Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Big data: a new perspective on cities

The recent availability of large amounts of data for urban systems opens the exciting possibility of a new science of cities. These datasets can roughly be divided into three large categories according to their time scale. We will illustrate each category by an example on a particular aspect of cities. At small time scales (of order a day or less), mobility data provided by cell phones and GPS reveal urban mobility patterns but also provide information about the spatial organization of urban systems. At very large scales, the digitalization of historical maps allows us to study the evolution of infrastructure such as road networks, and permits us to distinguish on a quantitative basis self-organized growth from top-down central planning. Finally at intermediate time scales, we will show how socio-economical series provide a nice test for modeling and identifying fundamental mechanisms governing the structure and evolution of urban systems. All these examples illustrate, at various degrees, how the empirical analysis of data can help in constructing a theoretically solid approach to urban systems, and to understand the elementary mechanisms that govern urbanization leaving out specific historical, geographical, social, or cultural factors. At this period of human history that experiences rapid urban expansion, such a scientific approach appears more important than ever in order to understand the impact of current urban planning decisions on the future evolution of cities. Big data and urban systems A common trait shared by all complex systems – including cities – is the existence of a large variety of processes occurring over awide range of time and spatial scales.The main obstacle to the understanding of these systems therefore resides at least in uncovering the hierarchy of processes and in singling out the few that govern their dynamics. Albeit difficult, the hierarchization of processes is of prime importance. A failure to do so leads either to modelswhich are too complex to give any real insight into the phenomenon or to be validated, or too simple to provide a satisfactory framework which can be built upon. As a matter of fact, despite numerous attempts [1–6], a theoretical understanding of many observed empirical regularities in cities is still missing. This situation is, however, changing with the recent availability of an unprecedented amount of data about cities and their inhabitants.
Housing wealth, income and financial wealth of older people in Britain

This paper explores the housing wealth of older people in Britain in relation to their incomes and financial wealth. Family Expenditure Survey data for 1992/3 to 1993/4 are used to assess the extent to which housing wealth could alleviate income poverty in old age. A range of poverty and housing wealth thresholds are used. Although housing wealth increases with both income and financial wealth, the analysis suggests that there are non-negligible proportions of low income older people who could generate small supplements to their incomes by converting the wealth tied up in their homes into an income stream, but in few cases would this be sufficient to pay for long-term residential care for any length of time.
Root Plasma Membrane Transporters Controlling K+/Na+ Homeostasis in Salt-Stressed Barley1[C][W]

Plant salinity tolerance is a polygenic trait with contributions from genetic, developmental, and physiological interactions, in addition to interactions between the plant and its environment. In this study, we show that in salt-tolerant genotypes of barley (Hordeum vulgare), multiple mechanisms are well combined to withstand saline conditions. These mechanisms include: (1) better control of membrane voltage so retaining a more negative membrane potential; (2) intrinsically higher H+ pump activity; (3) better ability of root cells to pump Na+ from the cytosol to the external medium; and (4) higher sensitivity to supplemental Ca2+. At the same time, no significant difference was found between contrasting cultivars in their unidirectional 22Na+ influx or in the density and voltage dependence of depolarization-activated outward-rectifying K+ channels. Overall, our results are consistent with the idea of the cytosolic K+-to-Na+ ratio being a key determinant of plant salinity tolerance, and suggest multiple pathways of controlling that important feature in salt-tolerant plants.
Numerical study of some influencing parameters on melting process of phase change storage units integrated with a solar water heater

This work theoretically analyzes the melting process of a phase change material (PCM) packed in thermal energy storage units. The units are filled with paraffin wax and inserted in the water storage tank of a solar water heater to improve the storage capacity. A computer program was built to simulate the performance of the whole system during a typical day between 8 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. The simulation period was divided into small time intervals of 10 seconds. The Finite Difference Method (FDM) was used to analyze the melting process of the PCM units. Each unit was discretized into a large number of nodes forming a two dimensional grid. The effect of three PCM parameters were studied which are the shape, volume and surface area. The cross-sectional shape included square, annular square, circular and circular annulus bars. It was found that the circular sections provide higher melt ratio than the square sections and that the annular sections are more effective than the solid sections. Increasing the PCM surface area at constant PCM volume significantly increases the melt ratio for all PCM shapes. The system equipped with PCM having the least volume operates more effectively than a system with larger PCM volumes.
A Chitin Nanofiber Ink for Airbrushing, Replica Molding, and Microcontact Printing of Self‐assembled Macro‐, Micro‐, and Nanostructures

Figure 1 . a) Chitin nanofi ber ink: a solution of chitin and hexfl uoro-2-isopropyl alcohol leads to monodispersed 3 nm chitin nanofi bers upon drying, b) setup for chitin nanofi ber ink airbrushing using a commercially available tool with a 18 degree spray angle, c) airbrushed transparent chitin nanofi ber fi lm (200 s, 0.1% (w/v)) lifted out from a Tefl on mold (scale bar 1 cm). The ability to precisely manipulate, localize, and assemble biological and bioinspired molecules into organized structures has contributed to great advances in bionanotechnology. [ 1–3 ] These advances include bioelectronics, [ 4 , 5 ] biophotonics, [ 6–9 ] tissue engineering, [ 10–13 ] and regenerative medicine. [ 14 , 15 ] To produce well organized structures, self-assembly of nanoscale molecular blocks is particularly attractive when complemented with gentle top-down fabrication methods. [ 16 ] In this fashion, deterministic macroand microstructure control can be obtained without disrupting the delicate nanoscale molecular self-assembly process. Here, we introduce a novel fabrication strategy based on a “chitin nanofi ber ink” that self-assembles into 3 nm chitin nanofi bers upon drying [ 17 ] ( Figure 1 a ). Chitin (poly ( β -(1,4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) and chitosan (poly ( β -(1-4)-D-glucosamine) are promising for a variety of biomedical applications including wound dressing and sutures, tissue engineering scaffolds, and biocompatible devices. [ 18 ] Chitin and chitosan are naturally abundant, mechanically stable, biodegradable, nontoxic, and physiologically inert. [ 19 ] While water-soluble chitosan microfabrication has been demonstrated, [ 20–23 ] patterning and integration of self-assembled chitin nanostructures has been elusive. Chitin insolubility in water and common organic solvents typically limits chitin nanofi bers to electrospinning, [ 24 ]
Blind Feedforward Symbol-Timing Estimation With PSK Signals: A Constant-Modulus Approach

In this letter, the problem of blind symbol-timing estimation with M-ary phase-shift keying (M-PSK) signals is considered. An estimator exploiting the constant modulus (CM) property of M-PSK constellations and the structure of the received signal when the convolution of the transmitter's signaling pulse and the receiver filter satisfies the Nyquist criterion is proposed. Since the derived estimator, termed the CM estimator, requires a maximization with respect to a continuous variable, a closed-form approximate CM (ACM) algorithm, suitable for digital implementation, is proposed. Computer simulation results show that with small excess bandwidth factors, the derived ACM algorithm outperforms previously proposed algorithms at moderate and high signal-to-noise ratios
Lecture Notes - Source Localization from Range-Difference Measurements

This paper considers the problem of locating a radiating source from range-difference observations. This specific source localization problem has received significant attention for at least 20 years, and several solutions have been proposed to solve it either approximately or exactly. However, some of these solutions have not been described clearly, and confusions seem to persist. This paper aims to clarify and streamline the most successful solutions. It introduces a new closed-form approximate solution, and briefly comments on the related problem of source localization from energy or range measurements
A Routing Protocol for Utilizing Code Resources in Tactical Ad Hoc Networks with a Single Transceiver

A tactical ad hoc network is usually divided into several subnets by Code Division Multiple Access with frequency hopping sequences. In practice, the number of subnets needed in common tactical task is much lower than the theoretical networking capacity, which causes serious code resource waste. To make full use of idle code resources, we present a single-transceiver multi-channel routing protocol based on MCRP, named virtual dual-channel routing protocol (VDCRP). To overcome the disadvantages of serious overhead and high end-to-end delay of MCRP caused by employing multi-channel broadcast mechanism in multi-channel network environment, this proposed protocol provides a single-channel split-phase broadcast mechanism (SCSP) and a new metric called virtual dual-channel metric (VDCM). SCSP consists of control channel and data channel, which divides time frame into negotiation phase and data phase. In negotiation phase, all nodes exchange routing packets on the control channel. In data phase, all communication node pairs transmit and receive data packets on the data channel. We design the metric VDCM by considering both inter-flow interference and channel switching cost. Our simulation results show that compared to MCRP, VDCRP has higher resource utilization efficiency and lower ETE delay in multi-channel environment. Key-Words:virtual dual-channel networking scheme; code division multiple access; broadcast mechanism; routing metric; split phase; network throughput; average end-to-end delay
Services to Support Use and Development of Speech Input for Multilingual Multimodal Applications for Mobile Scenarios

—Speech is our most natural form of interaction. Developing speech input modalities for several languages, combining speech recognition and understanding, presents various difficulties. While automatic translators ease the translation of normal text, the adaptation of grammars for several languages is currently performed based on an ad hoc approach. In this paper, we present a novel service that enables a multilingual speech input modality and helps developers in the creation of the grammars for different languages. The service itself uses two additional services for parsing and translation. The use of the service is exemplified in the context of AAL PaeLife project multilingual personal assistant.
Tasks, Ensembles, and Activity

This article is concerned with characterizing literacy activity as it is practiced in professional workplaces. Its starting point is activity theory, which grew out of the work of Vygotsky and has been subsequently elaborated in Russia and elsewhere. First, the authors propose that existing versions of activity theory are unable to account adequately for practical human activity in contemporary workplaces, and present a revised perspective that opens the way for new theoretical developments. Second, they elaborate two new constructs, task and work ensemble, and apply them to a short collaborative writing sequence collected in the field. Both constructs are seen to account in a substantive way for the structure of the composing activity carried out by the collaborators. They close with a discussion of the complementarity and theoretical advantages of the two constructs.
In Vitro and In Vivo Biochemical Evaluations of the Methanolic Leaf Extract of Garcinia kola

Garcinia kola Heckel (Guttiferae) leaves have received limited scientific attention despite their traditionally acclaimed medicinal properties. The scavenging ability of the methanolic leaf extract (MLE) of G. kola was assayed for hydroxyl radical (OH•), superoxide anion (O2 −), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), azinobis-3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS•+), and lipid peroxidation (LP) activity in egg yolk, rat liver, and brain homogenates. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extract were also evaluated. Group I animals were given oral doses of water, whereas Group II and Group III animals received 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight (bw) MLE, respectively, for 14 days. Plasma glucose, magnesium, γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT/γGT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine, and urea were evaluated. Hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), LP, and liver histopathological appearance were also assessed. The extract scavenged OH•, O2 −, DPPH, and ABTS•+ and inhibited LP in egg yolk, rat liver, and brain homogenates. Furthermore, oral administration of the extract showed no adverse effects on hepatic and renal function tests. Increased hepatic GSH and nonsignificant changes in LP, GPx and SOD activities, and liver histology were observed. These results suggest that G. kola leaves have antioxidant activities which may have application in traditional medicine.
Comparison of 0.5% Ropivacaine and 0.5% Bupivacaine in Lumbar Epidural Anaesthesia for Lower Limb Orthopaedic Surgery

The purpose of this study was to compare the epidural use of 0.5% ropivacaine and 0.5% bupivacaine in patients undergoing lower limb orthopaedic surgery. In a double-blind, randomized, multi-centre study involving 67 patients, thirty-two patients received 20 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine and 35 patients received 20 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine at the L2,3 or L3,4 interspace. Parameters measured were the onset time, duration and spread of sensory block, the onset time, duration and degree of motor block, the quality of anaesthesia and the heart rate and blood pressure profile during block onset. Four patients (3 ropivacaine, 1 bupivacaine) were excluded from the study due to technical failure of the block. The onset and duration of analgesia at the T10 dermatome (median, interquartile range) was 10 (5-15) minutes and 3.5 (2.7-4.3) hours respectively for ropivacaine, and was 10 (6-15) minutes and 3.4 (2.5-3.8) hours respectively for bupivacaine. Maximum block height (median, range) was T6 (T2-T12) for ropivacaine and T6 (C7-T10) for bupivacaine. Nine patients receiving ropivacaine and eight patients receiving bupivacaine developed no apparent motor block. The incidence of complete motor block (Bromage grade 3) was low in both groups, being 4/27 for ropivacaine and 6/34 for bupivacaine. In the ropivacaine group, motor and sensory block were judged to be satisfactory in 78% of patients. In the bupivacaine group, motor and sensory block were judged to be satisfactory in 71% and 62% of patients respectively. Cardiovascular changes were similar in both groups. No statistical differences were found between the two groups regarding any of the study parameters.
WAVELET TRANSFORMS FOR QUALITY ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

We propose a process control and analysis technique for two-dimensional, irregular-shaped parts whose digitized images are transformed of a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) algorithm. Image processing methods are applied to obtain two-dimensional part profiles and changed to one-dimensional boundary discrete signal in order to simplify computation complexity. Wavelet transform is employed to extract " signature " of the signal. Wavelet coefficients, which are arranged in layers, are chosen for the signal compact representation. Simulation tests are made to study the relationship between sample size and wavelet coefficient statistics that are useful to distinguish dimensional variations among parts due to production inperfection. Initial results show that this technique is very promising for automatic inspection and quality control in modern production environments.
Facing herbivory on the climb up: Lost opportunities as the main cost of herbivory in the wild yam Dioscorea praehensilis

Abstract Plants with simple architecture and strong constraints on their growth may offer critical insights into how growth strategies affect the tolerance of plants to herbivory. Although Dioscorea praehensilis, a wild yam of African forests, is perennial, both aerial apparatus and tuber are annually renewed. Each year, the tuber produces a single stem that climbs from the ground to the forest canopy. This stem bears no leaves and no branches until it reaches optimal light conditions. Once in the canopy, the plant's production fuels the filling of a new tuber before the plant dies back to the ground. We hypothesized that if deprived of ant defense, the leafless growth phase is a vulnerable part of the cycle, during which a small amount of herbivory entails a high cost in terms of loss of opportunity. We compared the growth of stems bearing ants or not as well as of intact stems and stems subjected to simulated or natural herbivory. Ants reduce herbivory; herbivory delays arrival to the canopy and shortens the season of production. Artificially prolonging the stem growth to the canopy increased plant mortality in the following year and, in surviving plants, reduced the stem diameter and likely the underground reserves produced. Tuber size is a key variable in plant performance as it affects both the size of the aerial apparatus and the duration of its single season of production. Aerial apparatus and tuber are thus locked into a cycle of reciprocal annual renewal. Costs due to loss of opportunity may play a major role in plant tolerance to herbivory, especially when architectural constraints interact with ecological conditions to shape the plant's growth strategy.
Identifying the Markers of History: Teachers and Researchers Describe the Assessment of Historical Knowledge and Understanding

Although standardized testing of K-12 student knowledge and understanding garners considerable attention, few observers profess satisfaction with the assessments in place. In this exploratory paper, we report on the data gathered from an open-ended email survey of small, convenience samples of teachers and researchers. Although no clear consensus about alternative assessments of students’ historical knowing and understanding emerged, we argue that the potential for a consensus exists. Any emergent consensus, however, must be negotiated with several issues in mind.
Flexibilidade organizacional : analise de uma experiencia de organização e divisão do trabalho por processo em ambiente de P&D

Este estudo teve por objetivo principal analisar se o modelo de organizacao e divisao do trabalho, baseado em processos, adotado por unidades de pesquisa da Embrapa, implicou em um modelo de gestao mais flexivel, em comparacao com a estrutura por funcao. Foi desenvolvido, validado e aplicado um instrumento de pesquisa, com 28 questoes relativas a diferentes aspectos de modelos flexiveis de gestao, contendo respostas padronizadas com escala de concordância do tipo likert, com cinco pontos, onde "1" significou discordância total e "5" concordância total. A pesquisa foi direcionada ao segmento da gerencia intermediaria da Embrapa, constituida por aproximadamente 800 empregados, lotados em unidades de pesquisa estruturadas por processo e unidades estruturadas por funcao, a amostra pesquisada foi constituida por 339 empregados. A analise fatorial indicou a unidimensionalidade do instrumento de pesquisa e foram calculadas as medias e desvio padrao dos diferentes grupos que embasaram as comparacoes: a) processo X funcao; b) gestores X nao gestores; c) supervisores de setor ou processo X ex-ocupantes de funcao gratificada; d) gerentes de objetivo estrategico X ex-ocupantes de funcao gratificada. Na comparacao, entre os grupos processo e funcao, os resultados indicaram nao haver diferenca significativa quanto a percepcao relacionada a flexibilidade organizacionaL Nessa analise, as medias apresentadas pelo grupo funcao e pelo grupo processo, foram, respectivamente, 2,94 e 2,96, estatisticamente nao diferentes. Nas comparacoes entre os diferentes grupos funcionais, a percepcao de tendencia a flexibilidade organizacional, foi mais acentuada entre os supervisores de setor e os supervisores de processo, os quais apresentaram uma percepcao um pouco acima do ponto medio da escala, com media de 3,14. O grupo dos gerentes de objetivo apresentou a menor percepcao quanto a tendencia para a flexibilidade organizacional em todas as comparacoes realizadas. Ao final do estudo sao feitas recomendacoes para pesquisas complementares Abstract
Genotyping and Phylogenetic Analysis of Yersinia pestis by MLVA: Insights into the Worldwide Expansion of Central Asia Plague Foci

Background The species Yersinia pestis is commonly divided into three classical biovars, Antiqua, Medievalis, and Orientalis, belonging to subspecies pestis pathogenic for human and the (atypical) non-human pathogenic biovar Microtus (alias Pestoides) including several non-pestis subspecies. Recent progress in molecular typing methods enables large-scale investigations in the population structure of this species. It is now possible to test hypotheses about its evolution which were proposed decades ago. For instance the three classical biovars of different geographical distributions were suggested to originate from Central Asia. Most investigations so far have focused on the typical pestis subspecies representatives found outside of China, whereas the understanding of the emergence of this human pathogen requires the investigation of strains belonging to subspecies pestis from China and to the Microtus biovar. Methodology/Principal Findings Multi-locus VNTR analysis (MLVA) with 25 loci was performed on a collection of Y. pestis isolates originating from the majority of the known foci worldwide and including typical rhamnose-negative subspecies pestis as well as rhamnose-positive subspecies pestis and biovar Microtus. More than 500 isolates from China, the Former Soviet Union (FSU), Mongolia and a number of other foci around the world were characterized and resolved into 350 different genotypes. The data revealed very close relationships existing between some isolates from widely separated foci as well as very high diversity which can conversely be observed between nearby foci. Conclusions/Significance The results obtained are in full agreement with the view that the Y. pestis subsp. pestis pathogenic for humans emerged in the Central Asia region between China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia, only three clones of which spread out of Central Asia. The relationships among the strains in China, Central Asia and the rest of the world based on the MLVA25 assay provide an unprecedented view on the expansion and microevolution of Y. pestis.