Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Canadian Journal of Disability Studies Published by the Canadian Disability Studies Association Association canadienne d’études sur le handicap

This is a précis of the forthcoming book, The Disabled Contract: Severe Intellectual Disability, Justice and Morality. It examines how people with severe intellectual disabilities (PSID) fare within the social contract tradition. More specifically, it contends that even recent strategies that attempted to integrate disability within the realm of contractual justice and morality are not entirely successful. These strategies cannot convincingly ground a robust moral status for PSID; or, if they do so, it is at the cost of making this status merely derivative or contingent. The failure of social contract theory to bring severe disabilities within its purview should not be seen as a marginal theoretical defect affecting only a small segment of human populations. At best, it reveals a gap that should impel moral and political theorists to give fiduciary and caring ideals their due weight next to contractual ideals. At worst, the social contract tradition is not only incomplete, but necessarily creates and oppresses the ‘disabled subject’. The goal of this précis is to introduce readers to some of the conclusions I reach in the book in an accessible, short format. The arguments are therefore illustrative rather than exhaustive. Résumé Cet article est un précis de mon prochain livre, The Disabled Contract : Severe Intellectual Disability, Justice and Morality. Ce livre examine la situation des personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle sévère dans la tradition du contrat social. Plus précisément, il soutient que même les stratégies récentes qui ont tenté d’intégrer le handicap dans le domaine de la justice contractuelle et de la moralité n’ont pas complètement été couronnées de succès. Ces stratégies ne parviennent pas à faire émerger de manière convaincante un statut moral fort pour les personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle sévère; ou, si elles y arrivent, c’est en le rendant simplement banal ou contingent. L’échec de la théorie du contrat social à inclure les handicaps sévères dans son champ d’application ne doit pas être considéré comme un défaut théorique marginal affectant seulement une partie des populations humaines. Au mieux, cela révèle une lacune qui devrait pousser les théoricien·nes moraux et politiques à donner aux idéaux fiduciaires et bienveillants le poids qui leur revient à côté des idéaux contractuels. Au pire, la tradition du contrat social est non seulement incomplète, mais crée et opprime nécessairement le « sujet handicapé ». Le but de ce précis est de présenter aux lecteurs certaines des conclusions auxquelles je parviens dans le livre dans un format court et accessible. Les arguments sont donc illustratifs plutôt qu’exhaustifs.
On the Development of a Hardware Library for Embedded Image Processing Systems Based on Reassemble Functional Blocks

With rapidly increased demands for machine vision, many image processing circuits for embedded systems have been developed recently. However, the implementation and verification of new algorithm circuits require many tasks such as the interface design and the timing adjustment. This paper aims to simplify these tasks by implementing a hardware library for image processing. The library contains bus and device interfaces and basic image processing function modules. These modules have a simple interface and can be easily reassembled like building blocks. It means that it is possible to configure various algorithmic blocks by combining existing blocks. In the latter part of the paper, we show how to construct a sample system by using the hardware library and compare the system performance with the software implementation. The sample implements a corner detection system based on the Harris algorithm. The implemented system is 64.63 times faster than the software implementation with the OpenCV library running on an ARM CPU. In the future, we will expand and enhance our library to respond to various image processing algorithms.
No Detection of Cry1Ac Protein in Soil After Multiple Years of Transgenic Bt Cotton (Bollgard) Use

Abstract Soil samples were collected from within and outside six fields where insect-resistant transgenic cotton (Bollgard) encoding the Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) subsp. kurstaki cry1Ac gene had been grown and subsequently incorporated into soil by postharvest tillage for 3–6 consecutive years. The level of Cry1Ac protein in these samples (collected 3 mo after the last season’s tillage) was evaluated using both enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and bioassays with a susceptible insect species, Heliothis virescens (F.), the tobacco budworm. Both methods revealed that no detectable Cry1Ac protein was present in any of the soil samples collected from within or outside the Bollgard fields. Based on the results from reference standards, the limit of detection for the ELISA was 3.68 ng of extractable protein per gram of soil, and that of the bioassay (measured by EC50) was 8 ng of biologically active protein per gram of soil. Together, these findings demonstrate that the amount of Cry1Ac protein accumulated as a result of continuous use of transgenic Bt cotton, and subsequent incorporation of plant residues into the soil by postharvest tillage, is extremely low and does not result in detectable biological activity.
An nMgO containing scaffold: Antibacterial activity, degradation properties and cell responses

Bone repair failure caused by implant-related infections is a common and troublesome problem. In this study, an antibacterial scaffold was developed via selective laser sintering with incorporating nano magnesium oxide (nMgO) to poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV). The results indicated the scaffold exerted high antibacterial activity. The antibacterial mechanism was that nMgO could cause oxidative damage and mechanical damage to bacteria through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and direct contact action, respectively, which resulted in the damage of their structures and functions. Besides, nMgO significantly increased the compressive properties of the scaffold including strength and modulus, due to its excellent mechanical properties and uniform dispersion in the PHBV matrix. Moreover, the degradation tests indicated nMgO neutralized the acid degradation products of PHBV and benefited the degradation of the scaffold. The cell culture demonstrated that nMgO promoted the cellular adhesion and proliferation, as well as osteogenic differentiation. The present work may open the door to exploring nMgO as a promising antibacterial material for tissue engineering.
The UV galaxy luminosity function at z = 3–5 from the CFHT Legacy Survey Deep fields

Aims. We measure and study the evolution of the UV galaxy luminosity function (LF) at z = 3−5 from the largest high-redshift survey to date, the Deep part of the CFHT Legacy Survey. We also give accurate estimates of the SFR density at these redshifts. Methods. We consider ∼100 000 Lyman-break galaxies at z ≈ 3.1, 3.8 and 4.8 selected from very deep ugriz images of this data set and estimate their rest-frame 1600 A luminosity function. Due to the large survey volume, cosmic variance plays a negligible role. Furthermore, we measure the bright end of the LF with unprecedented statistical accuracy. Contamination fractions from stars and low-z galaxy interlopers are estimated from simulations. From these simulations the redshift distributions of the Lyman-break galaxies in the different samples are estimated, and those redshifts are used to choose bands and calculate k-corrections so that the LFs are compared at the same rest-frame wavelength. To correct for incompleteness, we study the detection rate of simulated galaxies injected to the images as a function of magnitude and redshift. We estimate the contribution of several systematic effects in the analysis to test the robustness of our results. Results. We find the bright end of the LF of our u-dropout sample to deviate significantly from a Schechter function. If we modify the function by a recently proposed magnification model, the fit improves. For the first time in an LBG sample, we can measure down to the density regime where magnification affects the shape of the observed LF because of the very bright and rare galaxies we are able to probe with this data set. We find an increase in the normalisation, φ ∗ , of the LF by a factor of 2.5 between z ≈ 5a ndz ≈ 3. The faint-end slope of the LF does not evolve significantly between z ≈ 5a ndz ≈ 3. We do not find a significant evolution of the characteristic magnitude in the studied redshift interval, possibly because of insufficient knowledge of the source redshift distribution. The SFR density is found to increase by a factor of ∼2 from z ≈ 5t oz ≈ 4. The evolution from z ≈ 4t oz ≈ 3 is less eminent.
Design and characterization of ofloxacin mucoadhesi ve in situ hydrogel

The aim of the study is to design, optimize and cha racterize an ophthalmic in situ gelling system of an antibacterial agent, ofloxacin using polyacrylic aci d (PAA) as the gelling agent along with Noveon ® AA-1 USP Polycarbophil as a viscosity enhancer. A 3 2 full factorial design was applied for the optimiza tion of the final formulation. The effect of independent va riables was evaluated using dependent variables, th at is, gel strength, bioadhesion force, viscosity and in vitro drug release profile of the formulation. Polynomial regression equations and surface plots w ere used to relate the dependent and independent variables. The desirability function was employed i n order to determine the best batch which was then evaluated for an in vivo antimicrobial efficacy, effect of sterilization, o cular irritation and accelerated stability studies. From the factorial design, it wa s found that the optimum values of the responses co uld be obtained at medium levels of polyacrylic acid an d Noveon ® AA-1 USP Polycarbophil (0.5/0.5%w/w respectively). The formulation retained antimicrobi al efficacy, showed insignificant effect over sterilization and found non irritant to the corneal surface confirmed by microscopy of the corneal mucosal membrane compared with reference marketed f ormulation. Conclusively, the optimized formulation was found to be stable, therapeutically efficacious and providing sustained release of the drug over an 8 h period even after accelerated stab ility study over three months. The developed system is thus a viable alternative to conventional ophtha lmic formulations.
Major Roads Have a Negative Impact on the Tawny Owl Strix aluco and the Little Owl Athene noctua Populations

Abstract. The increasing road networks threaten ecosystems by direct effects such as increased mortality due to collision with vehicles and by various indirect effects leading to road avoidance. We censused Tawny Owls Strix aluco and Little Owls Athene noctua in 2005, 2007 and 2009 in a rural landscape in Southern Portugal in order to study the effects of roads and habitat characteristics on Tawny Owl density and Little Owl presence. The presence of both owl species in the 70 census locations was coherent among years. Our results showed that Tawny Owl density near major roads was lower, with the negative effects extending possibly up to 2 km. The probability of Little Owl presence was also negatively affected by the proximity to major roads. The negative effects of roads were significant even considering habitat preferences and spatial autocorrelation, which had the most marked effect on the density or presence of both owls. The reduced occupancy by Tawny Owls and Little Owls of habitats near major roads may be caused by several factors, including increased mortality, disturbance caused by high traffic density, and increased fragmentation. Traffic noise in particular may affect intra-specific communication and hunting efficiency. Consequently, habitat near roads may represent lower-quality territories for owls.
The Vasorelaxant Effect of Hibiscus Sabdariffa Linn. Polyphenol-Rich Extract (Hpe) On Rat’s Isolated Aorta

Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. or also known as roselle which is rich in polyphenols, has been demonstrated to cause lowering of blood pressure in animal and clinical settings. However its exact mechanism of action particularly from polyphenolic compounds is not clearly understood. Therefore, we aimed to determine the effects of H. sabdariffa polyphenol extract (HPE) towards vascular reactivity and its mechanism of action. The HPE was studied on isolated thoracic aortic rings from normal Sprague-Dawley rats, suspended in a 15-ml organ chambers containing Krebs-Henseleit solution. The changes in tension were recorded by isometric transducer connected to data acquisition. HPE relaxed the contraction induced by phenylephrine (PE, 1 μM) in similar pattern for both endothelium-intact and endothelium denuded aortic rings in dose-dependent manner. The pretreatment with atropine (1 μM), a competitive muscarinic antagonist, and propranolol (1 μM), a non-selective beta- blocker did not alter HPEs vasorelaxation response. In addition, HPE did not inhibit the contraction induced by extracellular Ca2+ precontracted by PE (1 μM) or KCl (60mM), in Ca2+ -free solution, suggesting that the relaxation effect of HPE was not via inhibition of calcium channels. In conclusion, HPE demonstrated vasorelaxation effects on rat thoracic aorta although the underlying mechanism is still unknown. The vasorelaxation effect could be via angiotensin type 1 receptor inhibition in the vascular smooth muscle cells or the activation of hyperpolarizing K+ channel. DOI : http://dx.doi. org. /10.17576/JSKM-2018-08
South China Sea Wave Height Trends Analysis Using 20 CR Reanalysis

This study investigates long-term significant wave heights trends in the South China Sea. The Hs–SLP relationship in each domain is represented by a multivariate regression model with lagged dependent variable, which is calibrated and validated using the ERA-Interim reanalysis of Hs and SLP for the period 1981–2010. The 6-hourly Hs time series at each grid point was homogenized for discontinuities identified in the regional mean series. The homogenized wave heights were then used to assess wave height trends over the period 1911-2010. For comparison, the wave height trends derived from the inhomogenized wave heights were also showed. The reconstructed wave heights trends are also compared with the trends as derived from ERA40 dynamical wave reanalysis datasets. Keywords—South China Sea; wave height trend; statistical downscaling; Mann-Kendall test
Managing Lean Supply and Innovation: Cross-cultural Knowledge Transfer in an Multi-national Company

There is growing evidence that organisations are increasingly using the concept of lean supply to foster innovation. This paper considers key factors that influence this management approach in the context of the cross-cultural transfer of both codified and tacit knowledge embedded in a manufacturing process. It reports current empirical research on a multi-national company – American Power Conversion (APC)’s production line transfer from Galway, Ireland to Suzhou, P. R. China. It aims to explore the key factors influencing APC’s lean manufacturing and knowledge transfer, and further provide a base-line from which pragmatic advice can be given to companies pursuing manufacturing or supply strategies. The research proposes to make a contribution on examining the key factors that influence the effective transfer of knowledge between two important countries in the global manufacturing landscape.
Computationally Assisted Regulatory Participation

With the increased politicization of agency rulemaking and the reduced cost of participating in the notice-and-comment rulemaking process, administrative agencies have, in recent years, found themselves deluged in a flood of public comments. In this Article, we argue that this deluge presents both challenges and opportunities, and we explore how advances in natural language processing technologies can help agencies address the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities created by the recent growth of public participation in the regulatory process. We also examine how scholars of public bureaucracies can use this important new publicly available data to better understand how agencies interact with the public. To illustrate the value of these new tools, we carry out computational text analysis of nearly three million public comments that were received by administrative agencies over the course of the Obama administration. Our findings indicate that advances in natural language processing technology show great promise for both researchers and policymakers who are interested in understanding, and improving, regulatory decision-making.
On orthogonality of binary operations and squares

Orthogonality of a pair of binary groupoids, left quasigroups and quasi- groups from some points of view is studied. Necessary and sufficient conditions of orthogonality of a finite quasigroup and any its parastrophe (conjugate quasigroup in other terminology), including ones in language of quasi-identities, are given. New concept of gisotopy, which generalizes the concept of isotopy, is defined. There is information on quasigroups with self-orthogonal conjugates. Mathematics subject classification: 20N05, 05B15, 20N02, 08C15. Keywords and phrases: Groupoid, left quasigroup, quasigroup, Latin square, row- Latin square, Latin square with self-orthogonal conjugates, orthogonality, parastrophy, isotopy, isostrophy, gisotopy.
A large-scale evaluation of tracing back log data to its origin with static analysis

Logs are widely used as source of information to understand the activity of computer systems and to monitor their health and stability. As large-scale systems generate hundreds of millions of logs per hour reaching tens of terabytes, automated techniques exist to take advantage of the rich information present in logs. However, these techniques require the link to the event that generated the log, the log statement in the source code. Several solutions have been proposed to solve this non-trivial challenge, of these the approach based on static analysis reaches the highest accuracy. Log statements in the source code are statically analysed to extract templates and match log messages to these templates, creating a link between log messages and statements. However, no evaluation has been performed in large scale environments of various industries where log messages are versatile. We perform a field study of the approach based on static analysis of source code to relate log messages to its log statement in a large-scale environment. The approach is evaluated on a rich and versatile dataset of logs produced by over thirty thousand log statements, reaching an accuracy of 97,6%. We provide an non-intrusive, adaptable to custom logging practices and easily extendable implementation that is ready to be used in large-scale system, which allows for automated log analysis techniques to be adopted.
Endorhizal Fungal Association and Colonization Patterns in Solanaceae

The Solanaceae family includes plants of high economic and medicinal value. Information on endorhizal associations in Solanaceae is limited. We investigated arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and dark septate endophyte (DSE) fungal associations in 20 solanaceous plant species (7 genera) taken from one or more sites, measuring the percentage of root length colonized in plants having different AM and DSE fungal structures. Root samples of all the plant species examined had AM fungal structures, and DSE fungal colonization was found in 80% of the plant species. Total AM and DSE fungal colonization and root length of plants with different fungal structures varied significantly between species. Significant between-site variation was found for root length in plants with fungal structures in Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. , Capsicum annuum L. , Datura metel L. , Solanum melongena L. , S. nigrum L. , S. trilobatum L. and S. torvum SW. AM morphology was predominantly intermediate-type (60%), followed by Paris-type (30%). Solanum melongena and S. nigrum at different sites had Paris-type or intermediate AM morphology. DSE fungal colonization also exhibited significant between-site variation in Capsicum frutescens, C. annum, Datura metel, Solanum melongena, S. trilobatum and S. nigrum. We found a significant negative correlation between AM and DSE fungal colonization.
Anti-dialogic Positioning in Change Stories: Bank Robbers, Saviours and Peons

Stories people tell of going through change incorporate and react to others around them. Positions can be taken in stories that tend towards the monological, having a singular perspective and being somewhat sealed off from others. Alternatively, stories can tend towards the dialogical, a multiple, less certain and more interactive mode. We explore multiple stories of an organizational change and analyse a paradoxical situation that emerges. We argue that although the stories may have the appearance of being dialogical, they can be seen as co-existing but self-sealing, or anti-dialogic. We introduce an interruption to the story and discuss a possibility for challenging anti-dialogic positioning in change stories.
Heading Control System Design for a Micro-USV Based on an Adaptive Expert S-PID Algorithm

Abstract The process of heading control system design for a kind of micro-unmanned surface vessel (micro-USV) is addressed in this paper and a novel adaptive expert S-PID algorithm is proposed. First, a motion control system for the micro-USV is designed based on STM32-ARM and the PC monitoring system is developed based on Labwindows/CVI. Second, by combining the expert control technology, S plane and PID control algorithms, an adaptive expert S-PID control algorithm is proposed for heading control of the micro-USV. Third, based on SL micro-USV developed in this paper, a large number of pool experiments and lake experiments are carried out, to verify the effectiveness and reliability of the motion control system designed and the heading control algorithm proposed. A great amount of comparative experiment results shows the superiority of the proposed adaptive expert S-PID algorithm in terms of heading control of the SL micro-USV.
Predicting programmers' personality via interaction behaviour with keyboard and mouse

6 ABSTRACT 7 This exploratory research was conducted to study the relationship between Big Five personality 8 measurement scale and the interaction behaviour of the programmers with keyboard and mouse to 9 examine the possibility of creating a computer based objective personality measurement scale. A 10 field study with two analyses (N = 20), (N = 12) and a lab study (N = 15) were conducted where 11 N is the number of participants who participated in the research. In the field study, interaction data 12 were collected during normal PC use over several days. In the laboratory study, participants 13 worked on a programming task while their interaction with keyboard and mouse was being 14 recorded in background. All of the participants rated their personality online and uploaded the data 15 for analysis. Results found inconsistent behaviour of all of the personality traits except ‘activity 16 level’ in all studies and thus suggested that a programmer’s ‘activity level’ can be predicted from 17 his/her interaction behaviour with keyboard and mouse. This prediction might help in 18 differentiating good programmers from not so good programmers objectively. 19 20 Keywords: Programmers, Personality, Keyboard, Mouse, Interaction, Behaviour, Estimation, 21 Measurement