Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-resolution molecular analysis of the 1982-3 FMD epidemic in Denmark

The present study was conducted as a contingency exercise in molecular epidemiology, in particular exploiting the quasi-species structure of FMDV strains, with the additional purpose of gaining knowledge of epidemiological scenarios after introduction to a disease-free, non-vaccinated area. Seventeen isolates collected during the epidemic involving 23 outbreaks - 22 outbreaks on the island of Funen and one outbreak on the island of Zealand - were analysed by full-length sequencing of VP1 and aligned with available VP1 sequences using ClustalX. The Denmark 1982-3 isolates cluster together with O1 strains but differs significantly from vaccine strain sequences available. The isolates can be clustered in three groups (strains) that correspond perfectly with the patterns of putative contact transmissions as revealed during the epidemic. The distribution of sequence markers is indicative of common recombination events in the history of the 3 strains. One outbreak on the island of Zealand was due to a virus strain identical to a strain emerging in 4 outbreaks on a location of Funen and meteorological data revealed conditions allowing an airborne transmission over a distance of 70 km to have taken place. The data complies with a model where emerging epidemics most often is due to the appearance of a multiplicity of strains. Three strains were introduced to Funen, most likely by airborne transmission, from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), and one case was introduced to the island of Zealand by airborne transmission from Funen. The indication of common recombination events in the history of the 3 strains suggest a source in an area with endemic FMD and this complies with a hypothesis that a preceding epidemic in the former GDR was due to an introduction from Ukraine.
Sustainable Banking: A Closer Look at Scandinavian Banks’ Sustainability Activities and Stock Market Performance

This thesis investigates announcements of sustainability news in major commercial Scandinavian banks and their effect on stock market performance by conducting a quantitative research method using a standard event study methodology. Two research questions are employed with the aim of firstly investigating if there is any relationship and secondly if the relationship differs between announcements of good news and bad news regarding sustainability. By analyzing events between 2007 to 2016, no statistically significant evidence for a relationship between announcements of sustainability news and stock market performance is found. This thesis finds statistically significant evidence that investors seem to respond positively to announcements of good sustainability news and no evidence for announcements of bad sustainability news. Hence, major commercial Scandinavian banks should focus on communicating those sustainability activities that have a positive effect on sustainability to their shareholders and other stakeholders.
Self-reported Physical Activity after Stroke and its Determinants

Studies show that the physical activity level of individuals after stroke is low. Since this population is at risk for secondary complaints physical activity is an important outcome. Self reported questionnaires give insight in the amount and intensity of physical activity. In addition, identifying related factors can help to guide interventions to increase physical activity. Objectives: To examine physical activity as measured by the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disability (PASIPD) in people in the chronic phase after stroke and investigate factors that predict physical activity measured with PASIPD. Methods: In this longitudinal study, stroke survivors completed the Dutch version of the PASIPD, a 7-day recall self-report questionnaire including 12 items capturing physical activity in recreation, household and occupational domain. Total physical activity is expressed in metabolic equivalent (MET) hours per day. Possible determinants, i.e. patient and stroke characteristics and clinical outcomes, were measured at the end of inpatient rehabilitation. The PASIPD was collected at least one year after finishing the studied outpatient rehabilitation period. Results: Mean PASIPD score of the 116 participants was 17.1 (SD 12.4) MET h day-1. Multivariate analysis showed that a higher education level, a positive score on the letter cancellation task and a higher score on the fatigue severity scale were significantly (p<.05) related to a lower score on the PASIPD, explaining 13% of the variance. Conclusion: Physical activity is low after stroke. Level of education, visuo- spatial neglect and fatigue should be taken into account in clinical care and designing future interventions.
Finite element power diode model optimized through experiment-based parameter extraction

This paper presents a finite element physics-based power diode model with parameters established through an extraction procedure validated experimentally. The model core is a numerical module that solves the ambipolar diffusion equation through a variational formulation followed by an approximate solution with the finite element method. Other zones of the device are modeled with classical methods in an analytical module. This hybrid approach enables accurate modeling and simulation of power bipolar semiconductor devices, using standard SPICE circuit simulators, with low execution times. As physics-based models need a significant number of parameters, an automatic parameter extraction method has been developed. The procedure, based on an optimization algorithm (simulated annealing), enables an efficient extraction of parameters using some simple device waveform measurements. Implementation details of power diode model, in IsSpice simulator, are presented. Experimental validation is performed. Results prove the usefulness of the proposed methodology for efficient design of power circuits through simulation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of Methods for Profiling O-glycosylation: HUPO Human Disease Glycomics/Proteome Initiative Multi-Institutional Study of IgA1

The Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) Human Disease Glycomics/Proteome Initiative (HGPI) recently coordinated a multi-institutional study which evaluated methodologies that are widely used for defining the N -glycan content in glycoproteins. The study convincingly endorsed mass spectrometry as the technique of choice for glycomic profiling in the discovery phase of diagnostic research. The present paper reports the extension of HGPI’s activities to an assessment of the methodologies currently employed for O -glycan analysis. Three samples of IgA1 isolated from the serum of patients with multiple myeloma were distributed to fifteen laboratories worldwide for O -glycomic analysis. A variety of mass spectrometric and chromatographic procedures were employed, representative of current methodologies. Similar to the previous N -glycan study, the results convincingly confirmed the pre-eminent performance of mass spectrometry (MS) for O -glycan profiling. general strategies were found to give the most reliable data, namely direct MS analysis of mixtures of permethylated reduced glycans in the positive ion mode, and analysis of native reduced glycans in the negative ion mode using LC-MS approaches. In addition mass spectrometric methodologies to analyze O -glycopeptides were also successful.
Are lidars good enough for resource assessments? Accuracy of AEP predictions in flat terrain generated from measurements by conically scanning lidars

Summary Commercially available conically scanning lidars have been rigorously assessed over the last three years. The accuracy has increased due to improvements of signal processing, cloud correction algorithms and cone angle accuracy. The standard deviation of a pulsed lidar’s error in horizontal wind speed, as compared to mast-mounted cup anemometers, has in a three-month campaign in flat terrain been lower than 0.1 m/s, even at measuring heights exceeding 100 m. Biases are small for winds assessed over flat terrain and mean lidar errors have typically not exceeded 0.1 m/s. Although price and reliability might not yet be satisfactory, the precision of lidar anemometry seems to have matured to a level where stand-alone resource assessment in flat terrain can be considered. In this paper, boundaries of the required precision of remote sensors for bankable resource assessments are estimated. The impact on AEP predictions based on measurements with Windcubes, with current measurement uncertainties, is estimated. Furthermore, case studies from simultaneous lidar and mast-mounted cup measurements are compared to predictions from WAsP modelling from shorter masts. The current cup-traceable Windcube accuracy is estimated to lie within ± 1.5 % and ± 5 m. This is possibly sufficient for resource assessment in certain wind climates and hub-heights, for example offshore where hub-height wind shear is relatively small. It is estimated that with further advances, traceability can be improved to lie within ± 1 % and ± 3 m.
OF GENE-EDITING IN BRITISH AND ITALIAN NEWSPAPERS A cross-linguistic corpus-assisted discourse study

– This study provides a cross-linguistic overview of the most recurrent representation strategies of gene-editing in British and Italian newspapers over a period between 2015 and 2018. The aim of the study is to a) identify the archetypal representations in English and in Italian, also considering translation-related issues, and b) to assess whether these representations are positively or negatively framed across the corpora. The research is carried out in a quantiqualitative vein, using the method of corpus-assisted discourse analysis. Corpus linguistics tools are used for text search and data processing and rely on the triangulation of normalized frequency, dispersion and range parameters. Methods of (critical) discourse analysis are applied to the qualitative part of the research. Literature on science popularization and metaphorical framing of genetic concepts is also part of the analytical toolkit. The findings identify a relative lack of terminological stability concerning the denomination choices, especially evident in the Italian corpus. The archetypal representation strategy revolves around the idea of technology and (physical) change. The analysis highlights the use of some ideologically charged denominations across the corpora, with a prevalently positive framing of the technology as applied to agriculture in the Italian corpus and a more balanced framing of gene-editing in the UK corpus. The findings uncovered a paradigm shift in the metaphorical representation of genome: from a mysterious code of life to a domesticated and operationalized idea of a tool.
AN OPTIMAL PATH SEARCH USING THE SPATIAL-KEYWORD QUERY BY USING THE KEYWORD EXPAND CLOSER

─ A catchphrase recommendation in web seeks causes clients to get to important data without knowing how to accurately express their questions. Existing watchword proposal methods don't consider the areas of the clients and the question comes about; i.e., the spatial vicinity of a client to the recovered outcomes are not taken as a factor in the recommendation. Be that as it may, the pertinence of indexed lists in numerous applications (e.g., area-based administrations) is known to have corresponded with their spatial vicinity to the inquiry guarantor. In this paper, we outline an area mindful watchword inquiry proposal structure. We propose a weighted catchphrase report diagram, which catches both the semantic significance between watchword inquiries and the spatial separation between the subsequent archives and the client area. The chart is perused in an arbitrary stroll with-restart design, to choose the catchphrase questions with the most astounding scores as proposals. To make our structure versatile, we propose a parcel-based approach that beats the standard calculation by up to a request of size. The suitability of our system and the execution of the calculations are assessed utilizing genuine information.
Giant molecular clouds in the galaxy. 1. The axisymmetric distribution of H

A two-dimensional (l,b) survey of molecular clouds in the Galaxy is presented. Observations of CO (J = 1.-->.0) emission at over 2500 positions between l = -4/sup 0/ and 170/sup 0/ are interpreted to determine the distriubtion of molecules at galactic radius, R, from 0 to 16 kpc. The radial distribution of CO surface brightness, I/sub CO/, exhibits a sharp maximum in the central 1.5 kpc, a minimum at R = 1.5-3.5 kpc, and a ring peaking at 6 kpc, which falls monotonically toward larger galactocentric radius. Between 6 and 15 kpc, I/sub CO/ falls by two orders of magnitude, while 21 cm measurements show virtually constant H I surface density. The conversion of C/sub CO/ to H/sub 2/ mass is discussed. All empirical measures of this conversion factor agree to better than a factor of 2. At R<16 kpc the total mass of H/sub 2/ ia found to be 3.5 +- 10/sup 9/ M/sub sun/, nearly equal to H I (3 +- 10/sup 9/ M/sub sun/); however, 80%-90% of the H/sub 2/ mass is inside the solar circle, while only 20%-30% of the H I is found there. The ratio of H/sub 2/ and H I surface density atmore » the peak of the distribution (R = 6 kpc) is 5.3 with . cap alpha. (H/sub 2/) = 17.3 M/sub sun/ 2 pc/sup -2/. --The thickness of the molecular layer, z/sub 1/2/ increases from 40 to 75 pc between R = 3 and 9.5 kpc approximately as R/sup 0.5/. The midplane at these radii shows warps in azimuth of amplitude +- 20 pc about a mean which is 20 pc below the b = 0/sup 0/ plane. Their scale length of 3-4 kpc suggests an azimuthal wavenumber between 5 and 15. « less
Traffic Classification By Using: TIE (Traffic Identification Engine)

The availability of open source traffic classification [1][2][3][4][5] systems designed for both experimental and operational use can facilitate cooperation, union on standard definitions and events and trusted evaluation of methods. In this paper, we describe Traffic Identification Engine (TIE), an open source tool for network transfer classification, Investigating the optimal combination strategy and set of classifiers to generate reliable ground truth while preserving privacy Extending the support for sharing labeled traffic with anonym zed traces Investigating strategies for multi-threaded classification, exploiting: off-load techniques focuses by recent traffic capturing engines such as multi queue adapters. Comparing the accuracy of different classifiers and classification performance. Investigating multi-classification and combination strategies.
DC-DC Boost Converter Design for Fast and Accurate MPPT Algorithms in Stand-Alone Photovoltaic System

The main components of a Stand-Alone Photovoltaic (SAPV) system consists of PV array, DC-DC converter, load and the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control algorithm. MPPT algorithm was used for extracting maximum available power from PV module under a particular environmental condition by controlling the duty ratio of DC-DC converter. Based on maximum power transfer theorem, by changing the duty cycle, the load resistance as seen by the source is varied and matched with the internal resistance of PV module at maximum power point (MPP) so as to transfer the maximum power. Under sudden changes in solar irradiance, the selection of MPPT algorithm’s sampling time (TS_MPPT) is very much depends on two main components of the converter circuit namely; inductor and capacitor. As the value of these components increases, the settling time of the transient response for PV voltage and current will also increase linearly. Consequently, TS_MPPT needs to be increased for accurate MPPT and therefore reduce the tracking speed. This work presents a design considerations of DC-DC Boost Converter used in SAPV system for fast and accurate MPPT algorithm. The conventional Hill Climbing (HC) algorithm has been applied to track the MPP when subjected to sudden changes in solar irradiance. By selecting the optimum value of the converter circuit components, a fast and accurate MPPT especially during sudden changes in irradiance has been realized.
Piezoresistive Properties of 3D-Printed Polylactic Acid (PLA) Nanocomposites

An increasing interest is focused on the application of 3D printing for sensor manufacturing. Using 3D printing technology offers a new approach to the fabrication of sensors that are both geometrically and functionally complex. This work presents the analysis of the 3D-printed thermoplastic nanocomposites compress under the applied force. The response for the corresponding resistance changes versus applied load is obtained to evaluate the effectiveness of the printed layer as a pressure/force sensor. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) and high-structured carbon black (Ketjenblack) (KB) in the polylactic acid (PLA) matrix were extruded to develop 3D-printable filaments. The electrical and piezoresistive behaviors of the created 3D-printed layers were investigated. The percolation threshold of MWNT and KB 3D-printed layers are 1 wt. % and 4 wt. %, respectively. The PLA/1 wt. % MWNT 3D-printed layers with 1 mm thickness exhibit a negative pressure coefficient (NPC) characterized by a decrease of about one decade in resistance with increasing compressive loadings up to 18 N with a maximum strain up to about 16%. In the cyclic mode with a 1 N/min force rate, the PLA/1 wt. % MWNT 3D-printed layers showed good performance with the piezoresistive coefficient or gauge factor (G) of 7.6 obtained with the amplitude of the piezoresistive response (Ar) of about -0.8. KB composites could not show stable piezoresistive responses in a cyclic mode. However, under high force rate compression, the PLA/4 wt. % KB 3D-printed layers led to responses of large sensitivity (Ar = −0.90) and were exempt from noise with a high value of G = 47.6 in the first cycle, which is a highly efficient piezoresistive behavior.
Multi-Agent Systems Applications in Energy Optimization Problems: A State-of-the-Art Review

This article reviews the state-of-the-art developments in Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) and their application to energy optimization problems. This methodology and related tools have contributed to changes in various paradigms used in energy optimization. Behavior and interactions between agents are key elements that must be understood in order to model energy optimization solutions that are robust, scalable and context-aware. The concept of MAS is introduced in this paper and it is compared with traditional approaches in the development of energy optimization solutions. The different types of agent-based architectures are described, the role played by the environment is analysed and we look at how MAS recognizes the characteristics of the environment to adapt to it. Moreover, it is discussed how MAS can be used as tools that simulate the results of different actions aimed at reducing energy consumption. Then, we look at MAS as a tool that makes it easy to model and simulate certain behaviors. This modeling and simulation is easily extrapolated to the energy field, and can even evolve further within this field by using the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. Therefore, we can argue that MAS is a widespread approach in the field of energy optimization and that it is commonly used due to its capacity for the communication, coordination, cooperation of agents and the robustness that this methodology gives in assigning different tasks to agents. Finally, this article considers how MASs can be used for various purposes, from capturing sensor data to decision-making. We propose some research perspectives on the development of electrical optimization solutions through their development using MASs. In conclusion, we argue that researchers in the field of energy optimization should use multi-agent systems at those junctures where it is necessary to model energy efficiency solutions that involve a wide range of factors, as well as context independence that they can achieve through the addition of new agents or agent organizations, enabling the development of energy-efficient solutions for smart cities and intelligent buildings.
FPGA-based translation system from colombian sign language to text

This paper presents the development of a system aimed to facilitate the communication and interaction of people with severe hearing impairment with other people. The system employs artificial vision techniques to the recognition of static signs of Colombian Sign Language (LSC). The system has four stages: Image capture, preprocessing, feature extraction and recognition. The image is captured by a digital camera TRDB-D5M for Altera’s DE1 and DE2 development boards. In the preprocessing stage, the sign is extracted from the background of the image using the thresholding segmentation method; then, the segmented image is filtered using a morphological operation to remove the noise. The feature extraction stage is based on the creation of two vectors to characterize the shape of the hand used to make the sign. The recognition stage is made up a multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP), which functions as a classifier. The system was implemented in the Altera’s Cyclone II FPGA EP2C70F896C6 device and does not require the use of gloves or visual markers for its proper operation. The results show that the system is able to recognize all the 23 signs of the LSC with a recognition rate of 98.15 %.
The Chief of Information Offices -- performance, skills and job demands

This paper presents a research on the relationship between CIO performance and the CIO skills and CIO job demands. The CIO ́s literature has many researches about the desirable or expected CIO skills, and few papers about the influence of organizational characteristics on CIO profile. The main contribution of this paper is to analyse the moderator effect of CIO job demands on the relationship between CIO skills and CIO performance. In order to describe this moderator effect, three hypothesis about the dimensions of three concepts are presented. A survey will collect the CIO perceptions about these three concepts. The collected data should be analysed by structural equation modelling.