Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stereoselective synthesis and antiproliferative activity of monoterpene-fused 2-imino-1,3-oxazines

DOI: 10.2174/1570179414666161116110 813 Abstract: Background: In the recent years the 2-imino-1,3-thiazine and 2-iminothiazolidine ring systems can be found as moieties in biologically relevant compounds, including BACE1 inhibitors, or cannabinoid receptor agonists, while monoterpene-based 2-imino-1,3-thiazines, prepared from chiral 1,3-amino alcohols exhibiting pronounced antiproliferative activity.
HYBRID VISION-FORCE CONTROL FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS INTERACTING WITH UNKNOWN SURFACES

A control scheme based on adaptive visual servoing and direct force control is proposed for robot manipulators to perform interaction tasks on smooth surfaces. The constraint surface, as well as the parameters of the camera, are considered to be uncertain. A fixed uncalibrated camera is used for position control, while a force sensor mounted on the robot wrist is used for force regulation. A reorientation strategy is developed to keep the end-effector orthogonal to the contact surface. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed scheme. Keywords— Adaptive Control, Force Control, Robot Vision, Robotic Manipulators.
A SUPERFICIAL SYNTHESIS OF SELENIUM NANOSPHERES USING WET CHEMICAL APPROACH

Dextrin stabilized Selenium spherical nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized from a simple and a wet chemical approach by reducing sodium selenite, a selenium salt with Ascorbic Acid at room temperature in this study. The stirring effect and the effect of varied ratios were studied on controlling the nucleation of the nanoparticles (20-30nm) and reducing the polydispersity index. The nanoparticles were coated with dextrin maintaining the stability of the nanoparticles. The morphology and purity of the obtained nanoparticles were studied using various analytical tools.
ANT COLONY OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM FOR RULE- BASED CLASSIFICATION: ISSUES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

Classification rule discovery using ant colony optimization (ACO) imitates the foraging behavior of real ant colonies. It is considered as one of the successful swarm intelligence metaheuristics for data classification. ACO has gained importance because of its stochastic feature and iterative adaptation procedure based on positive feedback, both of which allow for the exploration of a large area of the search space. Nevertheless, ACO also has several drawbacks that may reduce the classification accuracy and the computational time of the algorithm. This paper presents a review of related work of ACO rule classification which emphasizes the types of ACO algorithms and issues. Potential solutions that may be considered to improve the performance of ACO algorithms in the classification domain were also presented. Furthermore, this review can be used as a source of reference to other researchers in developing new ACO algorithms for rule classification.
Biometric Verification of Maternity and Identity Switch Prevention in Maternity Wards

This paper presents a novel approach to noninvasive biometric maternity verification and baby-switching prevention in maternity wards based on dual biometric fingerprint scanner. The proposed system is expected to solve issues that have occurred in many countries regarding stealing or mixing the identities of newborn babies. The solution is based on a device that acquires biometric samples from the mother and her newborn baby right after birth and generates the unique reference of the pair. The same device is used to verify the bound of biometric samples before the mother and the baby are allowed to leave the maternity ward. The privacy of stored templates is provided by cancelable biometrics while the auxiliary data are secured with strong cryptographic protection. The main contribution of the proposed approach is a very high level of proof of maternity for each newborn baby, as well as, the prevention of replacing identities of newborn babies in maternity wards, with a system that can be realized via low cost hardware.
Modeling the Effect of Bandwidth Allocation on Network Performance

In this paper, a new channel capacity model for interference-limited systems was obtained by transforming the Shannon-Hartley theorem for channel capacity. To emulate an operational system, a dashboard Motorola monitoring device was used to collect data from a group of Base Stations (BSs) serving (a section of) the Nigerian air space and belonging to one of the existing network carriers. Our findings revealed that the uplink and downlink throughputs of the existing system were not impressive even when there was uniform sharing of bottlenecks across the BSs. Using MATLAB, simulations were then performed by extending these data, subject to ideal environmental constraints. Results obtained revealed the following: (i) The Shannon-Hartley model performed as expected for no-interference systems (TDMA and FDMA), but as the bandwidth improved, only limited number of users could access the network in the presence of increased SNR; (ii) The proposed model showed improved performance for CDMA networks, but further increase in the bandwidth did not benefit the network; (iii) A reliability measure such as the spectral efficiency is therefore useful to redeem the limitation in (ii).
Perceived Organizational Justice and Employees’ Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in Ghana

The study investigated how employees’ perception of organizational justice affect the extent to which they go beyond formally prescribed roles in their organizations (OCB) in the Ghanaian setting. Three dimensions of fairness perception of employees were studied. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 147 (81 males and 66 females) permanent employees from 13 insurance organizations within Accra-Tema Metropolis were conveniently sampled for the study. Statistical tools used for the analysis of the hypotheses were the Standard Multiple Regression and Hierarchical Multiple Regression. A significant positive relationship was observed between employees’ organizational justice perception and OCB. Analysis of results indicates that employees’ decision to engage in OCBs is influenced more by their perception of interactional justice than the distributive and procedural justice in the Ghanaian context. This study provides human resource practitioners with insight that employees’ are more likely to engage in OCBs when they are treated with dignity, respect and stateliness rather than ensuring procedural or distributive justice. Keywords: Social Exchange Theory, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Organizational Justice Procedural Justice, Distributive Justice, Interactional Justice, Ghana
NOAA SIGNAL DECODING AND IMAGE PROCESSING USING GNU-RADIO

The paper presents several technical issues and software implementations proposed in order to decode, process, and render images received from NOAA satellites. NOAA satellites are seeking extreme weather events on Earth. The proposed solutions offer the possibility of decoding and processing the NOAA signals, by using the PC and its audio-in port, without any extra signal processor-based boards. Also, system architecture is open, according to the GNU requirements and hardware independent, due to its capability of working offline, by decoding a pre-recorded . wav file. Finally, the results are converted to a standard image file that lends itself easily to processing for relevant feature extraction. In spite of its hardware independency, the algorithm is capable to operate also online with SDR receivers. These receivers must follow the Universal Software Radio Peripheral specifications on USB ports.
Effect of Monoculture and Polyculture Systems on Growth and Production of Fishes in Seasonal Waterbodies of Haor Villages, Sunamganj District

The study was conducted to assess the growth and production of Thai sarpunti ( Puntius gonionotus ), tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) and rui ( Labeo rohita ) under monoculture and polyculture systems in seasonal waterbodies of haor environment. Selected waterbodies were divided into three treatments as T 1 (sarpunti), T 2 (sarpunti+tilapia) and T 3 (sarpunti+tilapia+rui). Each treatment had three replicates and same stocking density (40,000 ha -1 ) of fishes was maintained in all treatments. Stocked fishes were fed with rice bran and wheat flour as supplemental feed at a decreasing rate of 10-5% of total biomass for twice daily. The highest final weight of sarpunti (122.32 g), tilapia (102.58 g) and rui (140.0 g) was obtained in T 1 , T 2 and T 3 , respectively. Significantly higher production of sarpunti was secured in T 1 (3,446.13 kg ha -1 ) than T 2 (2,942.6 kg ha -1 ) and T 3 (2,804.1 kg ha -1 ), and tilapia production was better in T 2 (2,786.07 kg ha -1 ) than T 3 (2,172.52 kg ha -1 ). Combined production of sarpunti, tilapia and rui was significantly (p<0.05) higher in T 3 (8,341.41 kg ha -1 ) followed by T 2 (5,728.67 kg ha -1 ) and T 1 (3,446.13 kg ha -1 ). Therefore, polyculture practice of sarpunti, tilapia and rui may be suggested to disseminate at farmers’ level for boost up fish production.
Framing leadership: The social construction of leadership within the academic field of communication studies

Abstract The study and advancement of leadership instruction is tied to many academic disciplines and is continually evolving. Within Communication Studies, instructional approaches are informed by past voices. Those voices influence an individual’s and discipline’s pedagogical approach for developing leadership curricula. Through examining socially-constructed language of instructors and scholars in the academic field and discipline of Communication Studies, common themes emerged that support the development of a disciplinary frame. This study offers a frame for how educators in the communication field, who teach leadership curricula, approach the instruction of leadership related concepts and how leadership is commonly approached within the discipline. This study reviews related literature, analyzes the language of leadership found in Communication Studies and outlines pedagogical implications to be considered. The results of this study are particularly relevant for those educators and practitioners who are interested in developing leadership curriculum. The results of this study are important in helping us determine legitimacy and effectiveness of the many leadership development approaches advocated today by understanding better common approaches from Communication Studies.
Chinese and Indian Stock Market Linkages with Developed Stock Markets

This study examines the linkages of the two leading emerging markets i.e. Chinese and Indian market with developed markets. Using daily data from January 2000 to December 2009, the stock market indices of China, India, United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Hong Kong are examined. The linkages are modelled using the correlation test, Granger causality and the co- integration test applying error correction model. It was found that Chinese and Indian markets are both correlated with all four major markets. Both markets have at least had a unilateral causality with all four developed markets. This suggests that the benefits of any short-term diversification, or speculative activities, are limited between them. Keywords: Market Linkages, Co-integration, China JEL Classifications : F3, F36, F37
Properties of the Compressed-Stabilized Earth Brick Containing Cork Granules

This paper investigates the mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the compressed-stabilized earth brick containing cork granules. First part of paper highlights the influence of mass percentage of cement and dune sand on maximum dry density, the optimal water content and mechanical strengths. The results show that composition (58% soil, 30% dune sand, 12% cement) assures maximum dry density of 1.75 T/m3 with a compressive strength in the dry state of 2.87 MPa at 28 days. Then a test of static compaction is performed on this composition for four levels of applied stresses. The results show that compaction of 10 MPa has increased maximum dry density a rate of 0.23%, which corresponds to rate of increase of the compression strength in the dry state of 46.69%. Second part examines the effect of the addition of the cork granules in mass relative to the dry soil and which is suffered a the static compaction with the different applied stresses levels on the mechanical properties, maximum dry density and thermal conductivity of optimized mixture. The results indicate that for a static compacting of 10 MPa and 12% of cork granules, the dry density decreases an rate of 1.50%, the compressive strength in the wet state decreases an rate of 7.41% at 28 days and the thermal conductivity in the dry state significantly decreases an rate of 55% relative to optimized mixture without the incorporation of the cork granulates which improves therefore thermal insulation.
Taqwa: Deconstructing Triple Bottom Line (TBL) to Awake Human’s Divine Consciousness

Inspired by Elkington’s (1997) concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL), this study was carried out with the aim to formulate a holistic concept of managerial performance. Even though TBL is much better than the traditional financial measurement, for a theistic-spiritualist, it is still a partial and secular way of doing business. Based on that reason, TBL needs to be deconstructed. By making use of the concept of taqwa as lenses, the study attempts to deconstruct TBL and reformulate it as a new concept of managerial performance. Taqwa is a concept of an ultimate spiritual achievement of human being that is indicated by a feeling of union with God, people and nature, as well as awareness of obeying the divine will. The results of the study exhibit that managerial performance is ideally concerned with not only profit, planet and people, but also prophet and God. The concept called as Pentuple Bottom Line (PBL), in essence, stimulates the presence of the human’s ultimate consciousness to be united with God.
CURRENTS INDUCED ON THE SURFACE OF A CONDUCTING CIRCULAR CYLINDER BY A SLOT

Abstract : A partial study of currents induce on circular, conducting cylinders by narrow radiating slots is made. irst a brief and general formulation of the radiation fields of slots on cylinders is made. Then, the p radius, and the order of the errors are discussed. The problem of a circumferential slot, of constant excitation, is also considered. An asymptotic expansion obtained for this case yields the surface current distribution for values f axial distances that oblem of an infinite axial slot is examined thoroughly for all cylinder sizes. An expansion for the fields, very close to the slot, on large radius cylinders, is also obtained. Sample computations are made, for various ranges of cylinder radius, and the order of the errors are discussed. The problem of a circumferential slot, of constant excitation, is also considered. An asymptotic expansion obtained for this case yields the surface current distribution for values f axial distances that are smaller than the square of the circumference o the cylinder. Since one of the objectives of this study is to determine m tual coupling between two slots on a cylinder, the last section presents a formulation o the equivalent netw rk in terms of the surface and feed line currents. (Author 0
Sugarcane phytocystatins: Identification, classification and expression pattern analysis

The cystatins are tightly binding, but reversible, inhibitors of cysteine proteinases, which constitute a superfamily of evolutionary related proteins. They have been subdivided into three families: the cystatin family which contain two disulfide bonds, the stefin family which lack disulfide bonds, and the kininogen family composed of large glycoproteins containing three repeats similar to those found in the cystatin family. Members of the cystatin superfamily occurring in plants are currently known as phytocystatins, defined as proteins lacking disulfide bonds but possessing a conserved N-terminal amino acid sequence (L-A-R-[FY]-A-[VI]-X(3)-N). We have used the protein sequence deduced from seven phytocystatins (from the Arabidopsis thaliana genome project) and from the SUgarCane EST project (SUCEST) database to identify 25 possible sugarcane phytocystatins. Phylogenetic analysis has allowed us to cluster these phytocystatins into four distinct groups: (i) those with a characteristic N-terminal consensus, (ii) those with the same consensus plus a long C-terminal extension; (iii) those that lack the consensus but contain the highly conserved QxVxG motif found in all members of the superfamily and (iv) those that lack both the consensus and the QxVxG motif.
Risks and Benefits of Drinking Water Disinfection Fall 2003

Drinking water safety continues to be a major public health concern throughout the world. While the impact of waterborne infectious disease is more devastating in third world nations, outbreaks still occur in developed countries. Between 1971 and 1998, 691 waterborne disease outbreaks were reported in the United States [1]. In 1993, a major outbreak of Cryptosporidiosis occurred in Milwaukee, resulting in over 400,000 illnesses and 100 deaths from the contaminated water.
An examination of the algorithm for estimating light extinction from IMPROVE particle speciation data

The Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network is the basis for monitoring visibility in Class I Areas throughout the United States. Monitoring is conducted by collecting PM2.5 and PM10 samples every third day at over 150 remote and rural sites nationwide, with PM2.5 samples being analyzed for chemical composition. Light extinction is reconstructed using an algorithm that relates speciated mass to light extinction based on aerosol mass and size (second IMPROVE equation). In addition, the National Park Service directly measures light scattering at a subset of IMPROVE sites using Optec NGN-2 integrating nephelometers. The optical measurements serve as a check of the reconstructed scattering, in that measured scattering from the nephelometers and reconstructed scattering from the second IMPROVE equation should be equivalent. During its development, the second IMPROVE equation was shown to accurately estimate light scattering for a broad range of aerosol compositions and loadings for samples collected through 2003. Here reconstructed scattering is assessed from the second IMPROVE equation by comparing measured light scattering from nephelometers to reconstructed light scattering at 11 collocated sites over a 16 year period (2001–2016). The comparisons suggest that the relationship between measured and reconstructed light scattering has changed over time and that in recent years the second IMPROVE equation has underestimated light scattering at many sites. This shift toward poorer agreement corresponds to periods with relatively large decreases in sulfate and organic mass concentrations. These decreases lead to biases in reconstructed scattering calculated with the second IMPROVE equation, due to the assumed relationship between mass concentration and size distribution. This relationship, referred to as the split component algorithm, appears to be flawed as currently implemented. A potential approach is explored that scales the split component algorithm each year and at each site, based on measured mass concentrations at the site. The proposed approach appears to reduce the biases in the second IMPROVE equation.
Benefits of Data Augmentation for NMT-based Text Normalization of User-Generated Content

One of the most persistent characteristics of written user-generated content (UGC) is the use of non-standard words. This characteristic contributes to an increased difficulty to automatically process and analyze UGC. Text normalization is the task of transforming lexical variants to their canonical forms and is often used as a pre-processing step for conventional NLP tasks in order to overcome the performance drop that NLP systems experience when applied to UGC. In this work, we follow a Neural Machine Translation approach to text normalization. To train such an encoder-decoder model, large parallel training corpora of sentence pairs are required. However, obtaining large data sets with UGC and their normalized version is not trivial, especially for languages other than English. In this paper, we explore how to overcome this data bottleneck for Dutch, a low-resource language. We start off with a small publicly available parallel Dutch data set comprising three UGC genres and compare two different approaches. The first is to manually normalize and add training data, a money and time-consuming task. The second approach is a set of data augmentation techniques which increase data size by converting existing resources into synthesized non-standard forms. Our results reveal that, while the different approaches yield similar results regarding the normalization issues in the test set, they also introduce a large amount of over-normalizations.
Advanced reproductive technologies in cattle and buffalo and their impact on breeding

Introduction Reproduction lies at the heart of any livestock breeding enterprise and is vital to maintain or increase the number of animals required for production. Assisted reproduction techniques like Artificial Insemination (AI), Multiple Ovulation and Embryo Transfer (MOET) or in vitro embryo production have filled over the years the needs of a sustainable and more competitive livestock industry, particularly in cattle, bringing enormous benefits to the breeders and to people as a whole. A growing interest is emerging for buffaloes in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Buffaloes are in many ways similar to cattle and they live in an environment that has completely different requirements as compared to more traditional cattle breeding areas. Nevertheless the same principles of reproduction technologies that have benefit enormously cattle (both Bos Taurus and Bos Indicus, that is more a tropical animal like buffaloes) are expected to eventually benefit buffaloes as much as they have advanced cattle production systems. At present many, if not all, reproduction techniques well established in cattle have been translated to buffaloes, some on a practical basis like oestrus synchronisation and artificial insemination, others on an experimental basis like the embryo technologies. The latter still remain a research tool and their commercial application is only beginning to emerge being limited by the low efficiency reported in the literature by many investigators. At the forefront of assisted reproduction techniques lies SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer) with its many biological limits and its great potential applications especially in the area of genetic engineering. After more than a decade from the birth of the first mammal born by SCNT, more than19 mammalian species have been cloned. SCNT efficiency in farm animals is very low and typically ranges from 1 to 5% (Oback and Wells 2007). Success rate (measured by the birth of live animals) is higher in polytocous species like the pig, because several dozen embryos are transferred at one time thus significantly increasing the number of recipients that become pregnant and deliver live offspring (Vajta et al. 2007).