Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding the Position of the State in Processes of Accumulation: Exploring the Tensions Between Land Reform and Biofuels in Zimbabwe

This paper is a study of the state-capital-society relationship in an effort to unpack the most actor in development. The rapid expansion of capital over the last decade with a growing presence in the agrarian sector has been a focus of several studies. The pervasiveness of land grabbing has led many to theorize on the state-capital alliance, but the tensions in Zimbabwe provide a unique site for analysis. The Chisumbaje Green Fuel project was sanctioned 9 years after the largest state led land reform process in sub-Saharan Africa had commenced. The evident tensions in policies between the land reform and the allocation of 45,000ha of land to a single enterprise provide a site for in depth analysis on whether the state is truly an instrument of capital or if it can serve the interests of the poor peasant classes as well. The class conflict over land and property has strong historical roots and by critically analysis the evidence as well as the discourse of land reform and land grabbing, a deeper understanding of the position of the state can be found. The framework of state theory of a strategic paradigm that allows the discussion to not only engage with the material issues but also engage the ideational debates in an effort to contribute to the body of literature on land reform and biofuel exploration, and also to stimulate further discussions on the state. This paper will question some of the dominant assumptions and positions that make arguments without a critical consideration of the role and position of the state. Such uncomplicated analysis can therefore lead to misleading hypothesis that then obfuscate the real issues by omission. Using the strategic relational approach and the Gramcian concept of hegemony, this paper will attempt to problematize and unpack the dominant perception of the state project to show that though accumulation is a permanent interest of the state, the interest of capital and the lower classes are not mutually exclusive. The assumption that in pursuing one, the other is abrogated is problematic and this thesis will challenge and examine this view to present a more assiduous analytic lens. Though it is an attempt to answer the question of whether the state can pursue both interests simultaneously, this paper does not presume to categorically answer the question, but rather it is an effort to contribute an alternative perspective on understanding the state that may provide a richer insight into the ultimate answer.
Surface Plasmon Resonance Immunosensor for the Detection of Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacteriosis is an internationally important foodborne disease caused by Campylobacter jejuni. The bacterium is prevalent in chicken meat and it is estimated that as much as 90% of chicken meat on the market may be contaminated with the bacterium. The current gold standard for the detection of C. jejuni is the culturing method, which takes at least 48 h to confirm the presence of the bacterium. Hence, the aim of this work was to investigate the development of a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor platform for C. jejuni detection. Bacterial strains were cultivated in-house and used in the development of the sensor. SPR sensor chips were first functionalized with polyclonal antibodies raised against C. jejuni using covalent attachment. The gold chips were then applied for the direct detection of C. jejuni. The assay conditions were then optimized and the sensor used for C. jejuni detection, achieving a detection limit of 8 × 106 CFU·mL−1. The sensitivity of the assay was further enhanced to 4 × 104 CFU·mL−1 through the deployment of a sandwich assay format using the same polyclonal antibody. The LOD obtained in the sandwich assay was higher than that achieved using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (106–107 CFU·mL−1). This indicate that the SPR-based sandwich sensor method has an excellent potential to replace ELISA tests for C. jejuni detection. Specificity studies performed with Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, demonstrated the high specific of the sensor for C. jejuni.
A cut-through scheduling for delay optimization in TD-LTE relay enhanced networks

The relaying is the most important feature as a practical solution in LTE technologies to improve performance and to extend coverage. This paper contributes to the performance on cut-through forwarding mode in relaying framework for applying in TD-LTE standard referred to as 3GPP release 10 and above, it provides lower forwarding latency per hop by rescheduling the alignment of sub-frame duration between each superordinate relay node and subordinate relay node. We demonstrate a significant performance improvement through simulation, the results show that the proposed scheme features lower forwarding latencies for both uplink and downlink in terms of one-way end-to-end delay as compared to legacy synchronous relaying of the relay enhanced TD-LTE networks.
Clinical characterization of children with resistant airflow obstruction, a multicenter study

ABSTRACT Objective: To characterize a cohort of children with airflow limitation resistant to bronchodilator (BD) therapy. Methods: Pulmonary function tests performed in children 6–17 years of age at 15 centers in a clinical research consortium were screened for resistant airflow limitation, defined as a post-BD FEV1 and/or an FEV1/FVC less than the lower limits of normal. Demographic and clinical data were analyzed for associations with pulmonary function. Results: 582 children were identified. Median age was 13 years (IQR: 11, 16), 60% were males; 62% were Caucasian, 28% were African-American; 19% were obese; 32% were born prematurely and 21% exposed to second hand smoke. Pulmonary diagnoses included asthma (93%), prior significant pneumonia (28%), and bronchiectasis (5%). 65% reported allergic rhinitis, and 11% chronic sinusitis. Subjects without a history of asthma had significantly lower post-BD FEV1% predicted (p = 0.008). Subjects without allergic rhinitis had lower post-BD FEV1% predicted (p = 0.003). Children with allergic rhinitis, male sex, obesity and Black race had better pulmonary function post-BD. There was lower pulmonary function in children after age 11 years without a history of allergic rhinitis, as compared to those with a history of allergic rhinitis. Conclusions: The most prevalent diagnosis in children with BD-resistant airflow limitation is asthma. Allergic rhinitis and premature birth are common co-morbidities. Children without a history of asthma, as well as those with asthma but no allergic rhinitis, had lower pulmonary function. Children with BD-resistant airflow limitation may represent a sub-group of children with persistent obstruction and high risk for life-long airway disease.
Application of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) for the Detection of Single Viruses and Single Biological Nano-objects

Real-time and label-free optical biosensors based on the principles of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomena are widely used to study interactions between different biomolecules (nucleic acids, proteins, peptides). Despite many advantages of SPR-based instruments, they remained useless for detection of single nanosized biological objects such as viruses or virus-like particles. However, recent groundbreaking studies demonstrated suitability of modified SPR-based imaging techniques for the detection of single viruses and visualization of viral binding events.
A Hybrid Approach for Automatic Extraction of Bilingual Multiword Expressions from Parallel Corpora

Specific-domain bilingual lexicons play an important role for domain adaptation in machine translation. The entries of these types of lexicons are mostly composed of MultiWord Expressions (MWEs). The manual construction of MWEs bilingual lexicons is costly and time-consuming. We often use word alignment approaches to automatically construct bilingual lexicons of MWEs from parallel corpora. We present in this paper a hybrid approach to extract and align MWEs from parallel corpora in a one-step process. We formalize the alignment process as an integer linear programming problem in order to find an approximated optimal solution. This process generates lists of MWEs with their translations, which are then filtered using linguistic patterns for the construction of the bilingual lexicons of MWEs. We evaluate the bilingual lexicons of MWEs produced by this approach using two methods: a manual evaluation of the alignment quality and an evaluation of the impact of this alignment on the translation quality of the phrase-based statistical machine translation system Moses. We experimentally show that the integration of the bilingual MWEs and their linguistic information into the translation model improves the performance of Moses.
Walking with controlled breathing improves exercise tolerance, anxiety, and quality of life in heart failure patients: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Patients with heart failure experience not only impaired physical condition, but also their physical activity, moods, and quality of life may be diminished. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 12-week walking with breathing program on physical activity tolerance considering time-dependent physiological factors and time-independent interoceptive awareness, as well as psychosocial factors. Methods: This randomized controlled trial recruited 90 heart failure patients and randomly assigned them. The walking with breathing group received the walking and breathing intervention for 12 weeks but the control group did not. Outcomes included activity tolerance measured by 6-minute walk distance, moods assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, quality of life determined by the EuroQol 5-Dimensions, oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry, and interoceptive awareness by the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness scale. Data were collected before the intervention at baseline and at Weeks 2, 4 and 12. Results: The results of the generalized estimating equation showed the 6-minute walk distance in the walking with breathing group was significantly different across time (p<0.001) compared with the control group at baseline. Oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry (p=0.04) and Trusting on the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness scale (p=0.001) significantly and positively correlated with results of the 6-minute walk distance. There were significant between-group differences at Week 12 in anxiety (p=0.03) and quality of life (p=0.02) but not depression (p=0.06). Conclusions: Walking with breathing improved heart failure patients’ tolerance of physical activity, probably because of improved oxygen saturation and trusting interoceptive awareness. Walking with breathing also improved patients’ anxiety and quality of life.
Design of Microstrip Patch Antenna for Wireless Communication Devices

As per Microstrip Patch antenna (MPA) provide low profile and low volume, so it is use in a now a days communication devices. It is studied that MPA is targeted on planning compact sized microstrip antenna. A printed monopole antenna can be used in wireless communication devices in different operating frequency ranges. In this speedy dynamical world in wireless communication dual or multiband antenna has been playing a key role for wireless service needs applications. In this paper, a microstrip patch antenna with clockwise rotated E-shape radiating patch with I-cut on middle slot is proposed using at 3.5 GHz. The size of microstrip antenna is 19.99×26.08 (L×W) mm. The performance parameter of MPA such as Return loss, VSWR, elevation polar plot and 3D view of radiation pattern are simulated by using Zeland Program Manager (IE3D).
The study of image feature extraction and classification

As we all know, research continues in the areas of image classification development in computer vision. People eagerly hope to achieve a perfect classification accuracy, however, many results of these experiments are less than satisfactory because of many complex factors. Therefore, in order to find these factors and improve the classification accuracy, we describe the details of classification methods with logistic regression and support vector machine algorithm, then discuss the impact of different methods on classification results and the factors that affect the classification accuracy in one method. Before that we briefly introduce the image feature extraction which plays a necessary role of image classification.
The suppressive effect of the three-herb extract mixture on vascular and liver inflammation in atherogenic diet with high fructose-fed mice

Abstract Context: Cynanchum wilfordii (Maximowicz) Hemsley (Apocynaceae), Arctium lappa L. var. rubescens Frivald (Asteraceae) and Dioscorea opposite Thunb (Dioscoreaceae) root extracts have been widely used as an alternative for intervening obesity. Objectives: The synergistic effect of three-herb mixture of C. wilfordii, A. lappa and D. opposita was determined on aortic and liver inflammatory responses. Materials and methods: CWE, ALE and DOE were prepared from the root of C. wilfordii, A. lappa and D. opposite by 70% ethanol extraction, respectively. CADE was prepared using a powder mixture of 2 CWE:1 ALE:1 DOE. C57BL/6 mice were fed an atherogenic diet combined with 10% fructose (ATHFR) in the presence of 200 mg/kg/day CWE, ALE, DOE or CADE for 8 weeks (each group, n = 6). Biochemical profiles, protein expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) on the aorta and liver were determined. Results: CADE could significantly suppress the protein expression of VCAM-1 in both the aorta and liver (80% reduction) compared to ATHFR-fed mice. Impairment of liver function was significantly ameliorated by CADE supplement, as determined by GOT (60% reduction) and GPT (51% reduction) levels. Conclusions: CADE should be considered when developing medications to suppress the vascular and liver inflammatory responses for individuals who are either non-responsive or resistant to lipid-lowering drugs.
Dummy Generation Based on User-Movement Estimation for Location Privacy Protection

Location-based services (LBSs) have been becoming more common due to the prevalence of GPS-enabled devices. While LBSs bring many benefits for our daily lives, location information may reveal private information, rendering an important problem of protecting location privacy of users. To anonymize the locations of users, we focus on dummy-based approaches that generate dummies and their locations are sent along with the actual location of a user to an LBS provider. Although several existing studies developed dummy-based techniques, they assume unrealistic user mobility, e.g., users keep moving and do not stop or follow a pre-defined movement plan precisely. In this paper, we remove the unrealistic assumptions and require much easier input with respect to user movement, i.e., only a set of visiting points. Under the assumption, we propose a dummy generation method, estimation-based dummy trajectory generation (Edge). Based on the given visiting points, Edge estimates a user-movement plan and designs trajectories of dummies so that the adversaries cannot distinguish the user from dummies. We conduct extensive experiments using real map information, and the results show the efficiency and effectiveness of Edge.
Estimated net income distribution of working households by household type and locality: Bromley 2014

Estimated net income distribution of working households by household type and locality Example of Bromley in July 2014 Summary Landlords in the social rented sector are currently in need of delivering more hybrid housing options – most notably the Affordable Rent (AR) Programme. The target of 80% of market rents implies prospective tenants will be on moderate, but not the lowest, incomes, and are thus less likely to be on Housing Benefit; an appropriate or optimal level of AR in each local market is still not settled, and is the subject of debate amongst housing providers. One of the bases for setting an AR is household income net of income-related benefits, such as Housing Benefit. Calculating this is not easy because lack of detailed information on household income components in local areas. For instance, the Family Resource Survey (FRS), commissioned by DWP, has critical data on household incomes but only at very limited geographical levels. 1 There is also a considerable time lag between data collection, publication and use in the planning context for housing provision. Cambridge Centre for Housing & Planning Research (CCHPR) has been approached by several housing associations and local authorities to provide estimates of the latest net income distribution of working households by type at or lower than local authority area level. Net income means income net of housing and other income-related benefits but includes non-income related benefits. As an example, CCHPR has estimated net income distribution for eight household types in the London Borough of Bromley at Mid-Super Output Area (MSOA) level, for July 2014, using micro-simulation models developed from our own experience and studies.
Non-rigid registration of medical image using a B-spline transformation

A new nonrigid registration method has been developed in this paper. In the proposed algorithm, we use αB-Spline transformation based on free-form deformation model to register images. The αB-Spline not only possesses many desirable geometrical and computational properties as B-spline, but also enhances the shape-control capability. It uses the linear singular blending technique, which is derived from the blending parameters defined at the B-spline control vertices. The volume can be transformed by changing the positions of control vertices and the value of blending parameters. We first use affine transformation to coarsely match two images, then warp the image by altering the positions of the control points, at last, adjust the values of blending parameters to change the image finely. We combine the SSD similarity measure with the regularization of Laplacian model as the cost function. Compared with that of the affine and B-spline transformation, the result of the proposed method is better.
Distribution of Emotional Reactions to News Articles in Twitter

Several datasets of opinions expressed by Social networks’ users have been created to explore Sentiment Analysis tasks like Sentiment Polarity and Emotion Mining. Most of these datasets are focused on the writers’ perspective, that is, the post written by a user is analyzed to determine the expressed sentiment on it. This kind of datasets do not consider the source that provokes those opinions (e.g. a previous post). In this work, we propose a dataset focused on the readers’ perspective. The developed dataset contains news articles published by three newspapers and the distribution of six predeﬁned emotions expressed by readers of the articles in Twitter. This dataset was built aiming to explore how the six emotions are expressed by Twitter users’ after reading a news article. We show some results of a machine learning method used to predict the distribution of emotions in unseen news articles.
Evaluating the WordsEye Text-to-Scene System: Imaginative and Realistic Sentences

We describe our evaluation of the WordsEye text-to-scene generation system. We address the problem of evaluating the output of such a system vs. simple search methods to ﬁnd a picture to illustrate a sentence. To do this, we constructed two sets of test sentences: a set of crowdsourced imaginative sentences and a set of realistic sentences extracted from the PASCAL image caption corpus (Rashtchian et al., 2010). For each sentence, we compared sample pictures found using Google Image Search to those produced by WordsEye. We then crowdsourced judgments as to which picture best illustrated each sentence. For imaginative sentences, pictures produced by WordsEye were preferred, but for realistic sentences, Google Image Search results were preferred. We also used crowdsourcing to obtain a rating for how well each picture illustrated the sentence, from 1 (completely correct) to 5 (completely incorrect). WordsEye pictures had an average rating of 2.58 on imaginative sentences and 2.54 on realistic sentences; Google images had an average rating of 3.82 on imaginative sentences and 1.87 on realistic sentences. We also discuss the sources of errors in the WordsEye system.
Thermal energetics of female big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)

We investigated thermoregulation and energetics in female big brown bats, Eptesicus fuscus (Beauvois, 1796). We exposed bats to a range of ambient temperatures (Ta) and used open-flow respirometry to record their metabolic re- sponses. The bats were typically thermoconforming and almost always entered torpor at Tas below the lower critical temperature Tlc of 26.7 °C. Basal metabolic rate (BMR, 16.98 ± 2.04 mL O2·h -1 , mean body mass = 15.0 ± 1.4 g) and torpid metabolic rate (TMR, 0.460 ± 0.207 mL O2·h -1 , mean body mass = 14.7 ± 1.3 g) were similar to values re- ported for other vespertilionid bats of similar size and similar to a value for E. fuscus BMR calculated from data in a previous paper. However, we found that big brown bats had a lower Tlc and lower thermal conductance at low Ta rela- tive to those measured in the previous study. During torpor, the minimum individual body temperature (Tb) that we re- corded was 1.1 °C and the bats began defending minimum Tb at Ta of approximately 0 °C. BMR of big brown bats was 76% of that predicted for bats based on the relationship between BMR and body mass. However, the Vespert- ilionidae have been under-represented in previous analyses of the relationship between BMR and body mass in bats. Our data, combined with data for other vespertilionids, suggest that the family may be characterized by a lower BMR than that predicted based on data from other groups of bats.
Viral nanomechanics with a virtual atomic force microscope

One of the most important components of a virus is the protein shell or capsid that encloses its genetic material. The main role of the capsid is to protect the viral genome against external aggressions, facilitating its safe and efficient encapsulation and delivery. As a consequence, viral capsids have developed astonishing mechanical properties that are crucial for viral function. These remarkable properties have started to be unveiled in single-virus nanoindentation experiments, and are opening the door to the use of viral-derived artificial nanocages for promising bio- and nano-technological applications. However, the interpretation of nanoindentation experiments is often difficult, requiring the support of theoretical and simulation analysis. Here we present a ‘Virtual AFM’ (VAFM), a Brownian Dynamics simulation of a coarse-grained model of virus aimed to mimic the standard setup of atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanoindentation experiments. Despite the heavy level of coarse-graining, these simulations provide valuable information which is not accessible in experiments. Rather than focusing on a specific virus, the VAFM will be used to analyze how the mechanical response and breaking of viruses depend on different parameters controlling the effective interactions between capsid’s structural units. In particular, we will discuss the influence of adsorption, the tip radius, and the rigidity and shape of the shell on its mechanical response.