Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Success Indicators of the Philippine National Aquasilviculture Program (PNAP) - Mangrove Rehabilitation Project in Davao del Sur, Southern Philippines

The study was conducted to evaluate success indicators of the Philippine National Aquasilviculture Program (PNAP) – Mangrove Rehabilitation Project in Davao del Sur. The growth increment of mangroves(cm/day) and survival and the physico-chemical parameters of the different project sites were recorded. A questionnaire was employed to gather in socio-demographic profile, best practices employed, benefits and institutional factors. The study employed one shot sampling. The growth increments of mangroves in Punta Biao (0.0032 cm/day) was comparable with Bucana (0.0031 cm/day) but were significantly higher than the rest of the project sites.Sto. Rosario exhibited the lowest growth increment of 0.0007 cm/day. In terms of survival, Bucana and Punta Biao showed the highest survival rate of 96.87% and 99.62%respectively, while San Isidro obtained the lowest mean value of 13.71%. Two (2) types of area orientation found in the different project sites, midland and tidal/mud flats. Soil types were clay loam and sandy clay. High survival and high growth increment were observed in midland area with clay loam substrate while low survival observed in seaward areas with sandy clay substrate. The pH ranged from 6.46-7.23 while salinity ranged from 23ppt-35ppt. Some of the contributing factors that influenced higher survival rate of PNAP Mangrove Rehabilitation Project in Davao del Sur include the used of matured mangrove propagates, staking prior to mangrove planting, regular monitoring at least every other day and carefully scraping epiphytes (e.g. barnacles and oysters) during mangrove’s early stage. This practices observed in all project sites regardless of percentage rate recorded.
Late-born intermittently fasted juvenile garden dormice use torpor to grow and fatten prior to hibernation: consequences for ageing processes

Torpor is thought to slow age-related processes and to sustain growth and fattening of young individuals. Energy allocation into these processes represents a challenge for juveniles, especially for those born late in the season. We tested the hypothesis that late-born juvenile garden dormice (Eliomys quercinus) fed ad libitum (‘AL’, n = 9) or intermittently fasted (‘IF’, n = 9) use short torpor bouts to enhance growth and fat accumulation to survive winter. IF juveniles displayed more frequent and longer torpor bouts, compared with AL individuals before hibernation. Torpor frequency correlated negatively with energy expenditure and water turnover. Hence, IF juveniles gained mass at the same rate, reached similar pre-hibernation fattening and displayed identical hibernating patterns and mass losses as AL animals. We found no group differences in relative telomere length (RTL), an indicator of ageing, during the period of highest summer mass gain, despite greater torpor use by IF juveniles. Percentage change in RTL was negatively associated with mean and total euthermic durations among all individuals during hibernation. We conclude that torpor use promotes fattening in late-born juvenile dormice prior to hibernation. Furthermore, we provided the first evidence for a functional link between time spent in euthermy and ageing processes over winter.
The Key to Individualized Addiction Treatment is Comprehensive Assessment and Monitoring of Symptoms and Behavioral Change

Modern health services now strive for individualized treatment. This approach has been enabled by the increase in knowledge derived from neuroscience and genomics. Substance use disorders are no exception to individualized treatment even though there are no gene-specific medications yet available. What is available is the ability to quickly and precisely assess and monitor biopsychosocial variables known to vary during addiction recovery and which place addicts at increased risk of relapse. Monitoring a broad spectrum of biopsychosocial health enables providers to address diverse genome-specific changes that might trigger withdrawal from treatment or recovery relapse in time to prevent that from occurring. This paper describes modern measurement tools contained in the NIH Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and the NIH Toolbox and suggests how they might be applied to support recovery from alcohol and other substance use disorders in both pharmacological and abstinence-oriented modalities of care.
Improving the gas sensing performance of chemiresistors by LED irradiation

This work aims to investigate on the electrical, optical and gas-sensing properties of zinc oxide-based nano-wires (nwZnO) deposited on a crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafer. In particular, a comparison between the less efficient heat treatment for the analyte desorption and the photo-enhanced response will be investigated and discussed for NO2 gas flows.
Glia and Neurodevelopment: Focus on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

During the last 20 years, new and exciting roles for glial cells in brain development have been described. Moreover, several recent studies implicated glial cells in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders including Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Abnormalities in glial cell development and proliferation and increased glial cell apoptosis contribute to the adverse effects of ethanol on the developing brain and it is becoming apparent that the effects of fetal alcohol are due, at least in part, to effects on glial cells affecting their ability to modulate neuronal development and function. The three major classes of glial cells, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia as well as their precursors are affected by ethanol during brain development. Alterations in glial cell functions by ethanol dramatically affect neuronal development, survival, and function and ultimately impair the development of the proper brain architecture and connectivity. For instance, ethanol inhibits astrocyte-mediated neuritogenesis and oligodendrocyte development, survival and myelination; furthermore, ethanol induces microglia activation and oxidative stress leading to the exacerbation of ethanol-induced neuronal cell death. This review article describes the most significant recent findings pertaining the effects of ethanol on glial cells and their significance in the pathophysiology of FASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Corticofugal influences of S1 cortex on ventrobasal thalamic neurons in the awake rat

Corticofugal influences on the responses of 39 ventrobasal (VB) thalamic neurons to repetitive stimuli were studied in awake rats by focally suppressing the evoked and spontaneous electrocortical activity of the primary (S1) somatosensory cortex with magnesium or lidocaine plus magnesium. Suppression of the S1 cortex reduced the number of spikes discharged by 19 (66%) of 29 VB units in response to each of 25 electrical stimuli delivered to the medial lemniscus; 9 units were unaffected and 1 showed an increased response to 1–10 Hz stimuli. The responses of 6 (38%) of 16 VB units to electrical somatic stimuli were also reduced following S1 cortical suppression; 9 units were unaffected and 1 showed an increased response to 20–40 Hz stimuli. A comparison of the reduced responsiveness of 5 units studied during medial lemniscal and somatic stimulation did not reveal any additional response attenuation attributable to subthalamic corticofugal influences. We conclude that, in the awake rat, somatosensory transmission to VB thalamic neurons is primarily facilitated by S1 corticothalamic neurons.
Surgical or percutaneous mitral valve repair for secondary mitral regurgitation: comparison of patient characteristics and clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVES Corrective surgery for secondary mitral regurgitation (MR) by restrictive annuloplasty has proven beneficial in that it improves New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and induces reverse left ventricular remodelling. However, proof of a survival benefit for these patients is still pending. Percutaneous techniques of mitral valve repair (MVR) have become a viable treatment alternative for selected high-risk patients with severe secondary MR. METHODS We retrospectively analysed our prospective hospital database of patients with severe secondary MR undergoing either surgical MVR or percutaneous treatment using the MitraClip device. Patient characteristics and 6-month clinical and effectiveness outcomes are reported. RESULTS From March 2002 through June 2010, 76 patients with secondary MR underwent isolated surgical MVR, while 95 were treated using the MitraClip device at our centre. Patients undergoing MitraClip treatment were significantly older (mean 72.8 ± 8.2 vs 64.5 ± 11.4 years, P < 0.001), had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (mean 36.2 ± 12.5 vs 42.1 ± 16.2%, P = 0.014) and were generally more high risk, with a significantly higher mean logistic EuroSCORE I compared with surgical candidates (33.7 ± 18.7 vs 10.1 ± 8.7%, P < 0.001). Procedural success was 98.7 (75 of 76) for MVR and 95.8% (91 of 95) for MitraClip treatment (P = 0.383). Thirty-day mortality was 4.2 (4 of 95) and 2.6% (2 of 76; P = 0.557), and the mean grade of residual MR was 1.4 ± 0.8 and 0.2 ± 0.4 (P < 0.001) after MitraClip treatment and surgical MVR, respectively. Six-month survival rates after adjustment for baseline differences were not significantly different in the respective groups (P = 0.642). CONCLUSIONS In our experience, characteristics and risk factors of patients with severe secondary MR undergoing surgery differ significantly from those considered for percutaneous therapy. Surgery was more effective compared with MitraClip in reducing MR. However, a large proportion of patients benefits from percutaneous intervention with sustained MR Grade <2+ and improvement in NYHA functional class at 6 months. MitraClip therapy seems to be an adequate alternative to surgery, especially for elderly patients with reduced left ventricular function and relevant comorbidities. Assessment, treatment and postprocedural care of patients by an interdisciplinary team are of paramount importance for clinical success.
PIEZOELECTRIC SCROLL FLOOR COUPLED TO AN OPTIMAL LINEAR CONTROL

Este trabalho e uma analise numerica de placas piezoeletricas (PZT) inseridas em pavimentos de concreto e submetidas a tensao mecânica por rolamento, acopladas em um controlador para ajustar a frequencia natural de excitacao do PZT e alcancar o maximo de resultado de tensao eletrica na saida.
Dyna-MLAC: Trading Computational and Sample Complexities in Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning

Sampling and computation budgets are two of the key elements that determine the performance of a reinforcement learning algorithm. In essence, any reinforcement learning agent must sample the environment and perform some computation over the samples to decide its best action. Although very fundamental, the trade-off between sampling and computation is still not well understood. In this paper, we explore this trade-off in an actor-critic perspective. First, we propose a new RL algorithm, Dyna-MLAC, which uses model-based actor-critic updates (MLAC) within the Dyna framework. Then, we numerically indicate that the convergence time of Dyna-MLAC is smaller than pre-existing solutions, and that Dyna-MLAC allows to efficiently trade number of samples and computation time.
EEZ Seeps: Exploration, Exploitation, and Conservation

Author(s): Krach, Monika | Abstract: Growing exploitation of the deep sea warrants an economic and political analysis of cold seep resources in the United States Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone. Methane seeps are currently being explored for utilization by the energy industry, fisheries, and bioprospecting programs. This paper examines these direct human uses of chemosynthetic communities, addresses their costs, and explores both current US policies and potential policies for management and conservation. To date, policies concerning the EEZ have been sector-specific and authority split between various agencies. The US needs a comprehensive framework with a focus on collaboration between agencies and should include the protection of benthic features like hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. In the interim, various strategies can be implemented to manage chemosynthetic communities in the EEZ.
Synthesis of reversible circuits with minimal lines for large functions

Reversible circuits are an emerging technology where all computations are performed in an invertible manner. Motivated by their promising applications, e.g. in the domain of quantum computation or in the low-power design, the synthesis of such circuits has been intensely studied. However, how to automatically realize reversible circuits with the minimal number of lines for large functions is an open research problem. In this paper, we propose a new synthesis approach which relies on concepts that are complementary to existing ones. While “conventional” function representations have been applied for synthesis so far (such as truth tables, ESOPs, BDDs), we exploit Quantum Multiple-valued Decision Diagrams (QMDDs) for this purpose. An algorithm is presented that performs transformations on this data-structure eventually leading to the desired circuit. Experimental results show the novelty of the proposed approach through enabling automatic synthesis of large reversible functions with the minimal number of circuit lines. Furthermore, the quantum cost of the resulting circuits is reduced by 50% on average compared to an existing state-of-the-art synthesis method.
Assessing the Food Security of Vulnerable Agricultural Households to Climate Change in the Council of Tokombéré, Far North Région of Cameroon: An Analysis Focused on the FCS, HDDS and CSI

This article evaluates the food security of agricultural producers vulnerable to climate change in the Tokombere council through the analysis of food consumption scores, dietary diversity score and the analysis of the index of adaptability for the food. The data were collected using a questionnaire administered to 160 farm households that were selected by the stratified random sampling technique. Analysis of the data collected reveals that 82.5% of households are headed by men and 17.5% by women with very low level of education (55% have not been to school and only 45% have a primary level) and have an age between 50 and 75 (70.6%). The average SCA is 37.06 (acceptable), so 36.88% of households have an acceptable SCA of which in food security and 56.88% have a SCA limit of which moderately food insecure and 6.25% have a SCA poor whose food insecurity is severe. The average SDAM is 3.58 (acceptable) with a minimum SDAM of 2 and a maximum SDAM of 9. With SDAM; 90% and 79.12% of households are severely food insecure and moderately food insecure respectively. SDAM analyzes also show 75.6%, 20% and 4.4% of households with the lowest, average and highest dietary diversity respectively. The average CSI is 21.1 with a CSI min of 11 and a CSI max of 30.
Periostitis associated with myelofibrosis

Two patients with myelofibrosis developed fever, leg pain and periostitis. The first patient had myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia and was symptomatic for months before x‐rays showed periosteal new bone formation in the lower extremities. He subsequently developed periostitis of both upper extremities. Radiation of the lower extremities resulted in significant pain relief. The second patient had a past history of polycythemia vera and experienced painful periostitis of the tibiae and fibulae. 99mTechnetium pyrophosphate bone scans showed increased uptake in the involved bones in both patients. Asymptomatic or painful periostitis may be related to the increased bone blood flow associated with myelofibrosis. Radiation can afford successful palliation in the severely symptomatic patient.
Link Between the Joint Diagonalisation of Symmetrical Cubes and PARAFAC: An Application to Secondary Surveillance Radar

The Manchester decoding algorithm (MDA) presented in N. Petrochilos and A.J. van der Veen (2004) succeeds in separating secondary surveillance radar (SSR) replies impinging on an array. The final step of the MDA consist of jointly diagonalizing a collection of several symmetric cubes by a sub-optimal technique. In this article, we demonstrate that it is in fact a PARAFAC problem with an almost symmetric solution. Furthermore, comparisons with other algorithms are carried out, with the help of computer simulations
Traditional Chinese Medicine formula evaluation using multi-instance multi-label framework

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a holistic integrative medical approach. Exploring the relations between the herbal formulae and the symptoms is a crucial problem in researches of TCM. Unlike existing researches, we treat it as a both multi-instance learning and multi-label learning problem. In this paper, we propose a novel approach, which named Weighted Sampling based on Similar Herbs MIML (WSSH-MIML), to predict one formula's primary symptoms based on multi-instance multi-label framework. We compare the performance of our model with other three state-of-the-art multi-label learning algorithms and the experimental results indicate ours is superior. This study suggests that the MIML technique provides a new research paradigm for mining meaningful TCM information.
Model Based Estimation and Tracking Method for Agile Software Project

In this paper, the authors propose a software cost estimation model for agile software development project which can help estimate concrete development costs for the desired features of a product and tracks the project progress dynamically. In general, cost estimation methods for agile developments used a story point. Because it is relative value, the estimation results tend to be easily fluctuated by the small variation of the base story point. To estimate the effort of a project development, the authors use function points in addition to the story point. The function points are determined based on the desired features of the project. The authors adopt the Kalman filter algorithm for tracking project progress. The daily variation of the function point is observed and inputted to the Kalman Filter for providing concrete estimation and velocity. The authors then validate the better performance of our model by comparing with traditional methods through a case study.
Introduction of 6th Generation Smart Phone combining the features of both Apple and Android smart phone

In this paper, we present our novel contribution methodology based on the results of case study that has been implemented in our research environment to test with new technique the usability of both intelligent Android and Apple phones. This analysis of the case study stands for features similar to applications, operating system, hardware and software structure, battery life, and online based websites. Multiple interrogations were applied to collect user answers ongoing features. Users directly react by responding based on their daily used product experience. Consequently, the estimation is based on the data that has been unregistered from the user. The most recent results will end up by introducing a combination of ideal features on both products to build a wonderful extended product in the future.
Calculating normalization constants of closed queueing networks by numerically inverting their generating functions

A new algorithm is developed for calculating normalization constants (partition functions) and moments of product-form steady-state distributions of closed queuing networks and related models. The essential idea is to numerically invert the generating function of the normalization constant and related generating functions appearing in expressions for the moments. It is known that the generating function of the normalization constant often has a remarkably simple form, but numerical inversion evidently has not been considered before. For p-dimensional transforms, as occur with queuing networks having p closed chains, the algorithm recursively performs p one-dimensional inversions. The required computation grows exponentially in the dimension, but the dimension can often be reduced by exploiting conditional decomposition based on special structure. For large populations, the inversion algorithm is made more efficient by computing large sums using Euler summation. The inversion algorithm also has a very low storage requirement. A key ingredient in the inversion algorithm is scaling. An effective static scaling is developed for multichain closed queuing networks with only single-server and (optionally) infinite-server queues. An important feature of the inversion algorithm is a self-contained accuracy check, which allows the results to be verified in the absence of alternative algorithms.
Directional Analysis of Measured 60 GHz Indoor Radio Channels Using SAGE

Directional properties of the radio channel are of high importance for the development of reliable wireless systems operating in the 60 GHz frequency band. Using transfer functions measured from 61 to 65 GHz in a conference room we have extracted estimates of the multi-path component parameters using the SAGE algorithm. In the paper we compare results for line-of-sight (LOS) scenarios and the corresponding non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios and present values of the direction spread at the Tx and the Rx.
Studies of cellular proliferation in human leukemia. VI. The proliferative activity, generation time, and emergence time of neutrophilic granulocytes in chronic granulocytic leukemia

The proliferative kinetics of neutrophilic granulocytes were studied in 3 patients with typical chronic granulocytic leukemia (CGL) by means of differential counts, mitotic indexes, and 3H‐thymidine labeling using autoradio‐graphic methods. The granulocyte precursors in CGL had lower mitotic and 3H‐thymidine labeling indexes than the corresponding normal cells; their median grain count halving times were longer than normal in 2 patients and approximately normal in the third. The proliferative rates appeared similar in the marrow and spleen but the cells rarely divided in the blood. In one patient given a continuous intravenous 3H‐thymidine infusion for 10 days, 100% of the granulocyte precursors were labeled. The minimum maturation time of CGL neutrophilics was approximately normal, but their average transit times through the myelocyte and later maturation compartments was prolonged. The overproduction of granulocytes appears mainly due to increased formation of myeloblasts; whether this is due to an increased rate of stem cell activation or whether the myeloblasts may themselves function to some extent as selfsustaining cells is unknown.
POWER-SIM: An SOC Simulator for Estimating Power Profiles of Mobile Workloads

The power consumption of complex System-On-Chips (SOCs) heavily depends on application profile and usage patterns. Customization of power management strategies based on application as well as user profile have great promise towards minimizing the power wastage. In this paper, we present a methodology for computing the power usage at a higher level of granularity for analyzing the scope of the optimization of the power management strategies in a complex low power SOC with respect to given workload profiles by customizing the boundaries of power domains. The proposed methodology computes the power usage for a given SOC and a given power domain partitioning. We demonstrate the effect of user profiles on the partitioning strategy through a case study.