Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An application of hybrid data envelopment analytical hierarchy process approach for supplier selection

Purpose – The problem of supplier selection gets complicated when a company looks for various criteria to evaluate different suppliers. The decision criteria used for supplier selection process can be different for different organizations due to a large number of factors. Hence, it can be said that supplier selection is basically, a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid data envelopment analytical hierarchy process (DEAHP) approach to solve the supplier selection problem for an automobile company. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach is embedded into analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology. Literature review suggested that majority of researches found it appropriate using DEA and AHP methodologies for supplier selection process; hence it is felt that a hybrid DEAHP would be a useful methodology to offer a MCDM model for supplier selection problem. Findings – First, the key criteria of the.
Arterial stiffness assessment in patients with phenylketonuria

Abstract In patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) compliant to diet greater tendency to overweight and higher inflammatory biomarkers levels than controls were reported. Although this could lead to atherogenesis, the elastic properties of large arteries in PKU patients have never been assessed. The aim of this study was to assess arterial stiffness measured by applanation tonometry in PKU patients compared to healthy controls. We carried out a cross-sectional study in 41 PKU patients (range age: 6–50 years old) and 41 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Evaluated data included pharmacological treatment with sapropterin, clinical, and biochemical parameters. Aortic stiffness was assessed noninvasively by applanation tonometry measuring central blood pressure, aortic augmentation index (Aix@HR75), augmentation pressure (AP), and pulse wave velocity (PWV). We found higher PWV in classic PKU patients (6.60 m/second vs 5.26 m/second; P: .044). Percentage of PKU patients with PWV above 90 percentile was higher than controls (14.63% vs 2.32%; P: .048). A positive relationship was observed between the annual Phe median and PWV (r: 0.496; P: .012). PKU subjects with lower Phe tolerance showed more body weight (67.6 kg vs 56.8 kg; P: .012) and more PWV than those with higher Phe tolerance (6.55 m/second vs 5.42 m/second; P: .044). Our data show increased aortic stiffness in PKU patients, measured by applanation tonometry, when compared to healthy controls. Higher Phe levels are associated with a bigger PWV increase, which is not present in those subjects compliant to diet or under sapropterin treatment. These results could have marked effects in both research and clinical daily practice for a proper evaluation of cardiovascular risk in PKU subjects.
Automatic semantic enrichment of data services

In recent years, many approaches and tools have emerged to assist in the semantic enrichment of Web services. Many researchers have been directing efforts in providing semantic annotations and enriching service descriptions. However, the provisioning of semantically enriched representations through data services has been little considered in the literature, despite of its significant impact on the effectiveness of data integration solutions. In this paper we present a novel method aimed at enriching data provided by services, enabling them to dynamically provide semantic representations. We introduce an architecture, called OntoGenesis, capable of i) constructing and evolving domain ontologies for data services and ii) aligning the properties of such ontologies with external data sources, so as to enhance the reuse of well-known concepts in order to facilitate further integrations. Experiments using real-world bilingual datasets show the applicability of our proposal and the obtained results reveal that alignments achieve satisfactory levels of precision and recall.
A Novel Feature Subset Selection Algorithm for Software Defect Prediction

Software Defect Prediction has been an area of growing importance. It is always required to maintain high reliability and high quality for any software being developed. A software quality prediction model is built using software metrics and defect data collected from a previously developed system release or similar software project. Upon validation of such a model, it could be used for predicting the fault-proneness of program modules that are currently under development. A low quality or fault prone prediction can justify the application of available quality improvement resources to those programs. In contrast, a non fault prone prediction can justify non- application of the limited resources to these already high- quality programs. And finally high software reliability and quality are maintained with an effective use of the available resources. A feature extraction algorithm based on graph clustering is applied over the historical software data collected for defect prediction purpose and its impact on different data sets are analyzed in this paper.
Hot Forming Flow Stress Model of Steel 50A1300

The researches of non-oriented silicon steel are mainly focused on the effect of main processing parameters on the microstructure and magnetic properties, but there have been few studied about its flow stress until now. In this paper, the non-oriented silicon steel 50A1300 of hot forming is studied by thermal-mechanical simulation method. The hot deformation behavior of the steel is explored and the flow stress model of the steel is established based on the creep mechanism. The model has good accuracy and is feasible.
Effects of Tube Space on the Thermal Performance of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heaters

In the present specification of domestic solar water heating systems (GB/T19141), regardless of the type of collectors used in the systems, Q17, the daily heat gain corresponding to the daily radiation of 17MJ/m2 on the collector surface, is a key indication to rate the thermal performance of a domestic solar water heaters. In this work, an attempt was made to investigate effect of the distance between two adjacent tubes in solar tube collectors of a water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heater (ETSWH) on by theoretical calculations and experimental measurements. Results obtained by simulations and experimental test showed that the tube space had a significant effect on of the ETSWH, the shorter the tube distance, the higher the Q17, thus better the ETSWH performs. However, the actual situation is the case, the shorter the tube distance, the lower the real daily solar gain of the system, thus worse it performs. This implied that Q17 as the indication of thermal performance of the ETSWH is not reasonable, and specifying the tube distance in solar tube collectors of the ETSWH in the technical specification of GB/T19141 is advisable so as to eliminate effect of the tube distance on Q17.
Single spin image-ICP matching for efficient 3D object recognition

A robust and efficient method is presented for recognizing objects in unstructured 3D point clouds acquired from photos. The method first finds the locations of target objects using single spin image matching and then retrieves the orientation and quality of the match using the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm. In contrast to classic use of spin images as object descriptors, no vertex surface normals are needed, but a global orientation of the scene is used. This assumption allows for an efficient and robust way to detect objects in unstructured point data. In our experiments we show that our spin matching approach is capable of detecting cars in a 3D reconstruction from photos. Moreover, the application of the ICP algorithm afterwards allows us (1) to fit a query model in the scene to retrieve the car's orientation and (2) to distinguish between cars with a similar shape and a different shape using the residual error of the fit. This allows us to locate and recognize different types of cars.
Exercise, Arterial Crosstalk-Modulation, and Inflammation in an Aging Population: The ExAMIN AGE Study

Background: Age is a key determinant for the development of cardiovascular disease and higher age coincides with an increased prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity. The study examines the influence of physical activity on aging processes of physiological systems focusing on the mechanisms of vascular aging. Methods/Design: The study consists of two parts. The cross-sectional approach aims at examining the association of physical fitness and cardiovascular risk with large and small artery function in healthy older active (HOA, n = 40) and sedentary (HOS, n = 40) persons as well as older sedentary individuals with increased cardiovascular risk (OSR, n = 80) aged 50–80 years. In the interventional approach, the OSR group is randomized into a 12-week walking-based high intensity interval training (HIIT) group or a control condition, aiming at examining the effects of HIIT on arterial function in diseased older adults. Active lifestyle is defined as >9 metabolic equivalent of task (MET) per week and sedentary as ≤3 MET/week. Inclusion criteria for OSR are overweight or obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) plus at least one additional cardiovascular risk factor. The primary outcome is arterial stiffness as determined by aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV). The secondary outcomes are retinal arterial and venous diameters. Further cardiovascular assessments include peripheral PWV, central haemodynamics, retinal endothelial function, carotid intima media thickness, cardiac strain and diastolic function as well as autonomic function and inflammation. Physical fitness is measured by a treadmill-based spiroergometry to determine peak oxygen uptake. Discussion: The aim of the study is to demonstrate the importance of and need for specific physical activity programs for seniors to achieve healthier aging as a long-term goal. Vascular function defines disease- and age-related end organ damage and represents the potential to contain health at older age. This research will identify cardiovascular biomarkers that best resemble underlying cardiovascular risk in age and disease. The integrated approach will help define new recommendations for treatment guidance of exercise therapy in an aging population. ClinicalTrials. gov: NCT02796976; registered 02 June 2016 (retrospectively registered).
Numerical Modeling of Nonmetallic Inclusions Flowing Out during Solidification of Continuous Cast Steel Billets in Mould Zone

Developing the metallurgical purity of steel products requires, among other things, the understanding of the behavior of non-metallic inclusions (NMI) in the bulk of liquid steel in the mould zone within the forming skin of a concast billet. The identification of the mode of NMI distribution with different values of casting parameters influencing the state of the metal in the mould, including electromagnetic stirring intensity, may be of key importance to developing the metallurgical purity of concast billets being cast. The present article discusses the analysis of the results of simulation of NMI flowing out from the liquid steel volume in the mould zone of the steel continuous casting machine (CCM). As the investigation object, two different types of square cross-section mould were chosen, while for carrying out computations for two selected steel grades, a hydrodynamic module (HDM) being an extension of the FLUENT® program was employed. The use of this module made it possible to take consideration of the influence of the EMS-M type electromagnetic stirrer on the conditions of NMI flotation and distribution in the metal volume within the mould for defined thermal – dynamical conditions.
Design of privacy-preserving mobile Bitcoin client based on γ-deniability enabled bloom filter

Bitcoin is a decentralized currency system that does not need any central authorities. All transactions issued by users have been recorded in the common ledger, called blockchain, which is shared by all users. In Bitcoin, an SPV (Simplified Payment Verification) client, which is a lightweight client that does not possess the entire blockchain, are developed for storage constrained devices such as a mobile phone. For an SPV client to check if there are transactions related to it, a Bloom filter where their Bitcoin addresses are involved is sent to a full client that possesses the entire blockchain. The full client only transfers transactions of which Bitcoin addresses are positive on the received Bloom filter. However, it is necessary to preserve the privacy of SPV clients when designing a Bloom filter because SPV clients' Bitcoin addresses will be identified by a full client with high probability. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving Bloom filter design for SPV clients based on 7-Deniability. 7-Deniability is a privacy metric that shows how much true positive Bitcoin addresses are hidden by the false positives in a Bloom filter. Furthermore, in order to design a Bloom Filter that satisfies a certain 7-Deniability, it is necessary to know the number of unique Bitcoin addresses that appear for the first time since the queried time. Based on our manual inspection, we propose to estimate it based on the linear regression. We show that our scheme achieves good estimation accuracy and 7 through the simulation with a real Bitcoin blockchain.
Prosystemin, a prohormone that modulates plant defense barriers, is an intrinsically disordered protein

Prosystemin, originally isolated from Lycopersicon esculentum, is a tomato pro‐hormone of 200 aminoacid residues which releases a bioactive peptide of 18 aminoacids called Systemin. This signaling peptide is involved in the activation of defense genes in solanaceous plants in response to herbivore feeding damage. Using biochemical, biophysical and bioinformatics approaches we characterized Prosystemin, showing that it is an intrinsically disordered protein possessing a few secondary structure elements within the sequence. Plant treatment with recombinant Prosystemin promotes early and late plant defense genes, which limit the development and survival of Spodoptera littoralis larvae fed with treated plants.
Effect of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets’ size on the phase structure, electrical, and barrier properties of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)‐based nanocomposites

This article describes the preparation process of two series of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) nanocomposites with an addition of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets with two different platelets’ size (50 and 500 μm). The influence of their size on processing, physicochemical properties, morphology and, most importantly, electrical conductivity and barrier properties of thin polymer films has been studied. It was clearly found that smaller platelets enabled to obtain conductive thin polymer films with a nanoplatelet content of 0.3-0.5 wt. %. However, nanocomposite based on PTT with 0.5 wt% of EG with the flake size of 500 μm proved to be nonconductive. At the same time smaller EG platelets demonstrated a more uniform distribution in the PTT matrix, which was confirmed by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopies, thus giving the samples in question barrier properties with respect to CO2 and O2. Moreover, it has been shown that both nanofillers did not have a significant influence on the phase transition temperatures and on the long period. They caused however a slight decrease of crystallinity which is an evidence of an antinucleating character of those nanoplatelets in the PTT matrix. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2222–2230, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers
On the analysis of very small samples of Gaussian repeated measurements: an alternative approach

The analysis of very small samples of Gaussian repeated measurements can be challenging. First, due to a very small number of independent subjects contributing outcomes over time, statistical power can be quite small. Second, nuisance covariance parameters must be appropriately accounted for in the analysis in order to maintain the nominal test size. However, available statistical strategies that ensure valid statistical inference may lack power, whereas more powerful methods may have the potential for inflated test sizes. Therefore, we explore an alternative approach to the analysis of very small samples of Gaussian repeated measurements, with the goal of maintaining valid inference while also improving statistical power relative to other valid methods. This approach uses generalized estimating equations with a bias‐corrected empirical covariance matrix that accounts for all small‐sample aspects of nuisance correlation parameter estimation in order to maintain valid inference. Furthermore, the approach utilizes correlation selection strategies with the goal of choosing the working structure that will result in the greatest power. In our study, we show that when accurate modeling of the nuisance correlation structure impacts the efficiency of regression parameter estimation, this method can improve power relative to existing methods that yield valid inference. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Pilot Testing a Photo-Based Food Diary in Nine- to Twelve-Year Old- Children from Dunedin, New Zealand

The purpose of the study was to investigate if an Evernote app-based electronic food diary is an acceptable method to measure nutrient intake in children aged 9–12 years. A convenience sample of 16 nine- to twelve-year-olds from Dunedin, New Zealand, completed a paper-based food dairy on four days, followed by four more days using a photo-based diary on an iPod. This photo-based diary used a combination of photographs and short written descriptions of foods consumed. The photo-based diaries produced similar results to written diaries for all macronutrients and major micronutrients (e.g., calcium, fibre, vitamin C). Spearman correlation coefficients between the two methods for all nutrients, except sugars, were above 0.3. However, burden on researchers and participants was reduced for the photo-based diary, primarily due to the additional information obtained from photographs. Participating children needed less help from parents with completing the electronic diaries and preferred them to the paper version. This electronic diary is likely to be suitable, after additional formal validity testing, for use in measuring nutrient intake in children.
Development and validation of amitriptyline and its metabolite in human plasma by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and its application to a bioequivalence study.

A method based on ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) in combination with solid-phase extraction for sample pretreatment has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of amitriptyline and its main metabolite in human plasma. The extraction of the analytes from plasma samples was carried out by means of a selective SPE procedure using hydrophilic-lipophilic balance cartridges. The assay involves a simple solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure of 0.2 mL of human plasma and analysis was performed on a triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer by multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) mode via electrospray ionization (ESI). The standard calibration curve was linear over the ranges 0.370-95.539 ng/mL for amitriptyline and 0.365-94.374 ng/mL for nortriptyline, expressed by the linear correlation coefficient r², which was better than 0.995 for both. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy of the quality control samples were within 10.0%. The recovery was 85.3, 88.4 and 80.7% for amitriptyline, nortriptyline and doxepin respectively. Total run time was 1.2 min only for each sample, which makes it possible to analyze more than 400 samples per day. The method was highly reproducible and gave peaks with excellent chromatography properties.
Split trehalase as a versatile reporter for a wide range of biological analytes

In health care, biosensors are envisioned as universal diagnostic devices with AAAA characteristics (i.e., available for anything, anywhere, anytime, to anyone). Despite numerous attempts to develop such a diagnostic device, none have managed to fulfill all four criteria and be commercialized. Glucometers, the most successful class of biosensor currently marketed monitor blood glucose concentrations. Their performance in clinical samples, including sensitivity and specificity, has been optimized and they are small and relatively inexpensive. We aimed to develop a technology that uses this existing biosensor, but adds versatility in detection of a wide range of analytes. Herein, we report the periplasmic trehalase of E. coli as a novel split enzyme reporter capable of converting a wide variety of analytes into glucose. Conditional complementation of trehalase fragments induced by detection of analytes, resulting in trehalose hydrolysis and glucose production, was used to detect antibodies and bacterial cells. We also demonstrated retention of split TreA activity in undiluted clinical samples. In conclusion, a trehalase‐based biosensor platform offers a versatile and convenient method for point‐of‐care applications as it does not require sample preparation or handling and can be integrated with existing glucometers or sensors.
A Life Events Scale for Armed Forces personnel

Background: Armed Forces personnel are routinely exposed to a number of unique stressful life events. None of the available scales are relevant to service personnel. Aim: To construct a scale to measure life events in service personnel. Methods: In the first stage of the study open-ended questions along with items generated by the expert group by consensus method were administered to 50 soldiers. During the second stage a scale comprising 59 items and open-ended questions was administered to 165 service personnel. The final scale of 52 items was administered to 200 service personnel in group setting. Weightage was assigned on a 0 to 100 range. For normative study the Armed Forces Medical College Life Events Scale (AFMC LES) was administered to 1200 Army, 100 Air Force and 100 Navy personnel. Results: Service personnel experience an average of 4 life events in past one year and 13 events in a life-time. On an average service personnel experience 115 life change unit scores in past one year and 577 life change unit scores in life-time on the AFMC LES. The scale has concurrent validity when compared with the Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale (PSLES). There is internal consistency in the scale with the routine items being rated very low. There is a pattern of uniformity with the civilian counterparts along with differences in the items specific to service personnel. Conclusions: The AFMC LES includes the unique stresses of service personnel that are not included in any life events scale available in India or in the west and should be used to assess stressful life events in service personnel.