lotus has been reported to possess some amount of phytochemicals such as phenols, tannins, saponins, steroids, proanthocyanidins and flavanols which may serve as an effective antimicrobial agent. This study was aimed at determining the antibacterial effect of Nymphaea lotus (Linn) extracts on enteric bacteria isolated from River Ogbese, Nigeria. Water samples were collected every week for a period of sixteen (16) weeks aseptically and transported to the laboratory for microbiological and physicochemical examinations; enteric bacteria were isolated from the water samples using membrane filtration method. Bioactive components of N. lotus were extracted using Ethanol, water and N-Hexane solvents. In-vitro antibacterial effect of N. lotus extracts was assayed using agar well diffusion technique. Results showed Shigella and faecal coliforms had the highest occurrence in the water samples at (30.19%) followed by Salmonella (20.76%) and Escherichia coli (18.87%). Physicochemical characteristics of water samples from River Ogbese showed that water temperature ranged from 22.00 to 28.10 ℃, turbidity ranged from 2.00 to 33.80 NTU and phosphate ranged from 5.45 to 68.57 mg/L respectively. Whilst the isolates had the highest total percentage resistance to Augmentin at 20.03 %, ethanol extract of N. lotus exhibited the highest mean zone of inhibition of 24.67±0.67 mm against the isolates at 100 mg/mL respectively. The findings from this study suggest N. lotus extracts to be effective in the treatment of enteric infections that may occur as a result of consumption or contact with faecal impacted water.
Brace Fractures and Analysis of Phase I Structure

Bracing members in concentrically braced structures may be subjected to large cyclic deformations in post-buckling range during a severe earthquake causing possible early fractures. This paper investigates the phenomenon and presents an empirical criterion to predict the fracture of rectangular tubular bracing members. The criterion includes two parts: normalizing axial deformation cycles into standard cycles, and predicting the fracture life of the bracing members in terms of the standard cycles. The criterion is incorporated into DRAIN-2DM, a general purpose computer program for dynamic analysis of inelastic structures. The U.S.-Japan Phase I test structure, a six-story, two-bay by two-bay steel structure with concentric bracing, is analyzed using the criterion and analytical results are compared with the test results.
Parameter and topology uncertainty for optimal experimental design

A major effort of systems biology is the building of accurate and detailed models of biological systems. Because biological models are large, complex, and highly nonlinear, building accurate models requires large quantities of data and algorithms appropriate to translate this data into a model of the underlying system. This thesis describes the development and application of several algorithms for simulation, quantification of uncertainty, and optimal experimental design for reducing uncertainty. We applied a previously described algorithm for choosing optimal experiments for reducing parameter uncertainty as estimated by the Fisher information matrix. We found, using a computational scenario where the true parameters were unknown, that the parameters of the model could be recovered from noisy data in a small number of experiments if the experiments were chosen well. We developed a method for quickly and accurately approximating the probability distribution over a set of topologies given a particular data set. The method was based on a linearization applied at the maximum a posteriori parameters. This method was found to be about as fast as existing heuristics but much closer to the true probability distribution as computed by an expensive Monte Carlo routine. We developed a method for optimal experimental design to reduce topology uncertainty based on the linear method for topology probability. This method was a Monte Carlo method that used the linear method to quickly evaluate the topology uncertainty that would result from possible data sets of each candidate experiment. We applied the method to a model of ErbB signaling. Finally, we developed a method for reducing the size of models defined as rule-based models. Unlike existing methods, this method handles compartments of models and allows for cycles between monomers. The methods developed here generally improve the detail at which models can be built, as well as quantify how well they have been built and suggest experiments to build them even better. Thesis Supervisor: Bruce Tidor Title: Professor of Biological Engineering and Computer Science
Effect of acute alcohol intoxication on scale-free neural activity in the lateral septum in rats

Electrophysiological recordings of brain activity show both oscillatory dynamics that typically are analyzed in the time-frequency domain to describe brain oscillatory phenomena and scale-free arrhythmic activity defined as neural noise. Recent studies consider this arrhythmic fractal dynamics of neural noise as a sensitive biomarker of a number of cognitive processes, activity of neurotransmitter systems, changes that accompany neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders including alcohol use disorder. We tested the changes in neural noise induced by acute alcohol intoxication in the lateral septum for the entire spectrum (1–200 Hz) of local field potential signal and for frequency specific ranges (delta, theta, beta, gamma and epsilon bands). Five male Wistar rats were implanted with intracranial electrodes and local field potential signal was measured for baseline activity and activity induced by acute ethanol intoxication (2 g/kg). Change in neural noise dynamics was assessed as a change in the slope of linear regression fit of power spectral density curves in double logarithmic scale. In our study alcohol resulted in lower incline of scale-free activity in the lateral septum for high frequency range and for the whole spectrum, which is interpreted generally as increase in neural noise and change in neuronal processing in a more stochastic way initiated by the acute alcohol intoxication. At the same time, we observed decrease in neural noise for low frequency range. The observed changes may be related to the shift of the excitatory-inhibitory balance towards inhibition and changes in neurotransmission mostly in the GABAergic system. Scale-free activity was sensitive in the conditions of acute alcohol intoxication, therefore to understand its role in alcohol use disorder we need more data and studies on the underlying processes. Future studies should include simultaneous recordings and analysis of arrhythmic dynamics with the oscillatory and multiunit spiking activity in the lateral septum. It can reveal the contribution of different-scale processes in changes driven by acute alcohol intoxication and clarify the specific electrophysiological mechanisms.
Modeling a Ground Water Circulation Well Alternative

Ground water circulation wells (GCWs) provide an appealing alternative to typical pump‐and‐treat ground water remediation systems because of the inherent resource‐conservative nature of the GCW systems. GCW performance prediction is challenging because the consideration of extraction and recharge in a single well is unusual for most practitioners, the technology is relatively new, and a meaningful body of literature has not been published. A three‐part evaluation process using state‐of‐the‐practice numerical ground water flow and mass transport models was developed for application during GCW pilot studies at the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant site. A small‐scale ground water flow model was developed during the pilot study planning process to predict the system performance and to locate performance‐measuring monitoring wells. Key predictions included the capture zone predicted to develop upgradient of the GCW, the downgradierit GCW recharge zone, and the circulation zone centered on the GCW. The flow model was subsequently verified using ground water elevation data and contaminant concentration data collected during pilot study operation. Aquifer parameters were reestimated as a result of the verification process. Those parameter values were used as input to a larger scale model, which was used to develop a remedial alternative consisting of multiple GCW systems.
Penentuan Kebutuhan Tenaga di RS HVA Toeloengredjo dengan Metode Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) untuk Efisiensi Sumber Daya Manusia

Rumah sakit harus mampu memenuhi kebutuhan tenaga kerja secara efisien tanpa mengorbankan kualitas pelayanan, guna meningkatkan daya saingnya. Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) adalah suatu metode untuk menghitung kebutuhan tenaga kerja berdasarkan beban kerja. Metode yang digunakan adalah Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN). Metode ini membandingkan kondisi ketenagaan riil dengan hasil penghitungan WISN. Dari rasio WISN bisa diketahui kelebihan atau kekurangan tenaga kerja yang ada. Unit yang diteliti ada 19 sub-divisi dari Divisi Pelayanan medis, Divisi Penunjang Medis dan Divisi Keperawatan. Dari penghitungan WISN terhadap 19 sub-divisi dihasilkan kebutuhan tenaga berdasarkan beban kerja tahun 2012 sebesar 158 orang dan saat ini terdapat 199 orang, sehingga terdapat kelebihan 41 orang. Rasio WISN yang dihasilkan sebesar 1,26 menunjukkan terjadi kelebihan tenaga lebih dari 25% dari kebutuhan yang ada. Kelebihan tenaga kerja dari penghitungan WISN dikarenakan rendahnya kegiatan di beberapa unit pelayanan. Penyebab yang lain karena ada unit pelayanan dan unit penunjang yang dibuka 24 jam tujuh hari per mingguuntuk memberikan keunggulan pelayanan kepada pasien. Untuk memenangkan persaingan antar rumah sakit dengan menonjolkan pelayanan yang cepat dan berkualitas, pihak manajemen rumah sakit harus memenuhi kebutuhan tenaga kerja di unit pelayanan dengan melebihi dari kebutuhan beban kerja yang ada. Pelayanan yang cepat, tepat waktu, jam pelayanan, dan luas area rumah sakit memberikan pengaruh dalam pemenuhan kebutuhan tenaga kerja.Kata Kunci: Beban kerja, efisiensi, sumber daya manusia, WISN
Impact of Iron Status on Thyroid Function: A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Nepal

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the world. The relation between thyroid hormones and iron status is bidirectional. The aim of this study was to assess iron nutrition status and evaluate its relationship with thyroid hormone profile among children of Eastern Nepal. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in eastern Nepal. A total of 200 school children aged 6-12 years were recruited after taking informed consent from their guardians. Blood samples were collected and assayed for free thyroid hormones (fT3 and fT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC) concentration and percentage transferrin saturation was calculated. Results: The mean serum iron and TIBC was 74.04 µg/dl and 389.38 µg/dl respectively. The median transferring saturation was 19.21%. The overall prevalence of iron deficiency (Transferrin saturation < 16%) was 34% (n=68). The mean concentration of fT3 and fT4 was 2.87 pg/ml and 1.21 ng/dl respectively, while the median TSH concentration was 3.03 mIU/L. Median TSH concentration in iron deficient group (3.11 µg/dl) and iron sufficient group (2.91 µg/dl) was not significantly different. Among iron deficient children 5.9% had subclinical hypothyroidism (n=4). Iron status indicators were not significantly correlated with thyroid profile parameters in the study population. Conclusions: The prevalence of iron deficiency is high and iron deficiency does not significantly alter the thyroid hormone profile in the study region.
Effective Clustering for Single Cell Sequencing Cancer Data

Single cell sequencing (SCS) technologies provide a level of resolution that makes it indispensable for inferring from a sequenced tumor, evolutionary trees or phylogenies representing an accumulation of cancerous mutations. A drawback of SCS is elevated false negative and missing value rates, resulting in a large space of possible solutions, which in turn makes it difficult, sometimes infeasible using current approaches and tools. One possible solution is to reduce the size of an SCS instance — usually represented as a matrix of presence, absence, and uncertainty of the mutations found in the different sequenced cells — and to infer the tree from this reduced-size instance. In this work, we present a new clustering procedure aimed at clustering such categorical vector, or matrix data — here representing SCS instances, called celluloid. We show that celluloid clusters mutations with high precision: never pairing too many mutations that are unrelated in the ground truth, but also obtains accurate results in terms of the phylogeny inferred downstream from the reduced instance produced by this method. We demonstrate the usefulness of a clustering step by applying the entire pipeline (clustering + inference method) to a real dataset, showing a significant reduction in the runtime, raising considerably the upper bound on the size of SCS instances which can be solved in practice. Our approach, celluloid: clustering single cell sequencing data around centroids is available at https://github.com/AlgoLab/celluloid/ under an MIT license, as well as on the Python Package Index (PyPI) at https://pypi.org/project/celluloid-clust/
A self-balancing resistance bridge

The design and performance of an automatic, four-terminal resistance bridge for low temperature resistance thermometry are described. An overall accuracy of 0.5% and a resolution of 1 part in 1000 are achieved with a 10-12 W sensor dissipation. Continuous analogue balancing is employed to yield a maximum response time of 7 s for a step change of one decade in the resistance. Experiments on three different developmental self-balancing bridges are also discussed.
Experimental Study on the Collapse Strength of Narrow Stiffened Panels

The results of four tests on narrow stiffened panels under axial compression until collapse and beyond are presented to investigate the ultimate strength of stiffened panels. Tension tests are used to evaluate the material properties of the stiffened panels. The tests are made on panels with two half bays plus one full bay in the longitudinal direction. Initial loading cycles were used to relief the residual stresses of the stiffener panels. The strain gauges are set on the plates and stiffeners to record the distribution of strain. The displacement load relationship is established. The ultimate strength behavior, modes of failure and load-carrying capacity of the stiffened panels are investigated with the experiment.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Winning at new products : accelerating the process from idea to launch

The landmark book that defines successful product development-revised, updated, and expanded for the next generation of product leaders. For over a decade, Winning at New Products has served as the bible for product developers everywhere. In this fully updated and expanded edition, Robert Cooper demonstrates with compelling evidence why consistent product development is so vital to corporate growth and how to maximize your chances of success. By any measure, most product concepts never make it to market, and of those that do, most fail. Winning at New Products cites the most recent research and showcases innovative practices at such industry leaders as 3M, Exxon Chemical, and Guinness to present a field-tested game plan for achieving product leadership. Cooper outlines specific strategies for assessing risk, marshalling the appropriate resources, engaging customers in the pre-development discovery phase, evaluating your project portfolio, ensuring true cross-functional collaboration, and, most importantly, applying a rigorous process for making sound business decisions at every step-from idea generation to launch.
The Making of Catalogues of Very-High-Energy γ-ray Sources

Thirty years after the discovery of the first very-high-energy γ-ray source by the Whipple telescope, the field experienced a revolution mainly driven by the third generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). The combined use of large mirrors and the invention of the imaging technique at the Whipple telescope, stereoscopic observations, developed by the HEGRA array and the fine-grained camera, pioneered by the CAT telescope, led to a jump by a factor of more than ten in sensitivity. The advent of advanced analysis techniques led to a vast improvement in background rejection, as well as in angular and energy resolutions. Recent instruments already have to deal with a very large amount of data (petabytes), containing a large number of sources often very extended (at least within the Galactic plane) and overlapping each other, and the situation will become even more dramatic with future instruments. The first large catalogues of sources have emerged during the last decade, which required numerous, dedicated observations and developments, but also made the first population studies possible. This paper is an attempt to summarize the evolution of the field towards the building up of the source catalogues, to describe the first population studies already made possible, and to give some perspectives in the context of the upcoming, new generation of instruments.
Finite element analysis and theoretical study of punching shear strength of concrete bridge decks

The problem of punching shear usually arises in reinforced concrete slabs subjected to concentrated loads and particularly in concrete bridge decks due to development of an internal arching system. Ongoing research revealed that the governing mode of failure of concrete bridge decks is not flexure and that using a flexural design method usually led to unnecessary high levels of steel reinforcement. This paper examines the applicability of nonlinear finite element formulation of restrained concrete bridge decks. A general purpose finite element program ANACAP was employed in this study. The accuracy of the nonlinear finite element analysis is demonstrated using test results conducted by other researchers. The results of the finite element analysis are also compared with those obtained from a rational model. The experimental results and the theoretical model provide insight to the fundamental behavior of concrete bridge decks.Key words: bridges, concrete, deflections, FRP, punching, reinforcement, slabs.