Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fuzzy logic based dynamic handover scheme for indoor Li-Fi and RF hybrid network

Light Fidelity (LiFi) is a recently proposed technology that combines illumination and high speed wireless communication using light emitting diodes (LEDs). Since the used electromagnetic spectrum does not overlap with the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, a small cell LiFi attocell network can be added to the conventional RF network as an additional networking layer in order to mitigate the data traffic bottlenecks in high density environments. In such a hybrid LiFi/RF network where the LiFi attocell covers a few square meters, user movement may prompt frequent handovers, and the handover overhead would degrade the system throughput. The goal is to reduce the handover overhead by appropriately assigning users to either the RF or the LiFi access point (AP). In this study, a fuzzy logic (FL) based dynamic handover scheme is proposed. This FL scheme uses not only the channel state information (CSI), but also the user speed and desired data rate to determine whether a handover needs to be prompted. Simulation shows that the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional handover algorithms, and the performance improvement is approximately 40% in terms of both data rate and user satisfaction level.
Why software hangs and what can be done with it

Software hang is an annoying behavior and forms a major threat to the dependability of many software systems. To avoid software hang at the design phase or fix it in production runs, it is desirable to understand its characteristics. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, there is currently no comprehensive study on why software hangs and how to deal with it. In this paper, we study the reported hang-related bugs of four typical open-source software applications, aiming to gain insight into characteristics of software hang and provide some guidelines to fix them at the first place or remedy them in production runs.
IFN-α Boosting of Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Güerin-Vaccine Promoted Th1 Type Cellular Response and Protection against M. tuberculosis Infection

The role of type I IFNs in the pathogenesis and control of mycobacterial infection is still controversial. It has been reported that type I IFNs exacerbated M. tuberculosis infection through hampering Th1 type cellular immune response. However, under certain conditions they can act as natural immune adjuvants for commercial vaccines. At this point, we have reported recently that successive IFN-alpha boosting of Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Güerin (BCG) vaccinated mice protected adult mice from intradermal M. lepraemurium infection and a difference in iNOS was observed. In the present work, we have found that intramuscular IFN-α boosting of Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Güerin (BCG) vaccine, either in vitro (human cell line or macrophages derived from PBMC) or in vivo (aerosol mouse model of MTb infection), promoted mostly the development of specific anti-antimycobacterial Th1 type cytokines (IFN-γ; IL-12, TNF-alpha, and IL-17; IL1β) while bacterial load reduction (0.9 logs versus PBS or BCG vaccine) was observed. These findings indicate that, under the experimental settings reported here, interferon alpha can drive or affect the TH cellular immune response in favour of BCG-inducing immunity against M. tuberculosis infection.
Vigilance

This study tested the possibility that the temporal context in which a vigilance task is performed will moderate the perceived workload of the task. We employed a procedure to manipulate participants’ perceived time progression (PTP) during task performance by creating a mismatch between their expectations about how long they would perform the task and the actual time they were engaged (Sackett et al., 2010). All participants worked at the task for 30 minutes. Those in a time drags condition were led to believe it would last 15 minutes while those in a time flies condition were told it would last 60 minutes. PTP was significantly slower in the former condition than in the latter. However, workload scores on the NASA Task Load Index were similar in the two conditions and fell at the upper level of the scale. Evidently, vigilance tasks are perceived as hard work even when time flies.
Interactive Object Recognition Using Proprioceptive Feedback

—This paper proposes a method for interactive recognition of household objects by a robot using proprioceptive feedback. In our experiments, the robot observed the changes in its proprioceptive stream while performing ﬁve exploratory behaviors (lift, shake, drop, crush, and push) on 50 common household objects (e.g., bottles, cans, balls, toys, etc.). Speciﬁcally, the robot used its own joint torques recorded during each interaction to recognize the object that it was manipulating. The results show that the robot can learn to recognize objects solely from the proprioceptive information obtained while interacting with them. Furthermore, by applying multiple behaviors on the same object, the robot was able to signiﬁcantly improve its object recognition accuracy. Overall, the results show that proprioception should be considered as an important source of information for object recognition and object manipulation tasks.
Where the Lake Meets the Sea: Strong Reproductive Isolation Is Associated with Adaptive Divergence between Lake Resident and Anadromous Three-Spined Sticklebacks

Contact zones between divergent forms of the same species are often characterised by high levels of phenotypic diversity over small geographic distances. What processes are involved in generating such high phenotypic diversity? One possibility is that introgression and recombination between divergent forms in contact zones results in greater phenotypic and genetic polymorphism. Alternatively, strong reproductive isolation between forms may maintain distinct phenotypes, preventing homogenisation by gene flow. Contact zones between divergent freshwater-resident and anadromous stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) forms are numerous and common throughout the species distribution, offering an opportunity to examine these contrasting hypotheses in greater detail. This study reports on an interesting new contact zone located in a tidally influenced lake catchment in western Ireland, characterised by high polymorphism for lateral plate phenotypes. Using neutral and QTL-linked microsatellite markers, we tested whether the high diversity observed in this contact zone arose as a result of introgression or reproductive isolation between divergent forms: we found strong support for the latter hypothesis. Three phenotypic and genetic clusters were identified, consistent with two divergent resident forms and a distinct anadromous completely plated population that migrates in and out of the system. Given the strong neutral differentiation detected between all three morphotypes (mean FST = 0.12), we hypothesised that divergent selection between forms maintains reproductive isolation. We found a correlation between neutral genetic and adaptive genetic differentiation that support this. While strong associations between QTL linked markers and phenotypes were also observed in this wild population, our results support the suggestion that such associations may be more complex in some Atlantic populations compared to those in the Pacific. These findings provide an important foundation for future work investigating the dynamics of gene flow and adaptive divergence in this newly discovered stickleback contact zone.
Patterns of word reading skill, interest and self-concept of ability

Abstract The majority of previous research on academic skills, self-concept of ability and interest has deployed the variable-oriented approach and focused on self-concept, or ability, or interest only. This study examined the patterns and dynamics of pattern change in Finnish children’s word reading skill, self-concept of ability and interest from kindergarten to Grade 2. Six groups of children were identified by using the I-states as objects analysis (ISOA) procedure: (a) low skills, negative self-concept but high interest; (b) high skills but low interest; (c) average; (d) high skills, positive self-concept and high interest; (e) low skills, negative self-concept and low interest; and (f) positive self-concept but low interest. The typically occurring transitions between groups were characterised by changes in either reading-related interest or simultaneously in self-concept and skills. Gender, risk for reading difficulties (RD), being an early reader, mother’s level of education and home literacy environment predicted group membership in kindergarten, and gender, RD risk, being an early reader, and mother’s level of education also predicted transitions between groups.
Excitability and Electrical Activity of Human Myocardial Strips from the Left Atrial Appendage in Cases of Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis

In isolated strips of human left atrium, ob tamed during commissurotomy for rheumatic mitral stenosis, recordings of the electrical action phenomena were made and determina tiorms of the resting excital) ility amid of the ex citability cycle were carried out. Two of the four strips did not show any appreciable spontaneous electrical activity and were found to be inexcitable by applied current pulses. These strips were obtained from pa tients in whom permanent or temporary atrial fibrillation existec1 prior to operation, and in whom the left atrial appendage was grossly dilated. In the two other strips, obtained from patients with a sinus rhythm prior to opera tion and with left atrial. appendages of ap proximately normal size, determinations of strength/duration and strength/interval re quirements, together with the recorded com plexes, demonstrated the occurrence of a functional dissociation between various elements in these muscle strips, which increased during the refractory period. This functional dissociation is thought to be related to the development of connective tissue between the muscle fibers, observed by microscopic exam ination, and due to the rheumatic process. Its significance in the genesis of atrial arrhyth mias in cases of mitral stenosis is discussed. Strophanthin in a concentration of 10-8 was found to shorten the refractory period and to cause a lowering of the resting threshold for stimuli with a duration of less than 5 msec. , and a rise in the threshold for larger stimuli.
Critical Care Medical Patients

intermittent pneumatic compression for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in general surgery. Int Angiol. 2008;27(6):500-506. 79. Czechanowski B, Heinrich F. [Prevention of venous thrombosis in recent ischaemic cerebrovascular accident: double-blind study with heparin-dihydroergotamine (author’s transl)]. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 1981;106(39):1254-1260. 80. McCarthy ST, Turner JJ, Robertson D, Hawkey CJ, Macey DJ. Low-dose heparin as a prophylaxis against deep-vein thrombosis after acute stroke. Lancet. 1977;2(8042):800-801. 81. Warlow C, Ogston D, Douglas AS. Venous thrombosis following strokes. Lancet. 1972;1(7764):1305-1306. 82. Moser KM, LeMoine JR, Nachtwey FJ, Spragg RG. Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Frequency in a respiratory intensive care unit. JAMA. 1981;246(13):1422-1424. 83. Emerson PA, Marks P. Preventing thromboembolism after myocardial infarction: effect of low-dose heparin or smoking. Br Med J. 1977;1(6052):18-20. 84. Handley AJ. Low-dose heparin after myocardial infarction. Lancet. 1972;2(7778):623-624. 85. Nicolaides AN, Kakkar VV, Renney JT, Kidner PH, Hutchison DC, Clarke MB. Myocardial infarction and deep-vein thrombosis. Br Med J. 1971;1(746):432-434. 86. Warlow C, Terry G, Kenmure AC, Beattie AG, Ogston D, Douglas AS. A double-blind trial of low doses of subcutaneous heparin in the prevention of deep-vein thrombosis after myocardial infarction. Lancet. 1973;2(7835):934-936. 87. Prescott SM, Richards KL, Tikoff G, Armstrong JD, Jr, Shigeoka JW. Venous thromboembolism in decompensated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A prospective study. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1981;123(1):32-36. 88. Schonhofer B, Kohler D. Prevalence of deep-vein thrombosis of the leg in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Respiration. 1998;65(3):173-177. 89. Oger E, Bressollette L, Nonent M, et al. High prevalence of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis on admission in a medical unit among elderly patients. Thromb Haemost. 2002;88(4):592-597.
Comparative evaluation of cyclic fatigue resistance of D-RaCe and ProTaper retreatment instruments in curved artificial canals.

AIM To compare the cyclic fatigue resistance of D-RaCe and ProTaper rotary nickel-titanium (NiTi) retreatment files when used in curved artificial canals. METHODOLOGY A total of 120 new D-RaCe DR2 and ProTaper D3 retreatment files were tested in stainless steel artificial canals having 45° and 60° angles of curvature. Thirty instruments of each of the file systems were tested in both angles of curvature (n = 30). The retreatment instruments were rotated until fracture to calculate the number of cycles to failure. The length of each fractured fragment was recorded. Data were analysed by independent sample t-test. Fractured surfaces of the instruments were analysed by scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS In the canal with 45° angle of curvature, no significant difference was observed between the retreatment systems (P > 0.05); on the other hand, in the canal with 60° angle of curvature, D-RaCe DR2 instruments had greater cyclic fatigue resistance than ProTaper D3 (P < 0.05). No difference was observed between the retreatment instruments regarding the lengths of fractured fragments (P > 0.05). The fracture surfaces of the instruments had morphologic characteristics of ductile fracture. CONCLUSIONS D-RaCe DR2 instrument exhibited greater cyclic fatigue resistance than ProTaper D3 only in root canals with 60° angle of curvature.
Families' protection of young children from sexual abuse in Kwanzimakwe.

The research study described and explored families’ protection of children from sexual abuse as perceived and experienced by families and community leaders in KwaNzimakwe, KwaZulu-Natal. A social construction and ecosystems perspective was utilised in order to understand the effects of perceptions and socio-cultural factors. The tribal area of KwaNzimakwe provided a context for the study to investigate socio-cultural factors that increase vulnerability among children in post apartheid South Africa. Limited empirical data was however found in relation to locally relevant factors pertinent to families’ protection of children from sexual abuse. The perspective of families and the community was ascertained through the use of qualitative methods of data collection. Ten individual interviews were conducted with family members who had past experiences of child sexual abuse and five focus group discussions were carried out with parents and community leaders. The research revealed misconceptions in relation to child sexual abuse with regards to (1) the definition (2) detection (3) awareness of potential risks. Child sexual abuse was found to be a hidden issue as families protect their name and the community perceive it to be a private matter. The study also showed that families do not report cases of child sexual abuse due to mistrust in the child protection system. Other main findings were that insufficiencies in the child protection system and stigma in the community have detrimental effects on families and victims. The absence of men in families and the absence of adults in the lives of children were found to significantly weaken families’ protection of children from sexual abuse. The study attributed this to factors such as poverty, gender roles and perceptions of men. The study recommends further research on the topic and prevention programmes in South Africa with particular reference to strengthening families and community based approaches. COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES DECLARATION PLAGIARISM I, , declare that 1. The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, is my original research. 2. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. 3. This thesis does not contain other persons’ data, pictures, graphs or other information, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. 4. This thesis does not contain other persons' writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then: a. Their words have been re-written but the general information attributed to them has been referenced b. Where their exact words have been used, then their writing has been placed in italics and inside quotation marks, and referenced. 5. This thesis does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the Internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the thesis and in the References sections.
Disrupting Mosquito Reproduction and Parasite Development for Malaria Control

The control of mosquito populations with insecticide treated bed nets and indoor residual sprays remains the cornerstone of malaria reduction and elimination programs. In light of widespread insecticide resistance in mosquitoes, however, alternative strategies for reducing transmission by the mosquito vector are urgently needed, including the identification of safe compounds that affect vectorial capacity via mechanisms that differ from fast-acting insecticides. Here, we show that compounds targeting steroid hormone signaling disrupt multiple biological processes that are key to the ability of mosquitoes to transmit malaria. When an agonist of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) is applied to Anopheles gambiae females, which are the dominant malaria mosquito vector in Sub Saharan Africa, it substantially shortens lifespan, prevents insemination and egg production, and significantly blocks Plasmodium falciparum development, three components that are crucial to malaria transmission. Modeling the impact of these effects on Anopheles population dynamics and Plasmodium transmission predicts that disrupting steroid hormone signaling using 20E agonists would affect malaria transmission to a similar extent as insecticides. Manipulating 20E pathways therefore provides a powerful new approach to tackle malaria transmission by the mosquito vector, particularly in areas affected by the spread of insecticide resistance.
Fiber-based optical parametric amplifiers and their applications

An applications-oriented review of optical parametric amplifiers in fiber communications is presented. The emphasis is on parametric amplifiers in general and single pumped parametric amplifiers in particular. While a theoretical framework based on highly efficient four-photon mixing is provided, the focus is on the intriguing applications enabled by the parametric gain, such as all-optical signal sampling, time-demultiplexing, pulse generation, and wavelength conversion. As these amplifiers offer high gain and low noise at arbitrary wavelengths with proper fiber design and pump wavelength allocation, they are also candidate enablers to increase overall wavelength-division-multiplexing system capacities similar to the more well-known Raman amplifiers. Similarities and distinctions between Raman and parametric amplifiers are also addressed. Since the first fiber-based parametric amplifier experiments providing net continuous-wave gain in the for the optical fiber communication applications interesting 1.5-/spl mu/m region were only conducted about two years ago, there is reason to believe that substantial progress may be made in the future, perhaps involving "holey fibers" to further enhance the nonlinearity and thus the gain. This together with the emergence of practical and inexpensive high-power pump lasers may in many cases prove fiber-based parametric amplifiers to be a desired implementation in optical communication systems.
An improved medical diagnosing of acute abdominal pain with decision tree

In medical decision making (e.g., classification) we expect that decision will be made effectively and reliably. Decision making systems with their ability to learn automatically seem to be very appropriate for performing such tasks. Decision trees provide high classification accuracy with simple representation of gathered knowledge. Those advantages cause that decision trees have been widely used in different areas of medical decision making. In this paper we present characteristic of univariate and multivariate decision tree. We apply those classifiers to the problem of acute abdominal pain diagnosis.
Metabolism of retinol and retinoic acid in N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mammary carcinomas in rats.

This study was conducted to examine the in vivo uptake and metabolism of natural retinoids by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mammary carcinomas. In this study, endogenous retinol and retinyl esters were present in normal mammary epithelial cells, but were undetectable in N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mammary carcinomas in rats as determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography. No differences were found in plasma levels of retinol, in liver retinyl esters, or total content of vitamin A between tumor-bearing and control animals. Administered labeled retinol was taken up and esterified by normal mammary epithelial cells. Tumor-bearing rats were given injections i.p. of either [3H]retinol or [3H]retinoic acid. Radioactivity increased progressively with time in liver and other tissues except in breast tumor, where the uptake fluctuated over the 8 days after the injection of [3H]retinol; in mammary tumors practically no metabolism of [3H]retinol occurred, while in other tissues extensive esterification was detectable. In contrast, in animals given injections of [3H]retinoic acid, the uptake and metabolism of the label in the breast tumors paralleled with those found in other tissues. Neither the activity of acyl coenzyme A:retinol acyl transferase nor the activity of retinyl ester hydrolase was altered in the mammary tumor compared to the normal mammary gland. On the other hand, a significant decrease in the retinal oxidase activity was found in tumor tissue compared to normal mammary tissue. Since no esterification of [3H]retinol occurred in vivo despite the presence of acyl coenzyme A:retinol acyl transferase activity, it is possible that a specific defect in the cellular uptake of retinol may exist in N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mammary carcinomas.
The role of oxidative stress in Sudan IV‐induced DNA damage in human liver‐derived HepG2 cells

Objectives: We evaluated the role of oxidative stress in Sudan IV‐induced DNA damage, using human liver‐derived HepG2 cells. Methods: The DNA damaging effects of Sudan IV in HepG2 cells were evaluated by alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis assay and micronucleus test (MNT). To clarify the underlying mechanisms, we monitored the intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by 2, 7‐dichlorofluorescein diacetate assay and the level of oxidative DNA damage by immunoperoxidase staining for 8‐hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG). Furthermore, the intracellular glutathione (GSH) level was moderated by pretreatment with buthionine‐(S,R)‐sulfoximine (BSO), a specific GSH synthesis inhibitor. Results: A significant dose‐dependent increment in DNA migration was detected at all tested concentrations (25–100 μM) of Sudan IV. And in the MNT, a significant increase of the frequency of micronuclei was found at higher tested concentrations (50–100 μM). The data suggested that Sudan IV caused DNA strand breaks and chromosome breaks. In addition, significantly increased levels of ROS, 8‐OHdG formation were observed in HepG2 cells. It was also found that depletion of GSH in HepG2 cells with BSO dramatically increased the susceptibility of HepG2 cells to Sudan IV‐induced DNA damage. Conclusions: Based on these data we believe that Sudan IV exerts toxic effects in HepG2 cells, probably through oxidative DNA damage induced by intracellular ROS and depletion of GSH. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2011.