Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of genetic algorithms and reinforcement learning for optimising sustainable forest management

Sustainable forest management is defined as “the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions [. ]. ” (MCPFE, 1994). As such, forest management has to satisfy multiple and often conflicting goals. Furthermore, forest planning is characterised by the long-term horizon of its outcomes. Since long-term plans are made in the face of uncertain futures, long-term sustainable forest management should incorporate some measure of risk. Uncertainty emerges from a variety of sources, including irregular or unknown fluctuations in the demand for timber, or the occurrence of extreme events. In addition, forest management is dynamic in time and space, for example, different stands have different properties, and the likelihood of stochastic events may change over time. Forest planning may be suboptimal if it ignores these sources of uncertainty and risk. Previous work on multi-objective optimisation in forest management has mainly used heuristic search methods. For example, Bettinger et al. (2002), Pukkala and Kurttila (2005) compare various heuristic optimisation techniques and conclude that Genetic Algorithms (GAs) perform well for more complex spatial problems. However, the studies did not investigate the algorithms' performance under uncertainty. Reinforcement Learning (RL) is an alternative approach for optimal policy selection. RL is a Machine Learning approach frequently used with agent-based systems (Sutton and Barto, 1998). Contemporary research using RL in the context of forest management has shown that it can find robust optimal solutions to multi-objective forest management problems, e.g. (Bone and Dragicevic, 2009). To further explore the potentials that RL provides over heuristic optimisation approaches, we perform a systematic comparison between RL and GA for sustainable forest management for tasks with increasing uncertainty.
TNF Receptor 2-Deficient CD8 T Cells Are Resistant to Fas/Fas Ligand-Induced Cell Death1

Apoptotic cell death plays a fundamental role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis in complex biological systems. It is also a major mechanism for keeping immune reactions in check. Members of the TNF family of receptors and cytokines are implicated in the regulation of apoptotic signals that shape the immune system. In this study, we have examined the role of three members of the TNFR family, Fas (CD95), TNFR1 (p55), and TNFR2 (p75), in inducing cell death in Con A-activated CD4 and CD8 T cells. It was found that Con A-activated p55−/− CD4 or CD8 T cells were highly resistant to TNF-induced cell death. By contrast, although activated p75−/− CD4 or CD8 T cells were killed by TNF, they were more resistant to TNF-induced killing when compared with p75+/+ cells, particularly at higher concentrations of TNF. We also determined whether activated p55−/− and p75−/− T cells differ in their sensitivity to cell death induced by TCR cross-linking. We found that activated p55−/− CD4 or CD8 T cells were equally susceptible to TCR-induced cell death. More interestingly, the loss of the p75 receptor conferred resistance to TCR-induced death in activated CD8, but not CD4 T cells. This resistance to TCR-induced death in activated p75−/− CD8 T cells correlated with the resistance of these cells to Fas/Fas ligand-induced cell death.
Optimization of selective contacts in si heterojunction photovoltaic cells considering fermi level pinning and interface passivation

Semiconducting metal oxides having proper band offset with Si can provide high carrier selective contacts resulting in metal/interlayer/absorber heterojunction solar cell. Previous results showed double heterojunction cell could outperform homojunction cell. Systematic study identifying the design pa­rameters of selective contacts is missing. In this paper, we have identified the design issues for Si heterojunction cell: metal Fermi level pinning, oxide doping and interface passivation. Our simulations show that these issues are important in optimized design of a carrier selective contact. The results suggest that high doping in the oxides and proper choice of metals can compensate for some of the drastic effects of poor interface passivation which is typically a problem observed in these cells. The simulation results are in agreement with experiment. This work will provide a better understanding of the effect of Fermi level pinning in heterojunction cells, which has mostly been ignored by the photovoltaics community, but is becoming increasingly important. We show that a heterojunction cell can replace highly doped emitter and back surface field resulting in high efficiency and low thermal budget fabrication.
An Introduction to Loop Quantum Gravity with Application to Cosmology

The development of a quantum theory of gravity has been ongoing in the theoretical physics community for about 80 years, yet it remains unsolved. In this dissertation, we review the loop quantum gravity approach and its application to cosmology, better known as loop quantum cosmology. In particular, we present the background formalism of the full theory together with its main result, namely the discreteness of space on the Planck scale. For its application to cosmology, we focus on the homogeneous isotropic universe with free massless scalar field. We present the kinematical structure and the features it shares with the full theory. Also, we review the way in which classical Big Bang singularity is avoided in this model. Specifically, the spectrum of the operator corresponding to the classical inverse scale factor is bounded from above, the quantum evolution is governed by a difference rather than a differential equation and the Big Bang is replaced by a Big Bounce.
The “Where” and “What” in Developmental Dyscalculia

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a congenital deficit that affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Individuals with DD have problems learning standard number facts and procedures. Estimates of the prevalence rate of DD are similar to those of developmental dyslexia. Recent reports and discussions suggest that those with DD suffer from specific deficits (e.g., subitizing, comparative judgment). Accordingly, DD has been described as a domain-specific disorder that involves particular brain areas (e.g., intra-parietal sulcus). However, we and others have found that DD is characterized by additional deficiencies and may be affected by domain-general (e.g., attention) factors. Hence “pure DD” might be rather rare and not as pure as one would think. We suggest that the heterogeneity of symptoms that commonly characterize learning disabilities needs to be taken into account in future research and treatment.
Transcriptional Profiling of Vibrio cholerae Recovered Directly from Patient Specimens during Early and Late Stages of Human Infection

ABSTRACT Understanding gene expression by bacteria during the actual course of human infection may provide important insights into microbial pathogenesis. In this study, we evaluated the transcriptional profile of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, in clinical specimens from cholera patients. We collected samples of human stool and vomitus that were positive by dark-field microscopy for abundant vibrios and used a microarray to compare gene expression in organisms recovered directly from specimens collected during the early and late stages of human infection. Our results reveal that V. cholerae gene expression within the human host environment differs from patterns defined in in vitro models of pathogenesis. tcpA, the major subunit of the essential V. cholerae colonization factor, was significantly more highly expressed in early than in late stages of infection; however, the genes encoding cholera toxin were not highly expressed in either phase of human infection. Furthermore, expression of the virulence regulators toxRS and tcpPH was uncoupled. Interestingly, the pattern of gene expression indicates that the human upper intestine may be a uniquely suitable environment for the transfer of genetic elements that are important in the evolution of pathogenic strains of V. cholerae. These findings provide a more detailed assessment of the transcriptome of V. cholerae in the human host than previous studies of organisms in stool alone and have implications for cholera control and the design of improved vaccines.
LINKED OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA AS BACKGROUNDKNOWLEDGE IN PREDICTING FOREST FIRE

Nowadays with linked open data, we can access numerous data over the world that more easily and semantically. This research focus on technique for accessing linked open government data LOGD from SPARQL Endpoint for resulting time series historical of Forest Fire data. Moreover, the data will automatically uses as background knowledge for predicting the number of forest fire and size of burn area with machine learning. By using this technique, LOGD could be used as an online background knowledge that provide time series data for predicting trend of fire disaster. In evaluation, mean square error MSE and root mean square error RMSE are used to evaluate the performance of prediction in this research. We also compare several algorithm such as Linear Regression, Neural Network and SVM in different window size. Keywords: Linked Open Government Data, Forest Fire Prediction, Time Series Data, Data Mining
The Impact of Community Based Health Insurance Schemes on Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Spending: Evidence from Rwanda

Achieving universal health coverage, including financial risk protection and access to quality essential health-care services, is one of the main Sustainable Development Goals. In low-income countries, innovative and affordable health financing systems are key to realize these goals. This paper assesses the impacts of Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme in Rwanda on health-related financial risks using a nationally representative household survey data collected over a ten-year period. We find that the scheme significantly reduce annual per capita out-of-pocket spending by about 3,600 Rwandan Franc (about US$12) or about 83 percent of average per capita healthcare expenditure compared to the baseline level in 2000.The impacts however favor the rich as compared to the poor. The program also reduces the incidence of catastrophic healthcare spending significantly.
Heterostructured hBN‐BP‐hBN Nanodetectors at Terahertz Frequencies

By reassembling thin isolated atomic planes of hexagonal borum nitride (hBN) with a few layer phosphorene black phosphorus (BP), hBN/BP/hBN heterostructures are mechanically stacked to devise high-efficiency THz photodetectors operating in the 0.3-0.65 THz range, from 4 K to 300 K, with a record signal-to-noise ratio of 20 000.
Psychosocial predictors of HIV/STI risk behaviours in a sample of homosexual men

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of STI/HIV risk behaviours in a sample of homosexual men and investigate the psychosocial and cognitive variables associated with these behaviours. Method: A sample of 123 users of a homosexual men’s sexual health clinic completed a questionnaire which included demographic information, psychometric measures, history of sexual risk behaviour, and history of non-consensual sex (NCS). Results: High rates of sexual risk were found in this sample behaviour (36% of men had risky sex in the previous month) despite using a narrower definition than other recent studies. Comparable rates of non-consensual sex were found in this sample (26% of the sample had experienced NCS); however, this variable was not directly linked to increased risk behaviour. Depression and cognitions associated with controllability or predictability of risk were associated with increased HIV/STI risk behaviour. Conclusions: Clinical measures of depression are associated with risk behaviour in this sample as are cognitions about the uncontrollability of risk and reducing chances of exposure to HIV by insertive sexual practices and fidelity. Demographic variables, a history of non-consensual sex and depression are not predictors of risk behaviour when sexual risk cognitions are used to predict unsafe sexual practices indicating that cognitions are foremost in driving risk behaviours, demographic variables, and the NCS history of the subject. Given the considerable costs of providing medical care to patients with HIV it is likely that even modest reductions in rates of HIV infection through proactive psychological interventions to modify erroneous cognitions will prove highly cost effective.
Health Literacy and Online Health Discussions of North American Black Women

ABSTRACT Purpose: Women increasingly use the Internet for healthcare information. This pilot study examined the use of online chat rooms as a potential health promotion resource for women of color. Design: A directed qualitative content analysis assessed discussions (2002/2003 and 2004/2005) from two Internet chat rooms targeted to North American, English-speaking Black women. Methods: Verbatim transcripts were assessed using Nutbeam's (2001) model of health literacy. Results: Chat 1 and Chat 2 had 18 and 54 messages, respectively. Transcript readability was below grade 8 level. Discussions provided information on healthy behaviors, social support, and provocation for political action. Conclusions: The chat rooms provided health promotion information and social support at recommended readability levels and are illustrative of contemporary reorientation of health promotion services.
Transcription patterns of Rhizobium meliloti symbiotic plasmid pSym: identification of nifA-independent fix genes

We performed a systematic survey of transcription of a large region of the Rhizobium meliloti symbiotic plasmid pSym. This led to the discovery of two new sequences induced during symbiosis. The first sequence was linked to the known nitrogen fixation (nif-fix) gene cluster, and its expression depended on the nifA gene product. The second sequence was a novel fix locus (M.-H. Renalier, J. Batut, J. Ghai, B. Terzaghi, M. Gherardi, M. David, A.-M. Garnerone, J. Vasse, G. Truchet, T. Huguet, and P. Boistard, J. Bacteriol. 169:2231-2238, 1987) whose expression was independent of the nifA gene product; therefore this fix locus undergoes a novel type of symbiotic regulation.
Adaptive Output Regulation of Heterogeneous Multiagent Systems Under Markovian Switching Topologies

This paper investigates the adaptive output regulation problem for heterogeneous linear multiagent systems under randomly switching communication topologies. The switching mechanism is governed by a time-homogeneous Markov process, whose states correspond to all possible communication topologies among agents. A novel distributed adaptive cooperative controller is presented, where the dynamic compensators are utilized to estimate the exogenous signal for all the agents in mean square sense. The distributed control law is based upon the local information of agents, without using the global information of the communication topologies. Finally, illustrative examples are put forward to demonstrate the effectiveness of the given control scheme.
Employee Satisfaction with Offshore Catering Job: Piloting for Interviews

Previous studies indicate that employee’s job satisfaction plays a major role in organizational performance. This study draws upon qualitative investigation with offshore catering employees; the main aim was to explore their satisfaction with the job. Although there have been a numerous number of studies, the area remains to experience range of grasps and ambiguity in this discourse. Shifting the focus from usual job setting where job satisfaction is commonly studied, researchers draw on the findings to gain insights into these differing understandings of offshore catering employees as they engaged in secluded and confined workplace. The pilot interview was carried out as impetus for a dissertation in constructing a bespoke job satisfaction instrument. In this small-scale pilot study, this study explored the job satisfaction experiences of Mark and Karl, two offshore catering employees. Data in the form of in-depth, semi-structured interviews identified 44 codes, indicating 10 dimensions of job satisfaction derived from the emerging themes. Evidently, the qualitative findings present meaningful attributes of job satisfaction among offshore catering employees. Apparently, findings of this study shed light on the need for future research to extend the scope of the study, bringing diverse cultures in order to improve the understanding of job satisfaction across a broader spectrum.
Dominant negative STAT 3 suppresses the growth and invasion capability of human lung cancer cells

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STaT3) is constitutively activated in diverse human cancers, including human lung cancer. in this study, STaT3β, a dominant negative (dn) form of STaT3, was used to block activated STAT3 in human lung cancer cells and to confirm the effects of dn STaT3 on lung cancer cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. The results showed that the pireS-STaT3β plasmid is efficiently transfected into and overexpressed in human lung cancer cells. Overexpressed STAT3β specifically blocked STaT3 transcriptional activation, inhibiting the proliferation and augmenting the apoptosis of human lung cancer cells. This was associated with the down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic gene bcl-xl and the cell cycle gene cyclin D1. Additionally, the invasive activity of A549 and PG cells was significantly inhibited by overexpressed STAT3β, and was accompanied by a decrease in matrix metalloproteinase-2 activation. These findings suggest that interfering with the DN STAT3, STAT3β, may induce potent antitumor activity. STaT3β is therefore a potential candidate for the treatment of human lung cancers with high metastasic ability.
Liquid crystal thermography and C reactive protein in the detection of deep venous thrombosis.

Comment Industrial and domestic use of liquid propane is increasing. Liquid propane is volatile; the boiling point at atmospheric pressure is -44°C. The gas is usually transported as a liquid under pressure at -64°C. The catastrophic consequences of igniting liquid propane have been reported. ' Injuries occasionally occur in the industry, but injuries from direct contact with propane are rarely seen. Spraying liquid propane on to the skin usually causes cold injury. Hicks et al showed that spraying the skin with propane for 12 seconds caused epidermal necrosis in animals. ) Spraying for 30 seconds caused dermal necrosis 24 hours later, and damage to the superficial muscle was seen five days later. The tissue freezes, which leads to cell damage and vascular thrombosis-similar to frostbite but more rapid with propane. Our two patients had what looked like a thermal injury, where the tissue feels warm and does not have to be warmed slowly as in prolonged exposure to cold. Neither patient had evidence of "frosting," and the appearance was similar to a scald. Spilling liquid propane directly on the skin caused deep necrosis in the first patient. The liquid propane vapourised on the warm tissues, causing rapid cooling of the surrounding tissue and resulting in a deeper injury than propane gas caused in the second patient. He was also protected by two layers of clothing. Initially, skin loss in both patients seemed to be superficial. Liquid propane is now used as a fuel for domestic heating systems, cars, camping, and caravaning. By law, containers for transporting liquid propane carry warnings of explosion but no warning of the danger of direct contact.
International study to compare antigen‐specific methods used for the measurement of antiplatelet autoantibodies

Platelet‐associated and plasma autoantibodies against platelet glycoproteins (GP) have been demonstrated in patients with autoimmune thrombocytopenia (AITP) using various methods. Eight laboratories in seven countries participated in this international study to evaluate the interlaboratory agreement using glycoprotein‐specific immunoassays for these autoantibodies. The participating laboratories received blind samples of frozen washed platelets and plasma from 22 normal donors and 22 AITP patients. Platelet‐associated and plasma autoantibodies against GPIIb–IIIa and GPIb–IX were measured by MAIPA, immunobead assay or modified antigen capture assay. Of the control samples, 96.0% and 97.2% of all results for platelet‐associated and plasma autoantibodies to GPIIb–IIIa/GPIb–IX, respectively, were negative. The mean variation coefficient of the control samples of platelet‐associated and plasma autoantibodies was 89.5% (range 11.1–272.9%) and 46.5% (range 21.0–78.0%), respectively. In 20/22 patient samples, platelet‐associated autoantibodies to either glycoprotein were noted by at least two laboratories. The mean degree of agreement in these samples was 74.0%. There was a significant correlation in the individual antibody measurements between all laboratories (Kendall coefficient of concordance 0.60 and 0.38, P < 0.001; Spearman rank order test, range of correlation coefficient 52.3–94.0% and 42.2–85.0%, P < 0.05, for anti‐GPIIb–IIIa and anti‐GPIb–IX, respectively). In contrast, plasma autoantibodies to either glycoprotein were noted by at least two laboratories in only 13/22 patient samples. Moreover, the degree of agreement was poor (50.1%) and a significant correlation was noted between only six pairs of laboratories. We conclude that methods used in this study yield good interlaboratory agreement in measuring platelet‐associated autoantibodies against GPIIb–IIIa and GPIb–IX. In contrast, poor agreement was found in detecting plasma autoantibodies to the same glycoproteins.
Can transcranial Doppler really detect reduced cerebral perfusion states?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This study was designed to determine whether transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) may detect reduced perfusion states of the brain in patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus with suspected cerebral atherosclerosis and arteriolosclerosis. METHODS We determined blood flow velocity with TCD in the middle cerebral artery and cerebrovascular vasodilator responses to carbon dioxide in 22 patients with or without carotid artery occlusive disease and minor stroke; we compared the results with the measurements of cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism by positron emission tomography (PET). RESULTS Blood flow velocity measured by TCD correlated with ipsilateral cerebral blood flow measured by PET in frontal, temporal, and striatal regions and throughout the entire hemisphere (P < .05 to P < .005). Relative changes in blood flow velocity and calculated cerebrovascular resistance tested by carbon dioxide inhalation both correlated closely with regional mean transit time (calculated as the ratio of cerebral blood volume divided by cerebral blood flow) in frontal, striatal, temporal, parietal, and occipital regions and also in the entire hemisphere (P < .05 to P < .0001). TCD variables did not correlate with hemispheric measurements of oxygen metabolism by PET. CONCLUSIONS Although TCD is not useful in assessing impairments of cerebral metabolism, it is useful for detecting abnormalities of cerebral hemodynamics among patients with risk factors for cerebrovascular disease.
A palmprint based recognition system for smartphone

This paper proposes a palmprint based human identification system for smartphone. It presents simple markers to the user for palmprint video acquisition and suggests a strategy to autimatically select the best frame for recognition. Performance of the system has been evaluated by using two popular feature extraction techniques viz. SIFT and ORB. Histogram equalization is used for image enhancement. A palmprint database of 51 users has been collected by using Samsung Galaxy Grand I-9082 smartphone to test the system. Experimental results have shown acceptable system performance by achieving correct recognition rate (CRR) and equal error rate (EER) of 96.07% and 5.5% respectively on the database.