Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of glucose supply on fasting nitrogen excretion and effect of level and type of volatile fatty acid infusion on response to protein infusion in cattle

Two experiments were carried out on cattle nourished entirely by intragastric infusion, to determine the extent to which glucose or a glucose precursor determines the response to protein infusion in energy-undernourished animals. In order to determine the requirement for glucose in 1-year-old fasting cattle, glucose was infused at increments to supply 0, 1·5, 2·5, 3·5, 4·5, 5·5 and 6·5 g/kg metabolic body weight (W0·75) and the effects on plasma β-hydroxybutyrate and N excretion were measured. At 5·5 g glucose/kg W0·75 plasma β-hydroxybutyrate was reduced to a basal level of 1·65 mmol/l and fasting N excretion reduced from 529 to 280 mg N/kg W0·75. No further reduction was observed with the higher level of 6·5 g glucose/kg W0·75. In the second trial, three steers were used in a 3 × 3 Latin square design and infused with a volatile fatty acid mixture of 65, 27 and 8 mol acetic, propionic and butyric acids respectively/100 mol, either at an estimated maintenance energy level of 450 kJ/kg W0·75 and supplying a calculated glucose equivalent level of 13·0 g/kg W0·75 (M1A), or at 1·5 × maintenance supplying a glucose equivalent of 20 g/kg W0·75 (M1·5A). Another mixture infused at the maintenance energy level contained 49, 43 and 8 mol acetic, propionic and butyric acids respectively/100 mol but with a glucose equivalent of 20 g/kg W0·75 (M1P). Casein was infused at each of these energy treatments to supply 0, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 2500 mg N/kg W0·75 daily, and N balance and blood metabolites were measured. N retention increased linearly (r 0·98) with casein infusion. The coefficients for N retention were 0·55, 0·57 and 0·64 for M1A, M1·5A and M1P respectively. The mean efficiency of N utilization was 0·58. The results suggest that provided the glucose need is met there is no relationship between energy supply and efficiency and level of protein retention. However, the results also indicate that glucose requirement in cattle may be higher than that previously observed in sheep.
Location Privacy of Users in Location-based Services

In this paper, we introduce location traceability as an indicator for evaluating time-series location privacy for users on location-based services (LBS). The location traceability of a user is calculated with a formalized tree structure that represents all possible paths of a moving user. Through the results of the simulation experiments, we validated the effectiveness of this proposed indicator
A nonlinear control technique for interleaved boost converter

This paper discusses about a nonlinear control technique employed for AC/DC PFC converter to charge the battery of PHEV. It consists of two stages, first stage is conversion from ac to dc where the power factor improvement is achieved by reducing the harmonics at the input side. In second stage, output dc voltage is boosted according to the requirement. The control law implemented in the first stage is based on discrete energy control which helps in recovering the output at a faster rate during transient period. This also helps in maintaining unity power factor at the input side. The discrete optimal control is compared with the average current mode control and the significant simulation results are presented. From the results it is depicted that the discrete energy function control has a good dynamic response for load transients compared to average current mode control.
Noise Exposure and Hearing Capabilities of Quarry Workers in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction. Although quarry operations have high economic significance, the effects they cause to the workers in terms of excessive noise production cannot be overlooked. This cross-sectional study assessed the extent of noise exposure and its influence on hearing capabilities among quarry workers in Ashanti region. Methods. The study involved 400 workers randomly selected from five quarries in Ashanti region from April to June 2012. Data was collected using structured questionnaires, physical examination, and audiological assessments. A logistic regression model was fitted to assess independent predictors of hearing loss. Results. All the machines used at the various quarries produced noise that exceeded the minimum threshold with levels ranging from 85.5 dBA to 102.7 dBA. 176 (44%) of study respondents had hearing threshold higher than 25 dBA. 18% and 2% of these were moderately (41–55 dBA) and severely (71–90 dBA) impaired, respectively. Age, duration of work, and use of earplugs independently predicted the development of hearing loss. Use of earplugs showed a protective effect on the development of hearing loss (OR = 0.45; 95% CI = 0.25, 0.84). Conclusion. This study provides empirical evidence on the extent of damage caused to quarry workers as a result of excessive noise exposure. This will support the institution of appropriate protective measures to minimize this threat.
Many-Thread Aware Compression in GPGPUs

Compression is a promising technique to increase effective capacity of caches. Due to latency overhead of decompression, most of previous studies applied compression to lower level caches. General-Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs) are throughput oriented computing platforms which execute hundreds to thousands of threads, simultaneously. The massive number of threads makes GPGPUs less sensitive to the delay of decompression than CPUs. This makes it possible to exploit compressed L1 data caches, boost performance of GPGPUs. To offset the power overhead of a compressed cache, we use opportunities provided by cache compression to reduce dynamic, static power of the compressed cache. Our evaluation using a set of GPGPU benchmark suites shows that compression improves performance up to 20% with marginal impact on power.
Linear and Non-Linear Decoding Techniques in Multi-User MIMO Systems: A Review

Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) supports greater data rate and higher reliability in wireless communication. MIMO technique uses the multiple antennas to achieve high transmission rate. The receiver end of the MIMO consists of linear and non-linear decoding techniques. In this paper we are discussing about the linear and non-linear decoding techniques used at the receiver. Zero forcing (ZF), Minimum mean Square error (MMSE), Maximum likelihood (ML), Sphere decoding (SD) are the methods used in wireless communication for reducing the complexity at the receiver.
Web Document Classification based on Hyperlinks and Document Semantics

Besides the basic content, a web document also contains a set of hyperlinks pointing to other related documents. Hyperlinks in a document provide much information about its relation with other web documents. By analyzing hyperlinks in documents, inter-relationship among documents can be identi ed. In this paper, we will propose an algorithm to classify web documents into subsets based on hyperlinks in documents and their content. Representative documents will also be identi ed in each subset based on the proposed similarity de nition With the representative document, searching for related documents can be achieved.
Effect of Stress and Self-esteem on QoL in General College Students

Background/Objectives: College students are in the transition period between adolescence and adulthood and need to lay the ground for emotional or financial independence. This study aimed to analyze the effects of general college students’ stress and self-esteem on their quality of life (QoL). Method/Statistical Analysis: This study was performed in a total of 200 students at S University in S City. With the exception of the questionnaires not returned or wrongly or not fully completed during the process of data collection (n=25), 175 questionnaires were finally analyzed. Before the survey, the participants in this study were given an explanation about the purport of the research and those consenting to participate in this study were asked to make a written consent and complete questionnaires, which were then returned. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression.Findings: This study obtained the following results: first, the total score was 46.5 ± 18.4 for the socio-psychosocial well-being index (PWI), 30.2 ± 4.5 for self-esteem, and 91.0 ± 13.1 for QoL; second, QoL differed statistically significantly by the frequency of having breakfast per week (F=3.3, p=.02), and PWI (F=4.7, p=.003) and QoL (F=4.8, p=.003) differed statistically significantly by activity of daily; third, significant negative correlation was found between PWI and QoL(r=-.7, p<0.001); fourth, stress (? =-.7, p<0.001) was the factor that had the strongest negative effects on QoL.Improvements/Applications: Stress was the factor that had the strongest effects on QoL in college students. It is therefore necessary to develop health promotion programs that can help general college students relieve stress with the objective of improving their QoL.
Progress in applied Compressive Sampling: A brief review on methods and devices

The CS (Compressive Sampling/Compressed Sensing) is an emerging technique in signal processing, which enables the development of better methods and devices. This talk presents a brief review on the progress of CS after a decade of its developments. First, the principle of the CS and the difference with classical sampling is explained. Then, early developments on CS-methods and related applications are described by giving some well-known examples, such as the single-pixel camera and sparse MRI. A review on the progress of CS research in our group, covering both of theoretical and applied aspects, will also be given.
Improvement on Image Decomposition Based on Morphological Component Analysis

This paper proposes a new method for image decomposition based on MCA. The basic idea presented in this paper is the use of non sub sampled contour let transform to represent structure parts, and the double density wavelet transform for the texture parts, then the Besov semi-norm is added for restricting structure parts. Finally, the block-coordinate-relaxation method is used to solve the new model. Experimental results show that the algorithm can effectively separate the structure and texture parts from noisy image, and improve the denoising performance.
A Novel Image Encryption Algorithm Based on DNA Encoding and Spatiotemporal Chaos

DNA computing based image encryption is a new, promising field. In this paper, we propose a novel image encryption scheme based on DNA encoding and spatiotemporal chaos. In particular, after the plain image is primarily diffused with the bitwise Exclusive-OR operation, the DNA mapping rule is introduced to encode the diffused image. In order to enhance the encryption, the spatiotemporal chaotic system is used to confuse the rows and columns of the DNA encoded image. The experiments demonstrate that the proposed encryption algorithm is of high key sensitivity and large key space, and it can resist brute-force attack, entropy attack, differential attack, chosen-plaintext attack, known-plaintext attack and statistical attack.
Empirical characterization of mm-wave communication links in realistic indoor scenarios

The large contiguous bandwidths available in the mm-wave frequency bands have recently started to gain significant attention due to the growing belief that it can alleviate the spectrum shortage at lower frequencies and meet the increasing high data rate demands. While some commercially available mm-wave transceivers in the 60 GHz and 70 GHz bands have been developed, only a few studies exist on the achievable data rates in realistic deployment scenarios. Moreover, practical issues such as interference and coexistence of heterogeneous applications have not been investigated. In this paper, we present our empirical study on the bit error ratio and throughput for realistic indoor application scenarios in 60 GHz and 70GHz using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based physical layer on various commercially available transceivers. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of interference on the performance characteristics of the mm-wave frequency links in different deployment setups.
MESH GRADATION CONTROL

This paper gives a procedure to control the size variation in a mesh adaption scheme where the size specication (the so-called control space) is used to govern the mesh generation stage. The method consists in replacing the initial control space by a reduced one by means of size or metric. It allows to improve, a priori, the quality of the adapted mesh and to speed up the adaption procedure. Several numerical examples show the eciency of the reduction scheme. 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Potential Serum Markers for Monitoring the Progression of Hepatitis B Virus-Associated Chronic Hepatic Lesions to Liver Cirrhosis

Background/Aims To screen for serum protein/peptide biomarkers of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated chronic hepatic lesions in an attempt to profile the progression of HBV-associated chronic hepatic lesions using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) techniques. Methods Using SELDI-TOF MS, serum protein/peptide profiles on the CM10 ProteinChip arrays were obtained from a training group including 26 HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), 30 HBV-associated LC patients, 85 patients at different stages of liver fibrosis, and 30 asymptomatic HBV carriers. The most valuable SELDI peak for predicting the progression to LC in HBV-infected patients was identified. Results A SELDI peak of M/Z 5805 with value for predicting LC in HBV-infected patients was found and was identified as a peptide of the C-terminal fraction of the fibrinogen α-chain precursor, isoform 1. Conclusions The peptide of the C-terminal fraction of the fibrinogen α-chain precursor, isoform 1 with M/Z 5805, may be a serological biomarker for progression to LC in HBV-infected patients.
On the interplay between proof complexity and SAT solving

This paper is intended as an informal and accessible survey of proof complexity for non-experts, focusing on some comparatively weak proof systems of particular interest in connection with SAT solving. We review resolution, polynomial calculus, and cutting planes (related to conflict-driven clause learning, Gröbner basis computations, and pseudo-Boolean solving, respectively) and some complexity measures that have been studied for these proof systems. We also discuss briefly to what extent proof complexity could provide insights into SAT solver performance, and how concerns related to applied SAT solving can give rise to interesting complexity-theoretic questions. Along the way, we highlight a number of current research challenges.
Activation of Complement Alternative Pathway in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Implications in Peripheral Neutrophils Functions

Evaluation of the respiratory burst induced by receptors Fc￻ R and CR was carried out in peripheral blood neu- trophils (PBN) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with active and inactive disease. Simultaneously, cooperation be- tween these receptors and their expression, PBN chemotaxis, and complement system systemic activity were also investi- gated. Neutrophils were stimulated with IC-IgG opsonized with normal human serum (NHS) or not, or with IC-IgG op- sonized with RA human serum (RAHS). ROS production was increased in neutrophils of patients with active or inactive RA stimulated of IC-IgG opsonized with NHS compared to the response of the cells mediated by ICIgG. However, there was poor Fc￻ R/CR cooperation in these RA neutrophils, as indicated by decreased ROS production upon stimulation with IC-IgG opsonized with RAHS. In the case of active RA patients, neutrophils presented significantly higher CR1 and CR3 expression, as well as slight elevation in CD32 and CD16 expression. Positive correlations between Fc￻ R and CR, com- plement alternative pathway activation, and increased RA serum chemotaxic activity were only detected in active RA pa- tients. Taken together, these results indicate that several abnormalities of the complement system exist at the systemic level, namely impaired membrane receptor cooperation, alternative pathway activation, and presence of pre-existing chemoattractant factors in the serum, as reflected by the neutrophil function in the particular case of active RA patients. All, these abnormalities may synergistically contribute to RA pathogenesis.
SiPaViS - A toolkit for scientific visualization and simulation

This paper introduces a new approach for scientiflc visualization and simulation based on a particle system. The main characteristics of the toolkit we designed and implemented at the New University of Lisbon are presented. Along with particles, flelds, and particle sources, the central concept of the framework introduces the interaction as the fourth primary class of objects. The result is that a large diversity of techniques for data visualization and simulation can easily be integrated. A user of the toolkit can write a relatively short script in order to build a speciflc application program. This script is interpreted by SiPaViS (the name of this toolkit) according to the rules of a given grammar and on the basis of the existent re-usable classes. However, a programmer can always extend the set of predeflned classes by writing the corresponding code in a common programming language. Some examples are given in the paper under the scope of application areas such as volume rendering through ray-casting implementation and also visualization of vector flelds.
On the Capacity of the Channel Aware Slotted Aloha over Rayleigh and Nakagami-m Channels

We consider the channel aware slotted ALOHA protocol that has been recently proposed to improve the capacity of the traditional slotted ALOHA by using multi-user diversity. This type of diversity is commonly used in scheduling policies that allow terminals to transmit when their channel conditions are good. Here, we focus on a decentralized random access protocol where users decide to transmit only when their signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is above a predefined threshold. We derive the formulas of capacity of the channel aware slotted ALOHA protocol in case of optimal power and rate adaptation over Rayleigh fading channels with different diversity techniques and over Nakagami-m fading channels. We also propose a modelization of the optimal probability of transmission as a function of the mean SNR and of the number of users.
Peer integration, teacher-student relationships and the associations with depressive symptoms in secondary school students with and without special needs

ABSTRACT The present study focuses on the association between peer integration and the development of depressive symptoms in secondary school students. A sample of 393 7th grade students (194 boys, 199 girls, mean age = 13.38 years, sd = 0.85) was recruited from 25 secondary schools in Austria. Of these students, 34 were diagnosed as having special educational needs. The screening version of the depression questionnaire DTK-II and the subscales “social relationships” and “perceived appreciation by the teacher” from the FEESS 3–4 were used for assessment. Structural equation modeling shows that negative teacher-student relationships predict both poor peer integration and depressive symptoms. Teacher-student relationships in schools have an impact on the peer integration as well as on the mental health of students.
3D Maps Registration and Path Planning for Autonomous Robot Navigation

Mobile robots dedicated in security tasks should be capable of clearly perceiving their environment to com- petently navigate within cluttered areas, so as to accomplish their assigned mission. The paper in hand describes such an autonomous agent designed to deploy competently in hazardous environments equipped with a laser scanner sensor. During the robot's motion, consecutive scans are obtained to produce dense 3D maps of the area. A 3D point cloud registration technique is exploited to merge the successively created maps during the robot's motion followed by an ICP refinement step. The reconstructed 3D area is then top-down projected with great resolution, to be fed in a path planning algorithm suitable to trace obstacle-free trajectories in the explored area. The main characteristic of the path planner is that the robot's embodiment is considered for producing detailed and safe trajectories of 1 cm resolution. The proposed method has been evaluated with our mobile robot in several outdoor scenarios revealing remarkable performance.
A constraint programming based platform for planning assistance and schedule generation: Case of small IT projects

In the case of small IT projects the project managers are tempted to not make a planning to save time. However, establish a schedule is necessary for a successful project, in this work we propose a platform for planning assistance, based on solving the planning problem modeled in CSP, that should help project managers to analyze the project feasibility and to generate useful schedule with just some information as input.