Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SPECTROSCOPIC ADMITTIVITY IMAGING OF BIOLOGICAL TISSUES: CHALLENGES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Medical imaging techniques have evolved to expand our ability to visualize new contrast information of electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of tissues in the human body using noninvasive measurement methods. In particular, electrical tissue property imaging techniques have received considerable attention for the last few decades since electrical properties of biological tissues and organs change with their physiological functions and pathological states. We can express the electrical tissue properties as the frequency-dependent admittivity, which can be measured in a macroscopic scale by assessing the relation between the timeharmonic electric field and current density. The main issue is to reconstruct spectroscopic admittivity images from 10 Hz to 1 MHz, for example, with reasonably high spatial and temporal resolutions. It requires a solution of a nonlinear inverse problem involving Maxwell’s equations. To solve the inverse problem with practical significance, we need deep knowledge on its mathematical formulation of underlying physical phenomena, implementation of image reconstruction algorithms, and practical limitations associated with the measurement sensitivity, specificity, noise, and data acquisition time. This paper discusses a number of issues in electrical tissue property imaging modalities and their future directions.
Motivic matching strategies for automated pattern extraction

This article proposes an approach to the problem of automated extraction of motivic patterns in monodies. Different musical dimensions, restricted in current approaches to the most prominent melodic and rhythmic features at the surface level, are defined. The proposed strategy of detection of repeated patterns consists of an exact matching of the successive parameters forming the motives. We suggest a generalization of the multiple-viewpoint approach that allows a variability of the types of parameters (melodic, rhythmic, etc.) defining each successive extension of these motives. This enables us to take into account a more general class of motives, called heterogeneous motives, which includes interesting motives beyond the scope of previous approaches. Besides, this heterogeneous representation of motives may offer more refined explanations concerning the impact of gross contour representation in motivic analysis. This article also shows that the main problem aroused by the pattern extraction task is related to the control of the combinatorial redundancy of musical structures. Two main strategies are presented, that ensure an adaptive filtering of the redundant structures, and which are based on the notions of closed and cyclic patterns. The method is illustrated with the analysis of two pieces: a medieval Geisslerlied and a Bach Invention.
Risk Reporting: An Analysis of the German Banking Industry

textabstractExecutive summary The recent financial crisis resulted in an increased attention on the risks of banks and their financial instruments. This article discusses the outcomes of a study on the quantity and quality of market, credit, and liquidity risk disclosures and the relationship 1) between the quantity and quality of disclosures, 2) between disclosures and bank size, 3) disclosures and bank profitability, and 4) disclosures and time. The 2005-2008 annual reports of a sample of German banks are studied and the disclosures are measured by using two disclosure index frameworks. The results provide a sound basis for future research like capital market research, event studies, and behavioral studies in relation to risk disclosures.
Traditional knowledge of wild edible plants on Jeju Island, Korea

The purpose of this study is to analyze and record traditional knowledge of wild edible plants utilized by the indigenous people living on Jeju Island in Korea. This study reveals that 124 informants have produced 471 viable usages from the collection of 164 species, within 127 genera in 57 families. Regarding the distribution of recorded families, 12 species of Poaceae occupied 16.7% of the total use-reports. Overall, 31 kinds of plant-parts were selected as edible materials requiring 68 various preparatory methods. Fidelity levels of plants regarding preparatory methods, 55 plant species recorded a FL of 100%. The categories of preparatory methods with the highest degree of consensus from informants were all types of fermented soybean, chopped noodles, and raw (Type I). The field investigative method used semi-structured questionnaires and adopted the participatory rural appraisal method for this study and produced exceptional results in investigating and analyzing traditional wild edible plants.
SANNA EKLUND EVALUATION OF THE USABILITY SERVICE OFFERING OF SUUNTAAMO: THE CUSTOMER ́S VIEWPOINT

TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Master’s Degree Programme in Electrical Engineering EKLUND, SANNA: Evaluation of the usability service offering of Suuntaamo: The customer ́s viewpoint Master of Science Thesis, 51 pages, 7 Appendix pages April 2012 Major: Usability Examiner: Professor Kaisa Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila
Review of Earnings Response Coefficient Studies

The importance of earnings response coefficient (ERC) topic in our business world today arises mainly from the need to enhance the firm’s stakeholders’ confidence in the accounting information announcements, especially the equity investors, enabling them to make the appropriate stock decisions. This paper reviews the ERC literature as regards the evolution and development of the relevant theories, perspectives, and models used with respect to ERC since 1968 when the earnings-to-returns relationship was first documented. It also reviews the application of the ERC perspective showing the empirical findings as well as the related research methodologies applied since that date until now. The review includes our relevant explicit and implied critiques. In addition to the above enhancement of the stakeholders’ confidence in the accounting information, this review paper will be useful to the financial accounting standards setters and will enrich the literature on earnings-to-returns relationship.
THE BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SEDIMENTARY ORGANIC MATTER IN SANDY BEACHES OF VARIOUS ANTHROPOPRESSURE

Beach sediments from two beaches at the Polish coast of the Baltic Sea were collected and analyzed. The sediments were collected in two seasons – winter and summer – at two stations, depending on the influence of the sea water on the examined sediments. At each station, surface sediments (0�5 cm) were collected as well as sedime nts at the depth of 10�15 cm. The results of the conducted tests reveal, that anthropopressure, the depth where the collected sediments were taken and the direct influence of the sea water on the sediments have impact on the chemical composition of beach sediments and their food quality for the inhabiting psammon. The conducted tests disclose that there is more organic matter and its labile forms in the sediments originating from Ustka. Strong anthropogenic pressure found at the beach in Ustka also contributes to higher concentration of uncharacterized fraction of organic carbon in the area. Analyzing alimentary usefulness of the organic matter there, it seems to be higher at the beach in Czolpino.
Results from the Italian participation in the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Acidification of Rivers and Lakes (ICP Waters)

This paper describes the research activity carried out by the Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia of the CNR, on behalf of the Ministero dell'Ambiente, Servizio Inquinamento Atmosferico e Acustico, in the context of the Italian participation in the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Acidification of Rivers and Lakes (ICP Waters). Atmospheric deposition chemistry shows that nitrate increased and sulphate decreased in the 70's and 80's, while acidity started to decrease in the early 90's. The studied rivers and lakes show variations in sulphate and nitrate in agreement with those of atmospheric deposition. Alkalinity is mainly determined by watershed geo-lithology and is always present in the studied lakes and streams; the lowest values of 0-10 μeq l-1 are measured in the high altitude Lake Paione Superiore, which however shows an increasing trend of alkalinity and pH.
Spatial heterogeneity of reflected radiance from globally distributed clouds

Reflected spectral radiance measured by the Multi‐angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on the Terra satellite has been analyzed to determine the fraction of global cloudiness that appears to be spatially homogeneous over regions of various sizes. We exclude scenes with reflectivities less than 0.2 and high latitudes to avoid snow and ice. About 1.4 ± 0.3%, or 1 in 70, of 8.8 km cloudy regions measured at 275 m have a range of reflectivities less than ±5% of the central reflectivity value of the region. This pass rate changes slightly with viewing angle, and is sensitive to the size of the test window, rising to 11% for 1.1 km regions. The pass rate rises to a value of 2.3 ± 0.5% for 8.8 km regions if the measurement resolution is degraded to 1100 m. For the purposes of this study “global” cloudiness is limited to mid‐morning clouds.
THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM DISTRIBUTION AND BARYON CONTENT OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT z ∼ 1–3

We analyze the angular momenta of massive star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at the peak of the cosmic star formation epoch (z ∼ 0.8–2.6). Our sample of ∼360 log(M*/M⊙) ∼ 9.3–11.8 SFGs is mainly based on the KMOS3D and SINS/zC-SINF surveys of Hα kinematics, and collectively provides a representative subset of the massive star-forming population. The inferred halo scale angular momentum distribution is broadly consistent with that theoretically predicted for their dark matter halos, in terms of mean spin parameter ∼ 0.037 and its dispersion (σlogλ ∼ 0.2). Spin parameters correlate with the disk radial scale and with their stellar surface density, but do not depend significantly on halo mass, stellar mass, or redshift. Our data thus support the long-standing assumption that on average, even at high redshifts, the specific angular momentum of disk galaxies reflects that of their dark matter halos (jd = jDM). The lack of correlation between λ × (jd/jDM) and the nuclear stellar density Σ*(1 kpc) favors a scenario where disk-internal angular momentum redistribution leads to “compaction” inside massive high-redshift disks. For our sample, the inferred average stellar to dark matter mass ratio is ∼2%, consistent with abundance matching results. Including the molecular gas, the total baryonic disk to dark matter mass ratio is ∼5% for halos near 1012M⊙, which corresponds to 31% of the cosmologically available baryons, implying that high-redshift disks are strongly baryon dominated.
ADHESION EFFECTS WITHIN THE HARD MATTER – SOFT MATTER INTERFACE: MOLECULAR DYNAMICS

In the present study three soft matter – hard matter systems consisting of different nanomaterials and organic molecules were studied using the steered molecular dynamics approach in order to reveal regularities in the formation of organic-inorganic hybrids and the stability of multimolecular complexes, as well as to analyze the energy aspects of adhesion between bio-molecules and layered ceramics. The combined process free energy estimation (COPFEE) procedure was used for quantitative and qualitative assessment of the considered heterogeneous systems. Interaction of anionic and cationic amino acids with the surface of a [Mg4Al2(OH)122+ 2Cl–] layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheet was considered. In both cases, strong adhesion was observed despite the opposite signs of electric charge. The free energy of the aspartic amino acid anion, which has two deprotonated carboxylic groups, was determined to be –45 kJ/mol for adsorption on the LDH surface. For the cationic arginine, with only one carboxylic group and a positive net charge, the energy of adsorption was –26 kJ/mol, which is twice higher than that of chloride anion adsorption on the same cationic nanosheet. This fact clearly demonstrates the capability of “soft matter” species to adjust themselves and fit into the surface, minimizing energy of the system. The adsorption of protonated histamine, having no carboxylic groups, on a boehmite nanosheet is also energetically favorable, but the depth of free energy well is quite small at 3.6 kJ/mol. In the adsorbed state the protonated amino-group of histamine plays the role of proton donor, while the hydroxyl oxygens of the layered hydroxide have the role of proton acceptor, which is unusual. The obtained results represent a small step towards further understanding of the adhesion effects within the hard matter – soft matter contact zone.
Filial Piety, Living Arrangements, and Well-being of Urban Older Adults in Southern China

This article examines the living arrangements and well-being of older adults in urban China. It draws upon the concept of filial piety and intergenerational care models to interpret findings regarding five different living arrangements for urban older adults: living alone (with a spouse or not), living with a son, living with a daughter, living in an institution (public or private), and other. Well-being is measured by activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and self-rated health questionnaires and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The findings have implications for policy makers addressing living arrangements and community-based care services for older adults.
The Mental Health Needs of Looked after Children in a Local Authority Permanent Placement Team and the Value of the Goodman SDQ

Lin Richards, Nola Wood and Luisa Ruiz-Calzada investigated the current level of emotional and behavioural need and pre- and post-care experiences for children placed in one local authority social care department permanent placement team. A cohort of 41 looked after children was assessed by foster carers, teachers and young people aged 11–16 years themselves, using the Goodman Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The results were related to a number of factors taken from each child's individual historical experiences as understood from their social work files. The results supported the growing body of research indicating that the mental health needs of looked after children are significantly higher than those of the general population. A range of factors was found to reach statistical significance in relation to increased mental health difficulties. The research highlighted the complex and multi-factorial nature of the experiences of the looked after cohort that contribute to overall emotional well-being and positive mental health. The study also sought to identify a suitable screening tool for the early identification of mental health need and Goodman's SDQ is discussed in this light.
Constructing human phenome-interactome networks for the prioritization of candidate genes

Although remarkable success has been achieved by traditional gene-mapping methods in locating genes associated with inherited human diseases, the resulting chromosomal regions are usually large, containing tens or even hundreds of genes. Therefore, it is indispensable to develop computational methods for the identification of genes that are truly responsible for diseases from candidate genes. To tackle this problem, several methods have been proposed to use both a phenotype similarity profile (phenome) and a proteinprotein interaction network (interactome) for the prioritization of candidate genes. The use of the phenome broadens the scope of applications of these methods for identifying disease-associated genes, and the use of the interactome provides a reliable measure of functional similarities between genes. These two data sources, together with carefully designed computational models, result in computational methods with superior performance in the prioritization of candidate genes for a given query disease of interest. In this paper, we review recent achievements of such computational methods that rely on the integration of the phenome and the interactome to prioritize candidate genes. We also summarize how similar methods can be readily used in identifying microRNAs that are potentially involved in complex diseases and discovering drugs that may target on disease-associated proteins. Finally, we discuss future prospects and challenges for the integration of multiple genomic data sources to systematically discover genes that underlie human diseases.
Pharmacokinetics and Tissue Distribution of PLGA- PLL-PEG-TF Nanoparticles Loaded with Daunorubicin and Tetrandrine Following Intravenous Injection in the Rats Using LC-MS/MS

Objective: A sensitive, rapid and reliable LC-MS/MS method was developed for simultaneously determination of daunorubicin (DNR) and tetrandrine (Tet) in rat plasma and tissues. Methods: The pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of DNR/Tet-PLGAPLL-PEG-NPs-Tf (D/T-PPP-NPs-Tf), DNR/Tet-PLGA-PLL-PEG-NPs (D/T-PPP-NPs) and DNR/Tet (D/T) solution were compared following intravenous injection in the rats. Result: Compare to D/T solution, the parameters of DNR and Tet in D/T-PPP-NPs-Tf group presented significantly higher AUC (p<0.01) and lower V (p<0.05). Compared with D/T solution, the distribution of DNR in groups of D/T-PPP-NPs and D/T-PPP-NPs-Tf were higher in liver (p<0.01), lung (p<0.05), fat (p<0.05) and testicle (p<0.05), and were lower in heart, spleen, kidney (p<0.01), brain and intestine (p<0.01). The distribution of Tet in D/T-PPP-NPs and D/T-PPP-NPs-Tf groups were higher in liver, brain and uterus (p<0.05), and were lower in heart, spleen, lung, kidney and fat (p<0.05) compared with D/T solution. Conclusion: The LC-MS/MS method was specific, sensitive, rapid and reliable for the simultaneously determination of DNR and Tet in rat plasma and tissues. Compared with D/T solution, D/T-PPP-NPs-Tf tended to stay in the blood after injection. The distribution of D/T-PPP-NPs and D/T-PPP-NPs-Tf were significantly changed.
Analysis of BRCA gene missense mutations

With the significant progress in sequencing technologies over the last 10 years, a concomitant increase in the detection of variants of uncertain significance (VUSs) has been reported with an increasing amount of data. The interpretation of VUSs has been challenging due to the discordance of prediction results and their classification in different locus-specific databases (LSDBs). The evolving nature of variant classification system s poses the question as to the best strategies for variant interpretation. With the increased complexity of data analysis in a clinical setting, the pathogenicity of a variant should be determined through integrating and interpreting the data as a whole. Here we demonstrate the problems that are commonly encountered when interpreting VUSs and show that data integration helps in determining the pathogenicity of a variant.
ADVANCED ACCELERATOR TECHNOLOGY ASPECTS FOR HADRONTHERAPY

Nowadays cancer can be considered as one of the wide spread diseases all around the world. About 50% of the patients are successfully cured and in 40% of these cases radiotherapy is the applied treatment modality. Radiation beams are produced by particle accelerators and about 30% of the 17500 particle accelerators running in the world are devoted to radiotherapy. Classical radiotherapy employs photons and electrons that damage the diseased cells but irradiate also the healthy ones. A better conformation of the dose to the tumour and an increasing sparing of the healthy tissues is obtained using hadrontherapy, a high-precision radiotherapy exploiting the depth-dose deposition characteristics of hadronic particles. The first hadrontherapy treatments have been performed in particle physics research centers clinically adapted; nowadays there are dedicated facilities designed and built as hadrontherapy clinical centres. The realization of machines for hadrontherapy is more challenging than standard radiotherapy: while many hospitals have a device for classical radiotherapy, hadrontherapy needs a dedicated complex with the needed technology for the hadron acceleration. This paper will give an overview on the existing hadrontherapy centres presenting the technology that is applied in the hadrontherapy world.
Axisymmetric gravity currents in a porous medium

The release from a point source of relatively heavy fluid into a saturated porous medium above an impermeable boundary is considered. A theoretical relationship is compared with experimental data for the rate of propagation of the front of the resulting gravity current and its shape. A motivation of the study, the problem of carbon dioxide sequestration, is briefly discussed.
The Nutritive value of mulberry leaves (Morus Alba) and partial replacement of cotton seed in rations on the performance of growing Vietnamese cattle

The in vivo digestibility of mulberry leaves (Morus alba) and the effects of the partial replacement of cotton seed with fresh mulberry leaf in rations on the performance of growing Vietnamese cattle was investigated. For the in vivo digestibility trial, twenty castrated rams of Phanrang breed (a local prolific breed) with an initial weight of 23-25 kg, were first assigned to four groups according to weight and then randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments to determine digestibility of nutrients in mulberry leaves (M. alba), natural Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and buffalo grass (Panicum maximum cv. TD 58). All forages were cut and chopped daily before being offered (at 120% maintenance) to the sheep. In the feeding trial, 20 Laisind (Vietnam yellow cows×Red Sindhy bulls) crossbred bulls averaged 18 month old and 184 kg were used to investigate the effect of partial replacement of cottonseed in the diet by mulberry leaves on live weight gain and feed conversion rate. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with four levels of fresh mulberry leaves which varied from 0 to 15% of total dietary dry mater and five animals per treatment over an 84 day period. The in vivo digestion trial showed the superior quality of mulberry leaves compared with the grasses. Chemical analysis indicated that mulberry leaves had the highest CP and the lowest NDF contents (22.3 and 31.1% DM, respectively) among the four forages tested. Digestibility of DM and OM of the mulberry leaf (66.4 and 71.8%, respectively) was also the highest but that of CP (58.2%) and NDF (58.4%) was the lowest of the four forages evaluated (p<0.05). Consequently, the ME value and therefore net energy (NE) and unit feed for lactation (UFL) values of the mulberry leaves, which was estimated from chemical composition and digestibility values, were the highest among the forages investigated in the present study. Results of the feeding trial showed no treatment effect on average daily gain (ADG) of the cattle. The values were 554, 583, 565 and 568 g/d for animals in the diets of 0, 5, 10, and 15% mulberry leaves inclusion, respectively. Total DM intake of the animal was not affected by the treatment when expressed as kg/animal/d. However, when adjusted for metabolic weight of the animal the DM intake was reduced (p<0.05) as whole cottonseed was replaced by mulberry leaves in the ration. When the level of mulberry leaves in the ration increased from 5 to 15% of dietary DM at the expense of whole cottonseed, CP and ME intakes of the cattle were significantly decreased (p<0.05) and the feed to gain ratio reduced by 8 to 14% as compared with the control diet (p<0.05). Mulberry leaf is a good feed ingredient for ruminants because of its high level of crude protein and high digestibility of nutrients and energy. Mulberry leaves can be