Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Operation of Sonde Arrays to Measure Fluid Mud in the Marine Environment

The measurement of moving fluid mud in the bottom boundary layer is important for dredging operations as well as understanding the environmental remediation aspects of dredging. During dredging operations fluid mud in the lutocline is resuspended and transported as nephelometric layers of dense suspended particulates and flocs. The measurement of the vertical profile of the fluid mud flux (g m sec) in the horizontal direction is accomplished using an array of eight passive sondes. The passive flux traps or sondes were designed using computer aided software and 3-D printing techniques with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) materials or polyvinyl chloride pipes and fittings. Deployment of the sondes arrays range from days to several weeks to allow the estimation of moving mud in the bottom boundary layer. Exponential vertically increasing concentrations of mud in the moving lutocline follows the profiles of high concentrations of suspended particulate matter previously reported in scientific literature. Results presented demonstrate the use of the new vertical sonde arrays as a monitoring protocol for characterization of moving fluid mud and muck in the bottom boundary layer in marine or freshwater systems.
A computer program for statistically-based decision analysis

Abstract The majority of patients with coronary artery disease do not fall into the well defined populations from randomized clinical trials. Observational databases contain a rich source of information that could be used by practicing physicians to evaluate treatment alternatives for their patients. We describe a computer system, the CABG Kibitzer, which uses an integrated approach to evaluate the treatment alternatives for CAD patients. We combine a statistical multivariate model for calculating survival advantages with DA techniques for assessing patient preferences and sensitivity analysis, to create one tool that physicians find easy to use in daily clinical practice. The development of tools of this kind is a necessary step in making the data of outcome studies accessible to practicing physicians.
Knockdown of ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 increases the drug sensitivity of chronic myeloid leukemia to imatinib-based therapy

Imatinib-based targeted treatment is the standard therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML); however, drug resistance is an inevitable issue for imatinib-based CML treatment. Imatinib resistance can be ascribed to Bcr-Abl-dependent and independent resistance. In the present study, peripheral blood samples were collected from imatinib-sensitive (IS) and imatinib-resistant (IR) CML patients and transcriptome sequencing was carried out. From the RNA-seq data, a significantly altered IR-related gene (IRG), ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 (RRM2) was identified. Using real-time quantitative fluorescence PCR (qF-PCR), we found that RRM2 was elevated in both IR CML patients and an IR cell line. Using reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis, we indicated that imatinib can increase RRM2 level in a dose-dependent manner in IR cells. We also demonstrated that RRM2 is involved in the Bcl-2/caspase cell apoptotic pathway and in the Akt cell signaling pathway, and therefore affects the cell survival following imatinib therapy. The present study, for the first time, indicates that RRM2 is responsible for drug resistance in imatinib-based therapy. Therefore, RRM2 gene can be considered as a potential therapeutic target in the clinical treatment of CML.
Bootstrapped Adaptive Threshold Selection for Statistical Model Selection and Estimation

A central goal of neuroscience is to understand how activity in the nervous system is related to features of the external world, or to features of the nervous system itself. A common approach is to model neural responses as a weighted combination of external features, or vice versa. The structure of the model weights can provide insight into neural representations. Often, neural input-output relationships are sparse, with only a few inputs contributing to the output. In part to account for such sparsity, structured regularizers are incorporated into model fitting optimization. However, by imposing priors, structured regularizers can make it difficult to interpret learned model parameters. Here, we investigate a simple, minimally structured model estimation method for accurate, unbiased estimation of sparse models based on Bootstrapped Adaptive Threshold Selection followed by ordinary least-squares refitting (BoATS). Through extensive numerical investigations, we show that this method often performs favorably compared to L1 and L2 regularizers. In particular, for a variety of model distributions and noise levels, BoATS more accurately recovers the parameters of sparse models, leading to more parsimonious explanations of outputs. Finally, we apply this method to the task of decoding human speech production from ECoG recordings.
New Directions in CALL: An Objective Introduction to Second Life

Multiuser virtual environments (MUVEs) are quickly gaining importance as tools for foreign language instruction by promoting collaboration and social presence in a lifelike 3-D environment. One of the largest and fastest growing of these MUVEs is Linden Lab's Second Life (SL). With an international membership of over 9,000,000 residents, SL is proving to be an important tool for foreign language education. This article provides an introduction to SL and examines some of the advantages and disadvantages of its use as an instructional tool for foreign language students and educators.
An Excel Add-In for Statistical Process Control Charts

Statistical process control (SPC) descibes a widely-used set of approaches used to detect shifts in processes in, for example, manufacturing. Among these are "control charts". Control charts and other SPC techniques have been in use since at least the'50s, and, because they are comparatively unsophisticated, are often used by management or operations personnel without formal statistical training. These personnel will often have experience with the popular spreadsheet program Excel, but may have less training on a mainstream statistical package. Base Excel does not provide the ability to draw control charts directly, although add-ins for that purpose are available for purchase. We present a free add-in for Excel that draws the most common sorts of control charts. It follows the development of the textbook of Montgomery (2005), so it may be well-suited for instructional purposes.
GLOBAL DYNAMICS OF THE SYSTEM OF TWO EXPONENTIAL DIFFERENCE EQUATIONS

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the boundedness and persistence of the solutions, the global stability of the unique positive equilibrium point and the rate of convergence of solutions of the system of two difference equations which contains exponential terms: xn+1 = a+ e−(bxn+cyn) d+ bxn + cyn , yn+1 = α+ e−(βxn+γyn) δ + βxn + γyn , where the parameters a, b, c, d, α, β, γ, δ and the initial values x0, y0 are positive real numbers. Furthermore, we give some numerical examples to illustrate our theoretical results.
International migrations and agglomeration economies

Migration to more developed regions in the world has significantly increased over the last decades. Internationally, regional migration is a big part of labour mobility. Migration among neighbours is considerable, and that has been the case for the European Neighbouring Countries as well. If 3% of the world’s population live outside their region of birth, in ENC countries + Russia that figure is above 7%. It is generally agreed that countries do not prosper without mobile people. Indeed, the ability of people to move seems to be a good gauge of their economic potential, and the willingness to migrate appears to be a measure of their desire for advancement. According to World Bank’s data, in 1960 almost one third of the World Population lived in cities. In 2010 this figure is above 50% and is steadily growing 1% every three years. At that speed, in 2050 around two thirds of the world population would be living in cities. In 2010 the ENC countries + Russia accounted for an urbanisation rate of 63%, although this figure has remained stable since the 1990’s. The question posed in this paper is if migration and agglomeration are two connected variables and how are they correlated. In this work we embrace these two major trends and we inspect the relationship between international migration and urbanisation in panel data framework in which we consider a gravitational model for panel of 197 countries over the period 1960-2010. Particular attention is devoted to ENC countries + Russia.
7 FN 3 Domain Engineering

The Fibronectin Type III domain (FN3) is a small globular protein domain of 90-100 amino acids found in thousands of proteins, over all of protein sequence space from bacteria to humans. In fact, sequence analysis estimates that the FN3 domain can be found in approximately 2% of all animal proteins (Bork & Doolittle, 1992). The frequency that these domains are found is even greater when considering the larger family, the Ig-like fold, of which FN3 is a specific member. Despite weak to no sequence identity and greatly divergent functions, FN3 domains fold into a common structure. Over 230 structures of FN3 domains have been deposited to the PDB database as of 2011 (> 990 when considering all Ig-like domains), showing that the fold consists of 7 antiparallel -strands that pack into two ┚sheets (Main et al., 1992) (Figure 1). These ┚-strands are designated with the nomenclature A-F with the loops connecting each strand designated by the strands it connects (For example, the AB loop connects strands A and B). With a few exceptions, structural variability of these domains is found exclusively in the loops connecting the -strands while the strands remain structurally conserved.
A Study of Feature Extraction and Selection Using Independent Component Analysis

This paper demonstrates some consideration results on feature extraction and selection for handwritten Japanese Hiragana characters using independent component analysis (ICA). In some ICA algorithms where whitening of input signals is introduced as preprocessing, one can consider that the process of feature extraction using ICA consists of two types of transformations: one is the transformation from an input image to its principal components (PCs), and the other is the transformation from PCs to independent components (ICs). From this fact, two types of feature selection can be applied to outputs of these transformations (i.e. PCs and ICs). Furthermore, as criteria of useful features, cumulative proportion can be adopted in the former type of feature selection, and kurtosis can be adopted in the latter. Thus, we present ve different feature selection methods in this paper. To discuss the e ectiveness of these methods, recognition experiments using hand-written Japanese Hiragana characters are carried out. As a result, we show that a hybrid method, in which feature selection is carried out for ICs as well as for PCs, has attractive characteristics if small dimensions of feature vectors are preferred in classi cation.
MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS : A CRITICAL REALIST ’ S PERSPECTIVE

Mixed-use developments are often used as the immediate response to revitalise vibrancy in precincts, to relieve transportation problems and to address densification issues. The concept is labelled as a ‘sustainable community’ and responds to contemporary state and local sustainability measures. However, case studies show that creating these types of developments have proven to be one of the most demanding real estate projects to bring together. Mixed-use developments are characterised by their ‘live-work-play’ facilities and amenities in a single development. Individuals and families can choose housing options for short and long term accommodation; commercial establishments are available for shopping or working; and services and amenities are accessible for recreation and entertainment. On the face of it, there are numerous benefits for mixed-use: it minimises the need for transport and infrastructure is optimised; it increases walkability as daily activities are brought closer together; and it enhances social networks when opportunities for chance face-to-face meetings are increased. The challenge of delivering mixed-use projects is exacerbated by a combination of several factors: development finance for mixed-use projects is often limited as such projects are deemed to be higher risk profiles, property cycles of each subsector is difficult to align, and construction and management of mixed-use requires a level of experience and specialisation. To create a better understanding of the drivers of mixed-use developments, this paper puts forward the use of critical realism as an explanatory social science to assist in unravelling presuppositions particularly in concepts that are socioeconomic and political in nature. A critical realist’s perspective allows planners and policy makers to be sympathetic to the issues confronting mixed-use developments. Cognisant of the underlying mechanisms that drive and motivate the actors that participate (or stand in the way) of its creation, legislators and governments at all levels can support its successful realisation. This research paper provides the history of the concept, the movements and advocacies, the benefits and challenges and a way forward in accelerating the creation of mixed-use developments. The methods used for this research were derived through an extensive literature review and primary research on mixed use developments.
IDENTIFICATION OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR VARIATION INDUCED BY GAMMA IRRADIATION ON MUSA CV . PISANG TANDUK ( AAB )

The Banana and plantain improvement through conventional breeding method has been very slow mainly due to narrow genetic variability, sterility and polyploid nature of most banana cultivars. Thus, mutation breeding is a promising tool to create new cultivars for the improvement of banana. Therefore, gamma treated banana plantlets were subjected to acclimatization under nursery and several study was conducted. Morphological study on the growth of mutated plantlets showed that, 10 Gy induced a significant stimulation effect on root length, leaf length and leaf width compared to non-treated banana. In the meanwhile, 30 Gy treatment induced dwarf plant. IRAP molecular analysis revealed that, the total of 37 DNA bands position were detected, out of them 20 were polymorphic, producing 54% polymorphism. The highest IRAP bands were detected using primer Sukkula LTR with a maximum number of polymorphic bands, whereas primer LTR 6149, Sukkula LTR/LTR 6149, Sukkula LTR/3'LTR and Sukkula LTR/5'LTR1 yielded monomorphic bands. Hence, in overall application of 10 Gy of γ induced the significant higher phenotypic and genotypic variation. Therefore, the current research was conducted to study the effect of gamma radiation on the morphological and genetic variation in γ irradiated banana plant.
Analysis for Arbitrary Metallization Thickness of RF MEMS Coupled Microstrip Lines and Microstrip Lines

This paper describes a method to analyze arbitrary metallization thickness on a coupled microstrip lines and microstrip lines for RF MEMS passive device design. Using conformal mapping technique and magnetic-wall, quasi-static parameters closed-form expressions for metallization thickness of coupled microstrip lines and microstrip lines are determined. They are found to be accurate compared with the Agilent ADS LineCalc tool. By using this method, the even-odd mode impedance of coupled microstrip lines and impedance of microtrip lines for arbitrary metallization thickness can be obtained.
Socially Intelligent Agents: Creating Relationships With Computers And Robots

The field of Socially Intelligent Agents (SIA) is a fast growing and increasingly important area that comprises highly active research activities and strongly interdisciplinary approaches. Socially Intelligent Agents, edited by Kerstin Dautenhahn, Alan Bond, Lola Caamero and Bruce Edmonds, emerged from the AAAI Symposium "Socially Intelligent Agents - The Human in the Loop". The book provides 32 chapters, written by leading SIA researchers, addressing topics such as: social robotics, embodied conversational agents, affective computing, anthropomorphism, narrative and story-telling, social aspects in multi-agent systems, new technologies for education and therapy, and more. This breadth of topics covered in Socially Intelligent Agents provides the reader with a comprehensive look at current research activities in the area. Socially Intelligent Agents serves as an excellent reference for a wide readership, e.g. computer scientists, roboticists, web programmers and designers, computer users, cognitive scientists, and other researchers interested in the study of how humans relate to computers and robots, and how these agents in return can relate to humans. This book is also suitable as research material in a variety of advanced level courses, including Applied Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Agents, Human-Computer Interaction, Situated, Embodied AI.
Stochastic Models for Fast Neutron Multiplicity Counting of Plutonium

This paper compares simulated prompt, time-correlated, neutrons emitted by plutonium metal plates and detected by organic scintillators to experimental data, measured at the Zero Power Physics Reactor of Idaho National Laboratory. These experimental results are compared to simulations with the MCNPX and MCNPX-PoliMi Monte Carlo codes. The number and energy of the neutrons emitted by each fission was simulated using a standard bounded integer approach and two more advanced models.
Physical Motion Gait Analysis and Planning for Humanoid Robots

This paper is based on the robot model NCEPU-I. With this model, we propose a robot slope walking gait method based on improved algorithm of inverse kinematics. With the bar linkage model, the physical motion slope gait of the humanoid robot is determined by hips and swing leg ankle trajectory planning. This method can be applied to different angles with high efficiency. Finally, after mathematical modeling and simulation by MATLAB and ADAMS, the simulation results verify the correctness and applicability of gait planning.
Empirical Properties of the Indonesian Rupiah : Testing for Structural Breaks , Unit Roots , and White Noise

This paper shows that the real exchange rate of the Indonesian rupiah (against the US dollar) during the period January 1979-July 1995 did not follow a random walk process. Both the unit-root and the white-noise properties of the random walk are rejected. These findings are consistent with active sterilization measures by the central bank in ensuring gradual depreciations of nominal rupiah. In turn, the designed weakening of nominal rupiah limited the consequences of faster domestic inflations to rupiah real exchange rate.
Voltage Flicker Estimation and Mitigation Using Combined MUSIC-DVR Technique

Abstract— This paper presents a technique based on the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) technique combined with the dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) scheme for voltage flicker estimation and mitigation. Different cases of voltage flicker distortion are investigated including low and high frequency bands. In the first phase, the MUSIC algorithm is applied for voltage flicker estimation, where the spectral components of the voltage signal are calculated by constructing the voltage flicker signal as a linear combination of sinusoids of different frequencies. Next, Hilbert transform (HT) is used to obtain the voltage envelope of the signal using the estimated spectral components of the voltage flicker waveform. Then, the voltage envelope is used to detect the level of voltage flicker. In the second phase, voltage flicker mitigation using the dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) scheme is employed by injecting the appropriate voltage signal to reduce unacceptable voltage fluctuations at the load side. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed method have been examined using MATLAB/SIMULINK simulation.
Timed reading training : Can it promote second language listening comprehension of Japanese learners of English ?

Numerous studies have attempted to clarify the mechanism of second language (L2) listening comprehension. This is simply because listening is an important skill in not only utilizing but also acquiring L2 and foreign languages (FL). However, little is known about the key variables contributing to promote listening performance, therefore deeper understanding of the mechanism and its application for practice is a tempting issue for language teachers. Specifically in the Japanese context, since the improvement of the reading comprehension has a priority in education and Japanese learners of English as an FL tend to relay on coding visual input, they feel difficulty in comprehending information by auditory input (Yamaguchi, 1999). In addition, although they could understand the meaning of each word when the words were pronounced one by one, they have difficulty understanding the stimuli as a whole sentence. Furthermore, even though they could catch all of the information at one time, they fail to succeed in listening tasks since the differences in syntactic relations between English and Japanese require them to complete timed parsing. Yet, it is reported that the optimal reading rates and listening rates are similar (Hirai, 1999), which suggests that the cognitive processes in reading and listening comprehension are interdependent or that they share a common route to an extent. Here we therefore, while taking the advantages of their superiorities in reading performance, address the question of whether a kind of reading training (i.e., timed reading) could contribute to better listening performance of Japanese EFL learners. Review of Literature
Development and validation of a dietary iron score for screening populations at risk for inadequate iron intake

Introduction: Inadequate iron intake is a determinant of iron deficiency. A simplified tool for dietary assessment is needed. This study aimed to develop a dietary iron scoring system (DISS) and to determine the validity of the dietary iron score (DIS) for screening populations at risk for inadequate iron intake. Methods: A three-step process was undertaken to develop the DISS, namely (1) iron score (IS) for each food was constructed based on its iron content per 100 g, adjusted for heme content equivalence; (2) the predicted modifying effect (PME) was formulated based on either enhancing or inhibiting effects of dietary constituents; (3) the DIS of a meal was obtained by multiplying the total IS and the PME of that meal. The validity of the DIS for screening populations at risk for inadequate iron intake was determined against absorbable iron calculated by the Hallberg & Hulthen algorithm. A probability of adequacy of absorbable iron intake of 0.75 was used as a cutoff in defining the population at risk. Results: There was a significant correlation between the absorbable iron and DIS (r=0.34, p<0.001). Using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve , three cutoffs of DIS, namely 5, 6 and 7, had comparable results. However, sensitivity (82.9%) and specificity (50.0%) was the best for DIS cutoff of 7. Conclusion: The proposed DISS is potentially a field-friendly tool for screening populations at risk for inadequate iron intake. Further verifications are needed, using more complete dietary data.