Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SHC 2013 , International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry September 23-25 , 2013 , Freiburg , Germany New cermet coatings for mid-temperature applications for solar concentrated combine heat and power system

New cermet (ceramic-metal) composite coatings have been developed for solar absorbers in a solar concentrating system for combined heat and power operating in a mid-temperature range between 250 to 350 °C. The coatings were applied on stainless steel substrates. Two types of cermet with expected good duration properties were chosen: Nb-TiO2 and W-SiO2. The basic layer-structure concept consisted of four sub-layers, counted from the substrate: molybdenum infrared reflector, high metal concentration cermet of either Nb-TiO2 or W-SiO2, low metal concentration cermet of either Nb-TiO2 or W-SiO2 and SiO2 antireflection layer. The results from optimised coating fabrication gave solar absorptance and thermal emittance of 0.93 and 0.09 respectively for the Nb-TiO2 cermet and 0.91 and 0.08 for the W-SiO2 cermet based absorbers. Annealing at 350 °C did not change the absorptance but decreased the thermal emittance with 0.01 units. Adhesion to substrate and between sub-layers was good and even improved after annealing. In a next step up-scaling to deposition on tubes has been made for the Nb-TiO2 cermet type coating and such absorbers are now operating in the solar concentrating combined heat and power demonstration plant in Malta. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer review by the scientific conference committee of SHC 2013 under responsibility of PSE AG.
Plant Speciation

Like the formation of animal species, plant speciation is characterized by the evolution of barriers to genetic exchange between previously interbreeding populations. Prezygotic barriers, which impede mating or fertilization between species, typically contribute more to total reproductive isolation in plants than do postzygotic barriers, in which hybrid offspring are selected against. Adaptive divergence in response to ecological factors such as pollinators and habitat commonly drives the evolution of prezygotic barriers, but the evolutionary forces responsible for the development of intrinsic postzygotic barriers are virtually unknown and frequently result in polymorphism of incompatibility factors within species. Polyploid speciation, in which the entire genome is duplicated, is particularly frequent in plants, perhaps because polyploid plants often exhibit ecological differentiation, local dispersal, high fecundity, perennial life history, and self-fertilization or asexual reproduction. Finally, species richness in plants is correlated with many biological and geohistorical factors, most of which increase ecological opportunities.
The Effect of Regularly Scheduled Naps on Sleep Attacks and Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Associated with Narcolepsy

To investigate the effectiveness of “nap therapy” for improving alertness and reducing the frequency of sleep attacks, 16 narcoleptic subjects were studied before, during, and after a 1-month program of three regularly scheduled naps. The frequency and timing of sleep attacks, naps, and nocturnal sleep periods were recorded daily in sleep logs for 5 weeks. The severity of five common symptoms of narcolepsy and daytime alertness were assessed before and after the 1-month treatment period. Medications and usual nocturnal sleep habits were not changed during the study period. Mean sleep latency was increased significantly after 1 month of nap therapy. However, there were no significant changes in the frequency of sleep attacks or in the severity of other symptoms. Those subjects who reported more severe symptoms and who had taken more naps daily before the study period received the most benefit from the treatment.
Distributed framework of downlink CoMP MU-MIMO transmission with adaptive mode switch and power allocation

The multiuser multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) technique has been under active consideration in recent years to increase the capacity of modern wireless system. Mean-while, the coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission/reception technique is adopted to mitigate the inter-cell interference (ICI) and enhance the performance of cell edge users. Hence, the CoMP technique can be applied jointly with the MU-MIMO technique (called CoMP MU-MIMO). However, in previous works, only edge users are concerned in precoding design, which causes the severe interference between edge users and center users. In this paper, a novel framework of downlink CoMP MU-MIMO transmission is proposed, which considers the joint optimization for the performance of edge users and center users in a distributed manner. In this framework, to decouple this joint optimization problem, the signal-to-leakage-plus-noise ratio (SLNR) criterion is employed. Then a channel-adaptive CoMP mode switching mechanism is established for the edge user to provide the Quality of Service (QoS). Moreover, to balance the effects of Rayleigh fading on different users, a channel-adaptive power allocation mechanism is also framed. With the total transmission power restrained, this framework can achieve a better tradeoff between edge users and center users than conventional joint transmission (JT) and coordinated beamforming (CB) methods, and result in the higher channel capacity with less inter-cell interactions.
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF FLAPPING WING AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE UNDER GUST WIND CONDITIONS

Studies about flapping wing aerodynamic performance have been only concentrated on motion under calm and clear atmospheric conditions. Small atmospheric disturbance such as gust wind could lead to flapping MAV (Micro Aerial Vehicle) great damage. In this study, using numerical method and employ FLUENT software as the flow solver, the motions of flapping wing are simplified and combined with the dynamic mesh technique. Thus we could calculate the 2-D flapping wing aerodynamic parameters such as lift and thrust in unsteady flow. Finally, the flapping wing behavior is simulated in gust wind conditions through existing gust wind profile, and results show that the lift did change with the wind speed. As wind speed becomes larger, the lift also varies violently and may lead to detrimental situations. Weather influence always exists, and must be included in MAV design consideration, thus current study represent a preliminary investigation in that aspect.
SINGLE-PHASE BRIDGE RECTIFIERS WITH VOLTAGE FILTERS

The line-commutated rectifiers provided with voltage filters have different operating features compared with the same rectifier topologies provided with current filters, even if the rectifier is uncontrolled (made with diodes) or phase-controlled (made with thyristors). For this reason it is necessary to have a separate study for these converters in combination with the voltage filters. The most used voltage filters are the pure capacitive filters (C) or the inductive-capacitive filters (L-C → filters of the second order). By their use it is expected to obtain a DC voltage with a better form factor to supply the DC loads which are sensitive at this parameter as the power electronics converters which make the DC/DC conversion (DC/DC converters) or those who make the DC/AC conversion (inverters). The power electronics equipments which provide output DC voltages, fixed or adjustable, regulated or unregulated, with or without electrical isolation from the input are named DC sources or DC voltage sources. The single-phase full-bridge rectifier with voltage filters can be included in the DC sources category. This type of rectifier is frequently used in low-power applications, below 1kW. The most used version is the single-phase full-bridge rectifier with diodes. The phase-controlled single-phase rectifiers, with thyristors, is rarely included in the DC sources because they can operate only in certain conditions, complying with some restrictions regarding the control, as we are going to see in the section 3 of the current paper. The result obtained with the help of this rectifier version is a filtered DC voltage with the possibility of adjusting between two closed limits.
The effect of auditory and visual signal availability on speech perception

We used Auditory/visual masks to investigate how the availability of speech signals governs speech perception. Stimuli were videos of a talker uttering sentences. The auditory mask consisted of speech shaped noise; the visual mask, a circular patch obscuring talker’s mouth region. Auditory signals were quantified by the glimpse proportion (GP); visual signals by visual entropy (VE), a measure based on visual change. Auditory stimuli mixed with the noise at -3 dB SNR were presented paired with the talker’s static or moving face (full vs. masked face) for speech identification. Speech identification was more accurate with the moving face (visual benefit); with greater benefit for the full than masked face. The GP correlation with speech identification scores was highest in the static face condition. The visual benefit was correlated with the VE but only when the latter correlated highly with mid-frequency speech energy of the auditory signal.
Putka – A Web Application in Support of Computer Programming Education

In many countries the interest in pre-university computer programming education has been changed during the last decade. In the Slovenian case, the education reform, demographic and other reasons produced a big decrease of interest among young people. The paper describes our approach to increasing the interest for computer programming by integrating a web based tool “Putka” into the education process. Putka is, at its core, an online judge. Two facts make it stand apart from similar applications, however. First, its design and many additional features are influenced by its heavy use in support during long-term programming classes rather than only one-off competitions. Second, while its use in the classroom was the primary motivation for developing Putka, it has also hosted numerous competitions with varying rules. Out of necessity, this multifaceted nature bore what we believe to be a very flexible technical design.
The Effects of Dietary Mannanoligosaccharides on Cecal Parameters and the Concentrations of Enteric Bacteria in the Ceca of Salmonella-Challenged Broiler Chicks 1

The ability of different enteric pathogens and coliforms to trigger agglutination of yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, NCYC 1026) and a yeast cell wall preparation (MOS) was examined. Five of seven strains of Escherichia coli and 7 of 10 strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella enteritidis agglutinated MOS and Sac. cerevisiae cells. Strains of Salmonella choleraesuis, Salmonella pullorum, and Campylobacter did not lead to agglutination. Two strains that agglutinated MOS (S. typhimurium 29E and Salmonella dublin) and one nonagglutinating strain (S. typhimurium 27A) were selected as challenge organisms for in vivo studies in chicks under controlled con-
Does compulsive behavior in Anorexia Nervosa resemble an addiction? A qualitative investigation

The characteristic relentless self-starvation behavior seen in Anorexia Nervosa (AN) has been described as evidence of compulsivity, with increasing suggestion of parallels with addictive behavior. This study used a thematic qualitative analysis to investigate the parallels between compulsive behavior in AN and Substance Use Disorders (SUD). Forty individuals currently suffering from AN completed an online questionnaire reflecting on their experience of compulsive behavior in AN. Eight main themes emerged from thematic qualitative analysis; compulsivity as central to AN, impaired control, escalating compulsions, emotional triggers, negative reactions, detrimental continuation of behavior, functional impairment, and role in recovery. These results suggested that individuals with AN view the compulsive nature of their behavior as central to the maintenance of their disorder, and as a significant barrier to recovery. The themes that emerged also showed parallels with the DSM-V criteria for SUDs, mapping onto the four groups of criteria (impaired control, social impairment, risky use of substance, pharmacological criteria). These results emphasize the need for further research to explore the possible parallels in behavioral and neural underpinnings of compulsivity in AN and SUDs, which may inform novel treatment avenues for AN.
EXPLANATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR AMONG NURSES OF THE HOSPITALS OF TORBAT-E HEYDARIEH CITY

The purpose of this study is to review the relationship between personality dimensions and organizational citizenship behavior. Statistical population of the research includes the hospital nurses of Torbat Heydarieh city. Among the mentioned statistical population, according to the available sampling method, 122 of the employees were chosen as the research sample and filled out the personality dimensions and citizenship behavior questionnaire of Podskoff and McKenzie. Durability of the questionnaires has been calculated by using the Cronbach alpha method. Analysis of the extracted data was done through inferential statistics method. Data was analyzed by using the Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariable regression and all of the analyses were done in the frame of SPSS software. The findings show that there is a positive correlation between extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism with organizational citizenship behavior.
Rare events, splitting, and quasi-Monte Carlo

In the context of rare-event simulation, splitting and importance sampling (IS) are the primary approaches to make important rare events happen more frequently in a simulation and yet recover an unbiased estimator of the target performance measure, with much smaller variance than a straightforward Monte Carlo (MC) estimator. Randomized quasi-Monte Carlo (RQMC) is another class of methods for reducing the noise of simulation estimators, by sampling more evenly than with standard MC. It typically works well for simulations that depend mostly on very few random numbers. In splitting and IS, on the other hand, we often simulate Markov chains whose sample paths are a function of a long sequence of independent random numbers generated during the simulation. In this article, we show that RQMC can be used jointly with splitting and/or IS to construct better estimators than those obtained by either of these methods alone. We do that in a setting where the goal is to estimate the probability of reaching B before reaching (or returning to) A when starting A from a distinguished state not in B, where A and B are two disjoint subsets of the state space, and B is very rarely reached. This problem has several practical applications. The article is in fact a two-in-one: the first part provides a guided tour of splitting techniques, introducing along the way some improvements in the implementation of multilevel splitting. At the end of the article, we also give examples of situations where splitting is not effective. For these examples, we compare different ways of applying IS and combining it with RQMC.
Changing pattern of respiratory tuberculosis in the UK in adult patients from the Indian subcontinent.

BACKGROUND: Clinical observations over a 12 year period have suggested a changing pattern of adult respiratory tuberculosis in patients from the Indian subcontinent in two districts of the United Kingdom with a high incidence of tuberculosis. METHODS: Details of all patients for the period 1981-92 residing in the Newham and Blackburn districts aged 15 and over whose ethnic origin was from the Indian subcontinent (n = 1308) were analysed by stepwise logistic regression to determine the relationship between sputum smear positivity, sputum culture positivity, and isolated mediastinal lymphadenopathy, year of notification, age, sex, ethnic group (Indian or Pakistani), and whether the patient had visited the Indian subcontinent within the last three years. RESULTS: The proportion of cases who were smear positive rose over the 12 years of the study, as did the proportion of culture positive cases. The proportion with isolated mediastinal lymphadenopathy fell. These changes took place in both districts. They were not explained by demographic changes in age, sex, or ethnic group, nor was there evidence that smear and culture positivity increased in those who had recently visited India or Pakistan. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of tuberculosis in adult patients originating from the Indian subcontinent has altered over time towards that seen in the white population in the UK.
Antimicrobial Resistance of Bacteria in Food

Antibiotics are a major tool utilized by the healthcare industry to fight bacterial infections; however, bacteria are highly adaptable organisms, able develop resistance to antibiotics. Consequently, decades of antibiotic use, or rather misuse, have resulted in bacterial resistance to many modern antibiotics. This resistance can cause significant danger and suffering for many people with common bacterial infections, which were once easily treatable with this type of medication [1]. Antibiotics are widely used in human and veterinary medicine as well as in agriculture for the treatment of infections, to improve growth and for animal prophylaxis, which can generate a selection of multiresistant bacteria. However, is it not fully understood how widespread antibiotic resistant bacteria are in agricultural settings. The lack of such surveillance data is especially evident in dairy farm environments.
In vivo and in vitro characterizations of three 99mTc-labeled monoclonal antibody G250 preparations.

UNLABELLED In previous clinical studies, excellent visualization of tumor lesions has been observed with 131I-labeled monoclonal antibody (mAb) G250 in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In several cases, 131I-cG250 immunoscintigraphy disclosed tumor lesions that were not visualized by radiography or CT. To improve image quality, we aimed to develop a 99mTc-labeled mAb G250 preparation for radioimmunodetection of RCC. We studied in vitro stability, biodistribution and imaging potential of three 99mTc-labeled G250 preparations in nude mice with subcutaneous RCC xenografts.125I-G250 and the nonspecific mAb 131I-MN14 were used as control antibodies. METHODS The mAb G250 was labeled with 99mTc according to three methods using: (a) S-hydrazinonicotinamide (HYNIC), (b) S-benzoylmercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) and (c) a direct labeling method (Schwarz method). The stability of all preparations was tested in serum at 37 degrees C during 48 h. In addition, diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, cysteine and glutathione challenge assays were performed. RESULTS All preparations showed good stability in serum during the 48-h incubation period. 99mTc-G250 (Schwarz) showed release of the radiolabel at a 100-fold or higher molar excess of cysteine and at a 10,000-fold or higher molar excess of glutathione. 99mTc-MAG3-G250 showed release of the radiolabel at a 10,000-fold molar excess of cysteine. 99mTc-HYNIC-G250 was stable under all conditions. Tumors were clearly visualized with all preparations. 99mTc-G250 (Schwarz) showed significantly lower blood levels (3.8 %ID/g) compared with all other preparations (11.2, 13.4 and 13.4 %ID/g for 99mTc-HYNIC-G250, 99mTc-MAG3-G250 and 125I-G250, respectively, 48 h postinjection). At 48-h postinjection, mean tumor uptake was very high with all mAb G250 preparations: 92.4 (99mTc-HYNIC-G250), 125.9 (99mTc-MAG3-G250), 29.4 (99mTc-G250 Schwarz) and 75.4 (125I-G250) %ID/g. Mean tumor uptake of the nonspecific 131I-MN14 mAb was 6.6 %ID/g. CONCLUSION In this study, 99mTc-HYNIC-G250 showed excellent in vitro stability and tumor targeting. Moreover, this preparation could be labeled with high efficiency (>95%) at room temperature within 15 min. Therefore, 99mTc-HYNIC-G250 seems to be an ideal candidate for radioimmunodetection of RCC.
An acoustic model adaptation using HMM-based speech synthesis

Recently, personal digital assistants like cellular phones are shifting to the IP terminal. The encoding-decoding process utilized for transmitting over IP networks deteriorates the quality of the speech data. This deterioration causes degradation in speech recognition performance. Acoustic model adaptations could improve recognition performance. However, the current adaptation methods usually require a large amount of adaptation data. A novel adaptation method using speech synthesis based on HMM (hidden Markov model) is proposed. This method does not require speech data for adaptation because speech data is generated by speech synthesis from the acoustic model. Experimental results on G.723. 1 coded speech recognition show that the proposed method improves speech recognition performance. A relative improvement in word accuracy of approximately 2% was observed.
Perceptual Modalities: Modes of Presentation or Modes of Interaction?

Perceptual modalities have been traditionally considered the product of dedicated biological systems producing information for higher cognitive processing. Psychological and neuropsychological evidence is offered which undermines this point of view and an alternative account of modality from the enactive approach to understanding cognition is suggested. Under this view, a perceptual modality is a stable form of perception which is structured not just by the biological sensitivities of the agent, but by their goals and the set of skills or expertise which they are deploying at a given time. Such a view suggests that there is no such thing as an experience that is purely visual, auditory, or otherwise modal and that our attempts to understand consciousness and the mind must be conducted within a framework that provides an account of embodied, goal-directed adaptive coping with the world.
Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression and Vulnerability to Rupture: Angiogenesis as a Source of Intraplaque Hemorrhage

Observational studies of necrotic core progression identify intraplaque hemorrhage as a critical factor in atherosclerotic plaque growth and destabilization. The rapid accumulation of erythrocyte membranes causes an abrupt change in plaque substrate characterized by increased free cholesterol within the lipid core and excessive macrophage infiltration. Neoangiogenesis is associated closely with plaque progression, and microvascular incompetence is a likely source of intraplaque hemorrhage. Intimal neovascularization is predominantly thought to arise from the adventitia, where there are a plethora of pre-existing vasa vasorum. In lesions that have early necrotic cores, the majority of vessels invading from the adventitia occur at specific sites of medial wall disruption. A breech in the medial wall likely facilitates the rapid in-growth of microvessels from the adventitia, and exposure to an atherosclerotic environment stimulates abnormal vascular development characterized by disorganized branching and immature endothelial tubes with “leaky” imperfect linings. This network of immature blood vessels is a viable source of intraplaque hemorrhage providing erythrocyte-derived phospholipids and free cholesterol. The rapid change in plaque substrate caused by the excessive accumulation of erythrocytes may promote the transition from a stable to an unstable lesion. This review discusses the potential role of intraplaque vasa vasorum in lesion instability as it relates to plaque rupture.