Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forecast of Sea Surface Acidification in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Observation data from DYFAMED site, in northwestern Mediterranean Sea between 1995 and 2011, are used to study mathematical forecasts of sea water surface pH evolution over the next century. In a preliminary study, daily and monthly data have been used to compute total inorganic carbon () and total alkalinity () concentrations. Due to the arbitrary number of missing monthly observations from 1995 to 2011, mean pH values have been calculated from the available data in order to obtain a convenient monthly time series. Based on these results, we used in this paper a cubic spline method for interpolation within the range of known time series and then tested two extrapolation methods: linear and exponential smoothing. A 100-year simulated period is performed in order to have information beyond seasonal variations and observations. The mean seasonal variation allows us to draw forecast evolutions from 0.3 to 0.4 pH units decrease in the water surface at the end of the century. Although these simple forecasts do not pretend to present realistic predictions, these obtained theoretical results provide limits on pH variations in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea similar to those in the open ocean.
Virtual channel designs for guaranteeing bandwidth in asynchronous network-on-chip

Logically separate channels sharing a physical link, so called virtual channels (VCs), have wide spread uses in multicomputer networks as well as in Network-on-Chip (NoC). This paper presents a number of low overhead VC Implementations, using asynchronous circuit techniques. The designs are highly modular, and can be used to provide access to any shared media. As a demonstration of use, on-chip links providing per connection bandwidth guarantees were implemented.
Experiences of providing prosthetic and orthotic services in Sierra Leone – the local staff’s perspective

In Sierra Leone, West Africa, there are many people with disabilities in need of rehabilitation services after a long civil war. Purpose: The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of prosthetic and orthotic service delivery in Sierra Leone from the local staff’s perspective. Method: Fifteen prosthetic and orthotic technicians working at all the rehabilitation centres providing prosthetic and orthotic services in Sierra Leone were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and subjected to latent content analysis. Results: One main theme emerged: sense of inability to deliver high-quality prosthetic and orthotic services. This main theme was generated from eight sub-themes: Desire for professional development; appraisals of work satisfaction and norms; patients neglected by family; limited access to the prosthetic and orthotic services available; problems with materials and machines; low public awareness concerning disabilities; marginalisation in society and low priority on the part of government. Conclusions: The findings illustrated traditional beliefs about the causes of disability and that the public’s attitude needs to change to include and value people with disabilities. Support from international organisations was considered necessary as well as educating more prosthetic and orthotic staff to a higher level. Implications for Rehabilitation There is a need for educating more prosthetic and orthotic staff to a category I or II level in Sierra Leone. There is a need to put a greater focus on making materials available for the fabrication of prosthetic and orthotic devices and also on the transport for patients as to increase access to prosthetic and orthotic services. At the societal level, both traditional beliefs about the causes of disability and the public attitudes need to change to include and assign value to people with disabilities. Support from international organisations is needed to provide effective rehabilitation services.
A Note on Relative Observability in Coordination Control

Van Schuppen Control Research, Gouden Leeuw 143, 1103 KB, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsAbstractRelative observability has been introduced and studied in the framework of partially observed discrete-event systemsas a condition strongerthan observability, but weaker than normality. However, unlike observability, relative observability is closed under language unions, whichmakes it interesting for practical applications. In this paper, we investigate this notion in the framework of coordination control. Weprove that conditional normality is a stronger condition than conditional (strong) relative observability, hence conditional strong relativeobservability can be used in coordination control instead of conditional normality, and present a distributive procedure for the computationof a conditionally controllable and conditionally observable sublanguage of the speciﬁcation that contains the supre mal conditionallystrong relative observable sublanguage.Key words: Discrete-event systems; Coordination Control; Relative Observability.
Review of fabrication techniques for fused fiber components for fiber lasers

Fused fiber components are the key building blocks that enable reliable and efficient operation of high power fiber lasers. In this paper, we review fabrication techniques for the manufacture of such devices, including mode-field adaptors, fiber tapers, fused couplers, and fused combiners. We present the basic equations governing both the optical performance and fabrication requirements for these devices, and demonstrate how these apply to some common fiber laser applications. We then describe and discuss component fabrication techniques and available hardware.
Generalized permutation patterns - a short survey

An occurrence of a classical pattern p in a permutation π is a subsequence of π whose letters are in the same relative order (of size) as those in p. In an occurrence of a generalized pattern, some letters of that subsequence may be required to be adjacent in the permutation. Subsets of permutations characterized by the avoidance—or the prescribed number of occurrences— of generalized patterns exhibit connections to an enormous variety of other combinatorial structures, some of them apparently deep. We give a short overview of the state of the art for generalized patterns.
Phenology and water relations of eight woody species in the Coronation Garden of Kirtipur, central Nepal

Phenological activities of eight woody species planted in Kirtipur (central Nepal) were examined, each for one dry season between September 2001 and June 2003. From Pressure Volume (P-V) analysis, we determined relative water content at zero turgor (RWC z ), osmotic potential at zero turgor (Ψ sz ) and full turgor (Ψ sf ), and bulk modulus of elasticity (e) once a month through the course of dry season. Both evergreen species ( Cotoneaster bacillaris Wall., Quercus lanata Sm., Ligustrum confusum Decne., Woodfordia fruticosa (L.) Kurz. ) and deciduous species ( Celtis australis Linn., Alnus nepalensis D.Don., Bauhinia variegata Linn. and Lagerstroemia indica Linn.) put out their new leaves during the dry summer when day length and temperature were increasing. Generally, bud break coincided with concentrated leaf fall during the dry summer and the leaf fall reduced total leaf area to its lowest value. The deciduous species were leafless for one to three months, followed by a prolonged period of leaf production and shoot elongation. Evergreen and deciduous species manifested distinct adaptive strategies to water deficit. Evergreens can reduce osmotic potential (Ψ s ) to its low value and maintain proper water potential (Ψ) gradient from soil to plant, which facilitates absorption of water during dry season. Elastic tissue in deciduous species is coupled with leaf shedding during the dry season; both factors may help maintain proper Ψ s for new growth during dry period. One evergreen species ( Woodfordia fruticosa ) and three deciduous species ( Celtis australis , Bauhinia variegata and Lagerstroemia indica ) have inherently high dehydration tolerance due to their elastic tissue. During drought there has been osmotic adjustment in Quercus lanata , and elastic adjustment in Ligustrum confusum , Celtis australis and Lagerstroemia indica . Key words: Himalayas, Pressure Volume (P-V) curve, relative water content (RWC), osmotic adjustment, elastic adjustment Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.4(6) 2007 p.49-56
Update on the Evidence Regarding Maintenance Therapy

Maintenance therapy has emerged as a novel therapeutic paradigm for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Maintenance therapy that aims to sustain a clinically favorable state after first-line chemotherapy has two strategies. Switch maintenance therapy entails switching to a new and non-cross-resistant agent in an alternating or sequential manner, on completion of first-line chemotherapy. Continuous maintenance therapy keeps ongoing administration of a component of the current regimen after four to six cycles of chemotherapy, if there is a stable disease, or better response. Both maintenance therapies can be continued, until disease progression. The potential evidence regarding maintenance therapy includes providing the opportunity to receive additional treatment, through sustaining tumor shrinkage, and delayed emergence of tumor-related symptom. Thus far, debates over the parameters used to predict the effectiveness of maintenance therapy, financial burden, and uncertainty of improving the quality of life exist. Despite many debates, maintenance therapy, which is currently recommended, has been disclosed to be beneficial.
Rarity of colon cancer in Africans is associated with low animal product consumption, not fiber

Objective:To investigate whether the rarity of colon cancer in black Africans (prevalence, <1:100,000) can be accounted for by dietary factors considered to reduce risk, and by differences in colonic bacterial fermentation.Methods:Samples of the adult black South African population were drawn from several rural and urban regions. Food consumption was assessed by home visits, food frequency questionnaires, computerized analysis of 72-h dietary recall, and blood sampling. Colonic fermentation was measured by breath H2 and CH4 response to a traditional meal, and to 10-g of lactulose. Cancer risk was estimated by measurement of epithelial proliferation indices (Ki-67 and BrdU) in rectal mucosal biopsies. Results were evaluated by comparison to measurements in high-risk white South Africans (prevalence, 17:100,000). Results:Epithelial proliferation was significantly lower in rural and urban blacks than whites. The diets of all the black subgroups were characterized by a low animal product and high boiled maize-meal content, whereas whites consumed more fresh animal products, cheese, and wheat products. Blacks consumed below RDA quantities of fiber (43% of RDA), vitamin A (78%), C (62%), folic acid (80%) and calcium (67%), whereas whites consumed more animal protein (177% of RDA) and fat (153%). Fasting and food-induced breath methane production was two to three times higher in blacks.Conclusions:The low prevalence of colon cancer in black Africans cannot be explained by dietary “protective” factors, such as, fiber, calcium, vitamins A, C and folic acid, but may be influenced by the absence of “aggressive” factors, such as excess animal protein and fat, and by differences in colonic bacterial fermentation.
Strategic Interaction and Networks

This paper brings a general network analysis to a wide class of economic games. A network, or interaction matrix, tells who directly interacts with whom. A major challenge is determining how network structure shapes overall outcomes. We have a striking result. Equilibrium conditions depend on a single number: the lowest eigenvalue of a network matrix. Combining tools from potential games, optimization, and spectral graph theory, we study games with linear best replies and characterize the Nash and stable equilibria for any graph and for any impact of players’ actions. When the graph is sufficiently absorptive (as measured by this eigenvalue), there is a unique equilibrium. When it is less absorptive, stable equilibria always involve extreme play where some agents take no actions at all. This paper is the first to show the importance of this measure to social and economic outcomes, and we relate it to different network link patterns.
Evaluation of the real‐time earthquake information system in Japan

The real‐time earthquake information system (REIS) of the Japanese seismic network is developed for automatically determining earthquake parameters within a few seconds after the P‐waves arrive at the closest stations using both the P‐wave arrival times and the timing data that P‐waves have not yet arrived at other stations. REIS results play a fundamental role in the real‐time information for earthquake early warning in Japan. We show the rapidity and accuracy of REIS from the analysis of 4,050 earthquakes in three years since 2005; 44 percent of the first reports are issued within 5 seconds after the first P‐wave arrival and 80 percent of the events have a difference in epicenter distance less than 20 km relative to manually determined locations. We compared the formal catalog to the estimated magnitude from the real‐time analysis and found that 94 percent of the events had a magnitude difference of ±1.0 unit.
Interaction between Brome Mosaic Virus Proteins and RNAs: Effects on RNA Replication, Protein Expression, and RNA Stability

ABSTRACT Brome mosaic virus (BMV) RNA replication has been examined in a number of systems, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We developed an efficient T-DNA-based gene delivery system using Agrobacterium tumefaciens to transiently express BMV RNAs in Nicotiana benthamiana. The expressed RNAs can systemically infect plants and provide material to extract BMV replicase that can perform template-dependent RNA-dependent RNA synthesis in vitro. We also expressed the four BMV-encoded proteins from nonreplicating RNAs and analyzed their effects on BMV RNA accumulation. The capsid protein that coinfiltrated with constructs expressing RNA1 and RNA2 suppressed minus-strand levels but increased plus-strand RNA accumulation. The replication proteins 1a and 2a could function in trans to replicate and transcribe the BMV RNAs. None of the BMV proteins or RNA could efficiently suppress posttranscriptional silencing. However, 1a expressed in trans will suppress the production of a recombinant green fluorescent protein expressed from the nontranslated portions of BMV RNA1 and RNA2, suggesting that 1a may regulate translation from BMV RNAs. BMV replicase proteins 1a did not affect the accumulation of the BMV RNAs in the absence of RNA replication, unlike the situation reported for S. cerevisiae. This work demonstrates that the Agrobacterium-mediated gene delivery system can be used to study the cis- and trans-acting requirements for BMV RNA replication in plants and that significant differences can exist for BMV RNA replication in different hosts.
Microbiology and chemistry for environmental scientists and engineers

Introduction to Microbiology. Bacteria. The Eucaryotic Protists. Viruses and Metazoa. Laboratory Techniques introduction to Chemistry. Organic Chemistry. Biological Molecules. Microbial Metabolism. Microbial Growth. Water Quality Chemistry. Environmental Water Chemisty. Water Pollution. Aerobic Wastewater Treatment Processes. Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment. Composting. Industrial Wastewater Treatment. Environmental Microbiology. Pathogens. Water Treatment.
Off-Body Radio Channel Characterisation Using Ultra Wideband Wireless Tags

This paper presents an experimental investigation of off-body radio propagation channels based on commercially available UWB wireless tags. The tags operate at frequency band of 5.9~7.2 GHz. A measurement campaign was performed both in the chamber and in an indoor environment for comparison. The path loss for nine different channels is shown with parameters describing the radio channel derived through statistical analysis.
Estimating average rootzone salinity from electromagnetic induction (EM-38) measurements.

Calibration relationships are required to convert electromagnetic induction (EM-38) measurements (EM, and EMh) to average rootzone salinity (EC(0-0.6m)) in order to estimate likely production losses from salinity. This paper compares two calibration approaches and discusses factors which affect the form of the calibration relationship. Also, coefficients to adjust EM readings from field temperature to 25°C are estimated by modelling the EM response to expected temperature profiles. Calibration relationships determined using multiple linear regression, (ECe(0-0.6m) = bv EM,+ bh EMh +C) have similar prediction errors as those determined by applying the modelled coefficients procedure (Slavich 1990) to estimate average rootzone ECa (ECa(o-o.~m)) from EM, and EMh (ECe(0-0.6m) = SECa(0-0.6m) + I). However, the coefficients of the ECe(0-0.6m) V S ECa(0-0.6m) equation were more readily interpreted in terms of soil texture than those of the multiple regression approach. Using temperature-corrected EM data, the relationship between the slope (S)and the mean profile saturation percentage was similar to published relationships determined using four electrode measurements on defined soil volumes and textures. The intercept term (I) appears to be influenced by field variation in water content, texture and salinity levels below 0.6 m, the depth of interest in this paper. In heavy clay soils with high water-table salinity, the calibration relationship became nonlinear at high salinity.
Comparative Study of Parallel Variants for a Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm Implemented on a Multithreading Gpu

The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is a well known alternative for global optimization based on a bio‐inspired heuristic. PSO has good performance, low computational complexity and few parameters. Heuristic techniques have been widely studied in the last twenty years and the scientific community is still interested in technological alternatives that accelerate these algorithms in order to apply them to bigger and more complex problems. This article presents an empirical study of some parallel variants for a PSO algorithm, implemented on a Graphic Process Unit (GPU) device with multi‐thread support and using the most recent model of parallel programming for these cases. The main idea is to show that, with the help of a multithreading GPU, it is possible to significantly improve the PSO algorithm performance by means of a simple and almost straightforward parallel programming, getting the computing power of cluster in a conventional personal computer.
Efficiency and early fault detection with lower and higher strength combinatorial interaction testing

Combinatorial Interaction Testing (CIT) is important because it tests the interactions between the many features and parameters that make up the configuration space of software systems. However, in order to be practically applicable, it must be able to cater for soft and hard real-world constraints and should, ideally, report a test priority order that maximises earliest fault detection. We show that we can achieve the highest strength CIT in 5.65 minutes on average. This was previously thought to be too computationally expensive to be feasible. Furthermore, we show that higher strength suites find more faults, while prioritisations using lower strengths are no worse at achieving early fault revelation.
Predictable internal brain dynamics in EEG and its relation to conscious states

Consciousness is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon defying scientific explanation. Part of the reason why this is the case is due to its subjective nature. In our previous computational experiments, to avoid such a subjective trap, we took a strategy to investigate objective necessary conditions of consciousness. Our basic hypothesis was that predictive internal dynamics serves as such a condition. This is in line with theories of consciousness that treat retention (memory), protention (anticipation), and primary impression as the tripartite temporal structure of consciousness. To test our hypothesis, we analyzed publicly available sleep and awake electroencephalogram (EEG) data. Our results show that EEG signals from awake or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep states have more predictable dynamics compared to those from slow-wave sleep (SWS). Since awakeness and REM sleep are associated with conscious states and SWS with unconscious or less consciousness states, these results support our hypothesis. The results suggest an intricate relationship among prediction, consciousness, and time, with potential applications to time perception and neurorobotics.
A microcellular ray-tracing propagation model and evaluation of its narrow-band and wide-band predictions

Due to the site specific nature of microcellular operational environments, propagation models are required to take into account the exact position, orientation and electrical properties of individual buildings, and hence, ray-tracing techniques have emerged as the dominant methods to predict propagation in such environments. A novel hybrid three-dimensional (3-D) ray-tracing algorithm which can evaluate scenarios incorporating many thousands of objects by utilising the concept of "illumination zones," is presented. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the presented model, comparisons of narrow-band and wide-band predictions with measurements are performed for a variety of scenarios. First, power comparisons show that very accurate predictions can be achieved (RMS errors less than 3.7 dB). Then, wide-band analysis shows that since the RMS delay spread for systems with finite bandwidth is a function of the multipath phase, only average measured and predicted RMS delay spread values can be compared and as a result, limited averaging can produce large RMS errors. With sufficient averaging the achieved wide-band accuracy in terms of the predicted RMS delay spread, is adequate for most planning purposes.
Comparison analysis of multi-channel echo cancellation using adaptive filters

Acoustic echo cancellation in multichannel is a system identification application. In real time environment, signal changes very rapidly which required adaptive algorithms such as Least Mean Square (LMS), Leaky Least Mean Square (LLMS), Normalized Least Mean square (NLMS) and average (AFA) having high convergence rate and stable [2]. LMS and NLMS are widely used adaptive algorithm due to less computational complexity and AFA used of its high convergence rate. This research is based on comparison of acoustic echo (generated in a room) cancellation through LMS, LLMS, NLMS, AFA and newly proposed average normalized leaky least mean square (ANLLMS) adaptive filters.
Time distribution of rainfall in heavy storms

Time distribution relations have been developed for heavy storms on areas ranging up to 400 square miles and presented in probability terms to provide quantitative information on interstorm variability and to provide average and extreme relations for various applications of the findings. It was found that the relations could be represented best by relating per cent of storm rainfall to per cent of total storm time and grouping the data according to the quartile in which rainfall was heaviest. The individual effects of mean rainfall, storm duration, and other storm factors were small and erratic in behavior when the foregoing analytical technique was used. Basin area had a small but consistent effect upon the time distribution. The derived relations are applicable to the Midwest and other areas of similar climate and topography. They can be used in conjunction with published information on spatial distributions and other storm parameters to construct storm models for hydrologic applications.