Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prothrombotic and Endothelial Inflammatory Markers in Greek Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Compared to Non-Diabetics

Objective: To evaluate specific factors of coagulation and endothelial inflammatory markers namely, thrombomodulin, soluble receptor of the protein C (sEPCR), factor VIII, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, Von Willebrandt factor, fibrinogen, fibrinogen dimers (d-dimers), high sensitivity C-reactive protein and homocysteine in a subset of Greek subjects with and without Type 2 (T2) Diabetes. Design: 84 subjects, of which 44 patients with T2 diabetes, were included in the randomized comparative prospective cross sectional study. The subjects were split into a Τ2 diabetics group and a group of healthy controls of similar age, anthropometric profiles and similar gender distribution. Results: A total of 47 variables and biomarkers together with indicators for metabolic profiles, clinical history, as well as detailed anthropometric profiles and traditional risk factors, were evaluated. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4), Insulin, use of Sulfonylurea, high HBA1c and glucose levels, were clearly statistically differentiated in the two groups, while no other biomarkers including the new potential indicators were found to be different. High values of thrombomodulin and homocysteine were correlated with a rise in creatinine and thus seem to affect renal function in the diabetic patients group while in the non-diabetics group the correlations are different with sEPCR having a relative strong negative correlation in renal function as measured with The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease, in agreement with the latest international findings. Conclusions: The presence of T2 diabetes in conjunction with age clearly correlates with problems in renal function, thrombomodulin and homocysteine could serve as indicators for renal damage in diabetics but not in healthy individuals. sEPCR on the other hand could be a potential generic indicator for renal damage. Thrombomodulin and sEPCR as prothombotic agents, did not show any indication that they can be utilised as markers for the prevention and/or treatment of thrombotic complications in diabetic patients.
Challenges in a Physics Course: Introducing Student-Centred Activities for Increased Learning

This article identifies and analyses some of the challenges that arose in a development process of changing from a content-based teaching environment to a student-centred environment in an undergraduate physics course for medicine and biology students at Universidad de los Andes. Through the use of the Critical Research model proposed by Skovsmose and Borba, the development process was formed as a close co-operation between academics and researchers in both the construction of pedagogical changes and the responses to particular educational problems during the process. The analyses of the development process highlight a number of difficulties in relation to the introduction of specific student-centred approaches in relation to both the structure of the course and the conception of the content of the course.
Taxonomic revision of Chordaria flagelliformis (Chordariales, Phaeophyceae) including novel use of the intragenic spacer region of rDNA for phylogenetic analysis

Abstract Chordaria flagelliformis is widely distributed in the cold-water areas of the Northern Hemisphere, along the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Chordaria flagelliformis f. chordaeformis, one of the four new morphological forms first described by Kjellman from Spitsbergen, is characterized by its simple thallus (unbranched or with very few branches) and appears to have a narrower distributional range in colder-water areas compared to the typical form (f. flagelliformis). However, the taxonomic character used to distinguish this form is not always reliable, because of the great morphological plasticity of the species. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using the 5.8S, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and intragenic spacer (IGS, between 26S and 5S) rDNA regions and Rubisco (almost complete rbcL gene and its spacer region between rbcL and rbcS) showed that C. flagelliformis is composed of three major genetic groups: ‘group 1’ (f. chordaeformis from Kamchatka, north Pacific), ‘group 2’ (f. chordaeformis from other areas) and ‘group 3’ (f. flagelliformis). ‘Group 2’ and ‘group 3’ were composed of two subgroups, corresponding to their Atlantic and Pacific populations. The lengths of the sequences of the ITS1 and ITS2 regions were relatively constant in each group and subgroup, and were considerably different between groups. This is the first report of the use of the 26S-5S IGS region for molecular phylogenetic analysis in any organism; the region was shown to be three to eight times more variable than the 5.8S–ITS region. On the basis of these analyses, C. flagelliformis f. flagelliformis was concluded to exhibit great morphological plasticity and to contain some specimens that are unbranched, whereas f. chordaeformis was more consistent in the number of branches. Chordaria flagelliformis f. chordaeformis is independent from C. flagelliformis sensu stricto, although the taxonomic relationships between the populations of Kamchatka and other areas are still unclear. We propose recognizing f. chordaeformis at the species level, as C. chordaeformis (Kjellman) Kawai & S.H. Kim stat. nov.
Chapter XII Pen-Based Interaction for Intuitive Music Composition and Editing

This chapter deals with pen interaction and its use for musical notation composition and editing. The authors first present existing pen-based musical notation editors and argue that they are dedicated to classical musical notations and are often constraining for the user. They then focus on their generic method that is in particular based on a formalism that models how to interpret the strokes drawn in online structured documents. To analyze an element, it models a coupling of a global vision (its position relatively to the other elements of the document) with a local vision (its shape and that of its components). The authors also present the hand-drawn stroke analyzer associated to this formalism. Finally, they demonstrate how the presented method can be used to design pen-based systems not only for classical musical score notations, but also for plainchant scores, drum tablatures and stringed-instrument tablatures.
When Rules Really Make a Difference: The Effect of Cooperation Rules and Self-Sacrificing Leadership on Moral Norms in Social Dilemmas

If self-interested behavior conflicts with the collective welfare, rules of cooperation are often installed to prevent egoistic behavior. We hypothesized that installing such rules may instigate personal moral norms of cooperation, but that they fail in doing so when installed by a leader who is self-interested rather than selfsacrificing. Three studies confirmed this and also showed that, consequently, only self-sacrificing leaders were able to install rules that increase cooperation without the need for a perfectly operating monitoring system.
3D Estimation and Fully Automated Learning of Eye-Hand Coordination in Humanoid Robots

—This work deals with the problem of 3D estimation and eye-hand calibration in humanoid robots. We ﬁrst show how to implement a complete 3D stereo vision pipeline for humanoid robots, enabling online and real-time eyes calibration. We then introduce a new formulation for the problem of eye-hand coordination. Using the iCub humanoid robot, we developed a fully automatic procedure based on optimization techniques that does not require any human supervision. The end-effector of the humanoid robot is automatically detected in the stereo images, providing (theoretically) inﬁnite training examples for learning the vision-kinematics mapping. We report exhaustive experiments using different machine learning techniques; we show that a mixture of linear transformations can achieve the highest accuracy in the smallest amount time, while ensuring real-time performances. We demonstrate the usefulness and the effectiveness of the proposed system in two typical robotic scenarios: (1) object grasping and tool use; (2) 3D scene reconstruction.
III. A memoir on the theory of matrices

The term matrix might be used in a more general sense, but in the present memoir I consider only square and rectangular matrices, and the term matrix used without qualification is to be understood as meaning a square matrix ; in this restricted sense, a set of quantities arranged in the form of a square, e. g. (a, b, c) |a´, b´, c´ a´´, b´´, c´´| is said to be a matrix. The notation of such a matrix arises naturally from an abbreviated notation for a set of linear equations, viz. the equations X=ax + by + cz Y=a´x + b´y + c´z Z=a´´x + b´´y + c´´z may be more simply represented by (X, Y, Z)=(a, b, c)(x,y,z) |a´, b´, c´ a´´, b´´, c´´| and the consideration of such a system of equations leads to most of the fundamental notions in the theory of matrices. It will be seen that matrices (attending only to those of the same degree) comport themselves as single quantities ; they may be added, multiplied, or compounded together, &c. : the law of the addition of matrices is precisely similar to that for the addition of ordinary algebraical quantities ; as regards their multiplication (or composition), there is the peculiarity that matrices are not in general convertible; it is nevertheless possibleato form the powers (positive or negative, integral or fractional) of a matrix, and thence to arrive at the notion of a rational and integral function, or generally of any algebraical function of a matrix. I obtain the remarkable theorem that any matrix whatever satisfies an algebraical equation of its own order, the coefficient of the highest power being unity, and those of the other powers functions of the terms of the matrix, the last coefficient being in fact the determinant. The rule for the formation of this equation may be stated in the following condensed form, which will be intelligible after a perusal of the memoir, viz. the determinant, formed out of the matrix diminished by the matrix considered as a single quantity involving the matrix unity, will be equal to zero. The theorem shows that every rational and integral function (or indeed every rational function) of a matrix may be considered as a rational and integral function, the degree of which is at most equal to that of the matrix, less unity ; it even shows that in a sense, the same is true with respect to any algebraical function whatever of a matrix. One of the applications of the theorem is the finding of the general expression of the matrices which are convertible with a given matrix. The theory of rectangular matrices appears much less important than that of square matrices, and I have not entered into it further than by showing how some of the notions applicable to these may be extended to rectangular matrices.
Effect of increases in temperature and nutrients on phytoplankton community structure and photosynthesis in the western English Channel

Anthropogenic climate change is exerting pressures on coastal ecosystems through increases in temperature, precipitation and ocean acidification. Phytoplankton community structure and photo-physiology are therefore adapting to these conditions. Changes in phyto- plankton biomass and photosynthesis in relation to temperature and nutrient concentrations were assessed using a 14 yr dataset from a coastal station in the western English Channel (WEC). Dino- flagellate and coccolithophorid biomass exhibited a positive correlation with temperature, reaching the highest biomass between 15 and 17°C. Diatoms showed a negative correlation with tempera- ture, with highest biomass at 10°C. Chlorophyll a (chl a) normalised maximum light-saturated pho- tosynthetic rates (P B m) exhibited a hyperbolic response to increasing temperature, with an initial linear increase from 8 to 11°C and reaching a plateau from 12°C. There was, however, no significant positive correlation between nutrients and phytoplankton biomass or P B m, which reflects the lag time between nutrient input and phytoplankton growth at this coastal site. The ma- jor phytoplankton groups that occurred at this site occupied distinct thermal niches, which in turn modified P B m. Increasing temperature and higher water column stratification were major factors in the initiation of dinoflagellate blooms at this site. Dinoflagellate blooms during summer also co- varied with silicate concentration and acted as a tracer of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phos- phate from river run-off, which were subsequently reduced during these blooms. The data imply that increasing temperature and high river runoff during summer will promote dinoflagellate blooms in the WEC.
Interferometric Optical Testing for High Resolution Imaging in an Optical Lattice

This report describes an interferometric optical testing project aimed at contributing to the construction of a high resolution imaging system for resolving individual sites in an optical lattice. It begins with a background discussion, touching upon the relationship between optical distortions and imaging resolution, the motivation for imaging individual sites in an optical lattice, and popular methods of interferometric optical testing. This is followed by a detailed description of the components of the actual experiment, with an extra emphasis on the laser diode and the CCD camera. Finally, the report outlines the Fourier transform method of interferogram analysis and presents a successful calculation of the wavefront distortions resulting from light passing through various interferometer test objects.
Assisted Reproductive Technology and Women ’ s Marriage and Birth Timing : Duration and Competing Risks Analyses October 31 , 2012

This paper exploits variation in the mandated insurance coverage of assisted reproductive technology (ART) across U.S. states and over time to examine the connection between the price of ART and women’s timing of marriage and childbearing. Since the percentage of women facing infertility increases greatly with age, by making it affordable for women to delay family formation and then use ART to start families later if they face infertility, greater affordability of ART could induce women to delay marriage and childbearing. To formally identify channels through which greater affordability of ART might impact women’s decisions about timing of family, the paper develops a theoretical model of the price of ART and women’s allocation of time on work and family investment when young and old. The implications of the model suggest that there is a tradeoff between pursuing a family when young, by giving up a steeper wage trajectory, and pursuing a family when older, which is less likely to be realized and may require the use of ART at a price. A fall in the price of ART induces more women along the wage trajectory distribution to use ART and switch from pursuing family when younger to pursuing family when older. To test the implications of the model, duration and competing risks analyses are estimated that show the effects of the ART insurance mandates on women’s timing of first marriage and first birth using the 1968-2009 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The findings suggest that the mandates are associated with delayed marriage and childbearing at younger ages and accelerated first marriage and childbearing after age 30, but only for college graduate women, consistent with the theoretical framework’s prediction that women with steeper wage trajectories should be more influenced by the mandates to delay family formation. For the full sample of women, the mandates appear to be associated with accelerated first marriage and childbearing after age 30, but not with delay at younger ages. I am grateful to Shelly Lundberg, Seik Kim, Judith Thornton, Robert Plotnick, Anirban Basu, Elaina Rose, Rachel Heath, Laura Hosken, and Rob Letzler for their invaluable feedback. I would also like to thank seminar participants at the 2011 Western Economics Association International annual meetings and 2012 Society of Labor Economists annual meetings for their helpful comments.
An Experimental Evaluation of Task Assignment in Spatial Crowdsourcing

Recently, with the rapid development of mobile devices and the crowdsourcing platforms, the spatial crowdsourcing has attracted much attention from the database community. Specifically, spatial crowdsourcing refers to sending a location-based request to workers according to their positions, and workers need to physically move to specified locations to conduct tasks. Many works have studied task assignment problems in spatial crowdsourcing, however, their problem settings are different from each other. Thus, it is hard to compare the performances of existing algorithms on task assignment in spatial crowdsourcing. In this paper, we present a comprehensive experimental comparison of most existing algorithms on task assignment in spatial crowdsourcing. Specifically, we first give general definitions about spatial workers and spatial tasks based on definitions in the existing works such that the existing algorithms can be applied on the same synthetic and real data sets. Then, we provide a uniform implementation for all the tested algorithms of task assignment problems in spatial crowdsourcing (open sourced). Finally, based on the results on both synthetic and real data sets, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of tested algorithms, which can guide future research on the same area and practical implementations of spatial crowdsourcing systems.
XLVII. Second paper concerning the parallax of the Sun determined from the observations of the late transit of Venus, in which this subject is treated of more at length, and the quantity of the parallax more fully ascertained.

In the last volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Academy at Paris for the year 1761, there is a Memoir by M. Pingré, who went to the island of Rodrigues, and observed the transit of Venus there; in this memoir M. Pingré endeavours to determine the parallax of the Sun, by the observation of the late transit of Venus, to be = 10".
Modelling of sintering at atomistic, microscopic and macroscopic scales

s published based on the manuscripts submitted by authors. The work and all parts contained in it are protected by copyright. Abstracts were reviewed by the members of the Scientific Committee KomPlasTech 2017 Conference.s were reviewed by the members of the Scientific Committee KomPlasTech 2017 Conference. ISBN: 978-83-947091-0-5 Book cover design and preparation: AKNET-PRess. Cover photos: AKNET private archives. Desktop publishing: www.aknet. biz.pl
Fractional-step methods and finite elements with symmetric stabilization for the transient Oseen problem

This paper deals with the spatial and time discretization of the transient Oseen equations. Finite elements with symmetric stabilization in space are combined with several time-stepping schemes (monolithic and fractional-step). Quasi-optimal (in space) and optimal (in time) error estimates are established for smooth solutions in all flow regimes. We first analyze monolithic time discretizations using the Backward Differentation Formulas of order 1 and 2 (BDF1 and BDF2). We derive a new estimate on the time-average of the pressure error featuring the same robustness with respect to the Reynolds number as the velocity estimate. Then, we analyze fractional-step pressure-projection methods using BDF1. The stabilization of velocities and pressures can be treated either implicitly or explicitly. Numerical results illustrate the main theoretical findings.
Collaborative Filtering Recommendation Algorithm based on Trust Propagation

Aiming at the problems that the existing model-based collaborative filtering algorithm has low recommendation accuracy and small recommendation coverage, we propose a collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm based on the trust propagation by introducing the trust information of social network to extend the matrix factorizationbased recommendation model. We first design a set of trust propagation rules based on the direct trust relationships of the social network, so as to propagate the trust relationship in the social networks, and get to quantize the new trust relationship. Then we load the quantitative trust relations after the trust propagation as the trust weight into the matrix factorization-based model according to the characteristics that the matrix factorization technique can reduce the dimension of large-scale datasets.
A Novel Kernel-Based Regularization Technique for PET Image Reconstruction

Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging technique that generates 3D detail of physiological processes at the cellular level. The technique requires a radioactive tracer, which decays and releases a positron that collides with an electron; consequently, annihilation photons are emitted, which can be measured. The purpose of PET is to use the measurement of photons to reconstruct the distribution of radioisotopes in the body. Currently, PET is undergoing a revamp, with advancements in data measurement instruments and the computing methods used to create the images. These computer methods are required to solve the inverse problem of “image reconstruction from projection”. This paper proposes a novel kernel-based regularization technique for maximum-likelihood expectation-maximization ( κ -MLEM) to reconstruct the image. Compared to standard MLEM, the proposed algorithm is more robust and is more effective in removing background noise, whilst preserving the edges; this suppresses image artifacts, such as out-of-focus slice blur.
Robust asymptotic stabilization of nonlinear systems by state feedback

Abstract We show that regulation to a constant value of the output of a process can be achieved robustly by designing a stabilizer for a model augmented with an integrator of the output and by having the model dynamics close enough to the process ones. This is nothing but the PI controller paradigm extended to the case of nonlinear systems. We recall also that the forwarding technique is well suited for this particular stabilizer design. Finally we illustrate our result with solving the problem of regulating the flight path angle of the longitudinal mode of a plane.
Performance of LDPC Codes in OFDM System with QAM Modulation

OFDM with Quadrature AM (QAM) technique can be employed for high-speed optical applications. Since the order of modulation increases, the bit error rate (BER) increases. Forward Error correction (FEC) coding like LDPC coding is usually accustomed to Improve BER performance. LDPC provides large minimum distance plus the power use of the LDPC code increases significantly using the code length. This paper offers a overview of block coding along with the design of encoder and decoder. Finally using LDPC and convolution coding in OFDM system in order to their performance in AWGN channel for BER.A long irregular code is simulated on the AWGN channel demonstrating the belief that LDPC coded OFDM provides very lower bit error rate or a larger gain in transmitter power and so making the hyperlink more power efficient. Through simulation, what's so great about applying this long irregular LDPC coded OFDM link in Optical wireless communication (OWC). Keywords-Bit error rate (BER), Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), Low density parity check codes (LDPC), Additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN)
Literal, Metphorical or Both? Detecting Metaphoricity in Isolated Adjective-Noun Phrases

The paper addresses the classification of isolated Polish adjective-noun phrases according to their metaphoricity. We tested neural networks to predict if a phrase has a literal or metaphorical sense or can have both senses depending on usage. The input to the neural network consists of word embeddings, but we also tested the impact of information about the domain of the adjective and about the abstractness of the noun. We applied our solution to English data available on the Internet and compared it to results published in papers. We found that the solution based on word embeddings only can achieve results comparable with complex solutions requiring additional information.