Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of number of seedlings per hill, rate and time of nitrogen application on the growth and yield of late transplant Aman rice

A field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh to examine the influence of number seedlings hill-1, rate and time of nitrogen application on the growth parameters of late transplant Aman rice (cv. BR23). The study, laid out in a RCBD with three replications, was comprised of three levels of number of seedlings hill-1 viz. 2, 4 and 6 seedlings hill-1, three nitrogen rates viz. 0, 60 and 120 kg N ha-1 and three levels of time of nitrogen application viz. nitrogen application in two equal splits at 15 DAT and early tillering stage (ET); nitrogen application in three equal splits at 15 DAT, ET and panicle initiation stages (PI); and nitrogen application in four equal splits at 15 DAT, ET, PI and flowering stages (F). The highest plant height (101.04 cm) was found at 80 DAT from 6 seedlings hill-1. 120 kg N ha-1 nitrogen application produced the tallest (104.08 cm) plant and nitrogen application in two equal splits at 15 DAT and ET gave the highest plant height (99.44 cm) at 80 DAT. The maximum number of tillers hill-1 (19.45) at 60 DAT and the highest leaf area index (3.08) at 40 DAT were found in the interaction effect among 6 seedlings hill-1, 120 kg N ha-1 and three times of nitrogen application at 15 DAT, early tillering and panicle initiation stages. The highest shoot dry matter hill-1 (28 g) was obtained as the interaction effect among 6 seedlings hill-1, 120 kg N ha-1 and nitrogen application in four equal splits at 15 DAT, early tillering, panicle initiation and flowering stages. The grain yield, although statistically non-significant, was numerically highest in seedlings hill-1, 120 kg N ha-1 and nitrogen application in three equal splits at 15 DAT, early tillering and panicle initiation stages. Therefore, transplanting with 6 seedlings hill-1 and application of 120 kg N ha-1 in 3-4 equal splits could be a better management practice for ensuring proper growth of the late transplant Aman rice.Progressive Agriculture 28 (3): 174-183, 2017
Comparing Trade Flow Classification Algorithms in the Electronic Era: The Good, the Bad, and the Uninformative

We use recent low-latency data from Euronext Paris for which we can identify the true trade initiator to test the performance of the Lee and Ready (1991) and tick test classification algorithms, as well as the newly developed bulk volume classification method (Easley et al. (2013)). We find that, despite the use of quote data, Lee and Ready underperforms the other methods, particularly during intervals of high trade and/or quote frequency. The bulk volume algorithm (BVC) demonstrates superiority with respect to data efficiency, accuracy, and the ability to capture informative trade flow. Consistent with Chakrabarty et al. (2013), we find that the BVC benefits from the netting of misclassified trades and underperforms the “bulk” tick test at comparable bar sizes. Nevertheless, we show that the magnitude of this accuracy underperformance is driven by systematic biases related to both volume and time bar choices, as well as the characteristics of the price change distribution. We explore several BVC calibrations that significantly mitigate, and in some cases alleviate, the accuracy advantage of the bulk tick test while capturing the data efficiency and informational advantage of the BVC. † Corresponding author. E-mail: mpanayides@katz.pitt. edu
Relationship between utrine cervical carcinoma and oral contraceptives.

Background and Objective: The utrine cervical cancer is the third common cancer among women word-wide. Oral contraceptives (OCs) have characterized as one of the possible risk factors for cervical cancer which are daily used by millions of women. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between utrine cervical carcinoma and oral contraceptives. Materials and Methods: This case control study was done on 128 patients with utrine cervical cancer as cases and 128 healthy women as controls in Tehran, Iran during 2008. The cases matched with controls according to age, history of abortion, number of deliveries, and social-economical status. Data were analyzed using SPSS-11, student’s t-test, Chi-Square, Pearson's correlation and Fisher’s exat tests. Results: Significant correlation was observed between utrine cervical cancer and the history of using and duration of oral contraceptives (P<0.05). Eighty-one (66.3%) and 46 (35.9%) of subjects in case and control groups used oral contraceptives, respectively. The possibility of utrine cervical cancer through oral contraceptives consumption was 3.072 (95%CI: 1.05-2.91) and this rate increased to 5.2 times after consuming the oral contraceptives for longer than 8 years. Conclusion: This study showed that the usage of oral contraceptives increase the possibility of utrine cervical cancer by 3 times.
A Compact Microstrip Crossover Based on Capacitively-Loaded Artificial Transmission Lines Branch-Line Sections

This paper presents a compact size crossover device based on the cascade of branch-line sections. With the aim of reducing its size, some of the transmission lines of the structure have been replaced by its equivalent artificial transmission line (ATL). The obtained size reduction is above 30%, and the electrical performance of the proposed structure presents an isolation better than 20 dB in a FBW = 34.5% and a crossover bandwidth better than 2 dB of FBW = 51.5%. Also the good magnitude and phase balance performance must be highlighted.
Investigation of a Biodegradable Injectable In Situ Gelling Implantable System of Rivastigmine Tartrate

Introduction: Injectable in situ gelling solutions are novel implantable systems that combine the advantages of a prolonged release subdermal implant and the convenience of administration of an aqueous solution. Objectives: The aim of the present investigation was to formulate and evaluate a thermo-reversible injectable in situ gelling system of rivastigmine tartrate. Methods: Injectable in situ gelling solutions loaded with rivastigmine were formulated using the thermosensitive polymers: Pluronic F127 and Pluronic F68. The thermo-reversible gelling solutions were evaluated for gelation temperature, gel strength, syringeability and injectability, drug content, in vitro drug release studies, and ex vivo studies using extensor digitorum muscle of Gallus gallus domesticus. Results: Gelation temperature and gel strength increased with increasing concentrations of Pluronic F 68. All six formulations showed adequate ease on withdrawal and injection. The viscosity of formulations also increased with increase in the percentage of Pluronic F68 both in sol and gel form. An initial burst effect as a result of the immediate drug release from the sol form of the preparation before conversion to gel was observed from all formulations. Drug release was slower with an increase in the concentration of Pluronic F68. Ex vivo drug permeation studies for over 27 h exhibited slower release patterns from the selected formulations as compared to in vitro release. Conclusion: The developed formulations are capable of prolonging release of rivastigmine with the potential of achieving greater therapeutic success in Alzheimer patients compared to the conventional oral dosage forms.
Measuring Dopamine and Melatonin Concentrations from the Mouse Retina : Descriptive Literature Review

Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu Tampere University of Applied Sciences Biomedical Laboratory Science ANTTONEN SANNA & KOKKILA JOANNA: Measuring Dopamine and Melatonin Concentrations from the Mouse Retina Descriptive Literature Review Bachelor's thesis 47 pages, appendices 1 page October 2015 The objective of this study was to discover assay methods used to measure dopamine and melatonin concentrations in the mouse retina. The purpose of this study was to provide current and compact information about the assay methods for our client, Professor Petri Ala-Laurila’s neuroscience research laboratory. Other purposes was to increase our knowledge and improve our skills in writing and understanding English. The method of this study was a descriptive literature review. The theoretical background of the study consisted of dopamine, melatonin and the circadian rhythm and their connection to the mouse retina. We also covered the basis of the assay methods concerning hormone measurements. The main finding is that there are more research articles about measuring dopamine from the mouse retina than there are about measuring melatonin. Only one research article from our gathered data mentioned melatonin measurement. We found that the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is most commonly used in measuring dopamine levels from retina samples. The conclusion is that dopamine and its metabolites are dominating the research field in the studies of retina. Melatonin itself is usually a part of the research objective but its concentration is rarely or never measured from the retina. It usually concentrates on melatonin metabolites or its receptors. We suspect that future researches will concentrate more on the connection of dopamine and melatonin to the circadian rhythm.
A C OMPARATIVE STUDY OF MALONDIALDEHYDE CONTENTS OF SOME MEAT AND FISH SAMPLES PROCESSED BY DIFFERENT METHODS

The effect of different processing methods on the malondialdehyde, MDA c ontents of 7 popular samples of fresh meat and fish eaten in Nigeria, was investigated. The MDA levels were assayed in a colorimetric reaction with thiobarbituric acid in fresh samples of beef, pork, turkey, chicken, snail, catfish and goat meat p rocessed by boiling, frying , roasting and freezing . Results obtained showed that all processing methods led to significant increases in MDA contents of the samples studied relative to their fresh, unprocessed counterparts (p goat meat > catfish > turkey > chicken > snail > pork. The MDA content of frozen mackerel was significantly increased by boili ng and frying and by further freezing (p < 0.05). These results suggest that while all th e processing methods may be unsafe, the frying of boiled meat and fish may be particularly deleterious to consumer health, in view of the well known mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of MDA .
Adaptive occupancy grid mapping with measurement and pose uncertainty

In this thesis we consider the problem of building a dense and consistent map of a mobile robot’s environment that is updated as the robot moves. Such maps are vital for safe and collision-free navigation. Measurements obtained from a range sensor mounted on the robot provide information on the structure of the environment, but are typically corrupted by noise. These measurements are also relative to the robot’s unknown pose (location and orientation) and, in order to combine them into a world-centric map, pose estimation is necessary at every time step. A SLAM system can be used for this task. However, since landmark measurements and robot motion are inherently noisy, the pose estimates are typically characterized by uncertainty. When building a map it is essential to deal with the uncertainties in range measurements and pose estimates in a principled manner to avoid overconfidence in the map. A literature review of robotic mapping algorithms reveals that the occupancy grid mapping algorithm is well suited for our goal. This algorithm divides the area to be mapped into a regular lattice of cells (squares for 2D maps or cubes for 3D maps) and maintains an occupancy probability for each cell. Although an inverse sensor model is often employed to incorporate measurement uncertainty into such a map, many authors merely state or depict their sensor models. We derive our model analytically and discuss ways to tailor it for sensor-specific uncertainty. One of the shortcomings of the original occupancy grid algorithm is its inability to convey uncertainty in the robot’s pose to the map. We address this problem by altering the occupancy grid update equation to include weighted samples from the pose uncertainty distribution (provided by the SLAM system). The occupancy grid algorithm has been criticized for its high memory requirements. Techniques have been proposed to represent the map as a region tree, allowing cells to have different sizes depending on the information received for them. Such an approach necessitates a set of rules for determining when a cell should be split (for higher resolution in a local region) and when groups of cells should be merged (for lower resolution). We identify some inconsistencies that can arise from existing rules, and adapt those rules so that such errors are avoided. We test our proposed adaptive occupancy grid algorithm, that incorporates both measurement and pose uncertainty, on simulated and real-world data. The results indicate that these uncertainties are included effectively, to provide a more informative map, without a loss in accuracy. Furthermore, our adaptive maps need far fewer cells than their regular counterparts, and our new set of rules for deciding when to split or merge cells significantly improves the ability of the adaptive grid map to mimic its regular counterpart. iii Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Continuous deep reactive ion etching of tapered via holes for three-dimensional integration

A continuous SF6/O2 plasma process at room temperature has been used to etch tapered through-silicon vias using a DRIE-ICP tool. These features (10–100 µm in diameter) are aimed for applications in 3D integration and MEMS packaging. The effects of various process parameters such as O2 flow rate, platen bias, pressure and substrate temperature on the via profile (depth, slope angle and aspect ratio) development are investigated. The etching mechanism was also studied and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis reveals a SiOx passivation layer of the order of ∼2 nm on the via sidewall and a substantial temperature dependence. Both tapering and anisotropy of etching depend on this passivation layer formation. Finally, suitable tapered vias with an aspect ratio of ∼5 and a slope angle of ∼83° are obtained by properly balancing the etching regimes. In this condition, a maximum etch rate of 7 µm min−1 is achieved.
What is Performance in Complex Product Development

The process of developing new products is one of the key business processes in a company, especially technology intensive ones. In order to continuously improve this capability of developing new products it is important to be able to measure the performance in the product development process. The dilemma though is that there are no good performance measurements available within complex product development. One reason, as argued in presented research may be the lack of a holistic perception of performance within the development process. Data from a five case explorative study including 49 semi-structured open interviews regarding performance within complex product development is presented and analyzed. The results clearly indicate a need for further development of the perception of performance by managers and decision makers within the process of developing complex products. To meet this need, a Product Development Organizational Performance Model (PDOPM) is proposed, consisting of three generic levels of activities: Product strategy, Project management, and Product activities. These generic activities are modelled in accordance with the IDEF0 making it possible to conceptually reason about uncertainty, effectiveness, and efficiency at each activity level. Further, the term product development efficacy is introduced to describe the capability of identifying or creating a market opportunity and being able to develop and deliver a product fulfilling exactly what was identified as the market opportunity. High performance in product development is achieved when there is efficacy throughout the complete product development portfolio.
THE ABDUS SALAM INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS D-BRANES AT TORIC SINGULARITIES: MODEL BUILDING, YUKAWA COUPLINGS AND FLAVOUR PHYSICS

We discuss general properties of D-brane model building at toric singularities. Using dimer techniques to obtain the gauge theory from the structure of the singularity, we extract results on the matter sector and superpotential of the corresponding gauge theory. We show that the number of families in toric phases is always less than or equal to three, with a unique exception being the zeroth Hirzebruch surface. With the physical input of three generations we find that the lightest family of quarks is massless and the masses of the other two can be hierarchically separated. We compute the CKM matrix for explicit models in this setting and find the singularities possess sufficient structure to allow for realistic mixing between generations and CP violation. MIRAMARE – TRIESTE February 2010
Seigniorage and Distortionary Taxation in a Model with Heterogeneous Agents and Idiosyncratic Uncertainty

In this paper we study the optimal monetary and fiscal policy mix in a model in which agents are subject to idiosyncratic uninsurable shocks to their labor productivity. We identify two main effects of anticipated inflation absent in representative agent frameworks. First, inflation stimulates saving for precautionary reasons. Hence, a higher level of anticipated inflation implies a higher capital stock in steady state, which translates into higher wages and lower taxes on labor income. This benefits poor, less productive agents. Second, inflation acts as a regressive consumption tax, which favors rich and productive agents. We calibrate our model economy to the U.S. economy and compute the optimal policy mix. We find that, for a utilitarian government, the Friedman rule is optimal even when we allow for the presence of heterogeneity and uninsurable idiosyncratic risk. Although the aggregate welfare costs of inflation are small, individual costs and benefits are large. Net winners from inflation are poor, less productive agents, while middle-class and rich households are always net losers.
Exploiting Multiword Expressions to Solve "La Ghigliottina"

English. The paper describes UNIOR4NLP a system developed to solve “La Ghigliottina” game which took part in the NLP4FUN task of the Evalita 2018 evaluation campaign. The system is the best performing one in the competition and achieves better results than human players. Italiano. Il contributo descrive il sistema UNIOR4NLP, sviluppato per risolvere il gioco “La Ghigliottina”, che ha partecipato alla sfida NLP4FUN della campagna di valutazione Evalita 2018. Il sistema risulta il migliore della competizione e ha prestazioni più elevate rispetto agli umani.
How ears go electronic

We demonstrate the design and performance of an artificial Hopf-type electronic cochlea along biomorphic biophysically detailed principles. From a biophysically detailed model of the mammalian cochlea, we first derive a biomorphic close-to-hardware software simulation that is used as the hardware blueprint. By virtue of its biomorphic design, the hardware implementation yields results that are hardly distinguishable from physiological measurements, at a minimum of implementation costs. Moreover, the silicon cochlea shares all the signal processing features exhibited by the biological cochlea. In particular, it may be actively tuned, towards objects provided by an analysis of the auditory scene. With these properties it can serve as the central ingredient for overcoming the wellknown cocktail-party problem of hearing.
Real-Time Topic and Sentiment Analysis in Human-Robot Conversation

REAL-TIME TOPIC AND SENTIMENT ANALYSIS IN HUMAN-ROBOT CONVERSATION Elise W. B. Russell, B.A. Marquette University, 2015 Socially interactive robots, especially those designed for entertainment and companionship, must be able to hold conversations with users that feel natural and engaging for humans. Two important components of such conversations include adherence to the topic of conversation and inclusion of affective expressions. Most previous approaches have concentrated on topic detection or sentiment analysis alone, and approaches that attempt to address both are limited by domain and by type of reply. This thesis presents a new approach, implemented on a humanoid robot interface, that detects the topic and sentiment of a user’s utterances from text-transcribed speech. It also generates domain-independent, topically relevant verbal replies and appropriate positive and negative emotional expressions in real time. The front end of the system is a smartphone app that functions as the robot’s face. It displays emotionally expressive eyes, transcribes verbal input as text, and synthesizes spoken replies. The back end of the system is implemented on the robot’s onboard computer. It connects with the app via Bluetooth, receives and processes the transcribed input, and returns verbal replies and sentiment scores. The back end consists of a topic-detection subsystem and a sentiment-analysis subsystem. The topic-detection subsystem uses a Latent Semantic Indexing model of a conversation corpus, followed by a search in the online database ConceptNet 5, in order to generate a topically relevant reply. The sentiment-analysis subsystem disambiguates the input words, obtains their sentiment scores from SentiWordNet, and returns the averaged sum of the scores as the overall sentiment score. The system was hypothesized to engage users more with both subsystems working together than either subsystem alone, and each subsystem alone was hypothesized to engage users more than a random control. In computational evaluations, each subsystem performed weakly but positively. In user evaluations, users reported a higher level of topical relevance and emotional appropriateness in conversations in which the subsystems were working together, and they reported higher engagement especially in conversations in which the topic-detection system was working. It is concluded that the system partially fulfills its goals, and suggestions for future work are presented.