Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Two Types of Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Their Different Contributions to Neovasculogenesis

Objective—Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) in one study group is not the same as EPC in other investigators, suggesting that EPC is not a single type of cell population. In this study, we tried to demonstrate the heterogeneity of EPC. Methods and Results—We cultured total mononuclear cells from human peripheral blood to get two types of EPC sequentially from the same donors. We called them early EPC and late EPC. Early EPC with spindle shape showed peak growth at 2 to 3 weeks and died at 4 weeks, whereas late EPC with cobblestone shape appeared late at 2 to 3 weeks, showed exponential growth at 4 to 8 weeks, and lived up to 12 weeks. Late EPC was different from early EPC in the expression of VE-cadherin, Flt-1, KDR, and CD45. Late EPC produced more nitric oxide, incorporated more readily into human umbilical vein endothelial cells monolayer, and formed capillary tube better than early EPC. Early EPC secreted angiogenic cytokines (vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin 8) more so than late EPC during culture in vitro. Both types of EPC showed comparable in vivo vasculogenic capacity. Conclusions—We found two types of EPC from a source of adult peripheral blood that might have different roles in neovasculogenesis based on the identified differences.
Acceleration Performance of Individual European Sea Bass Dicentrarchus labrax Measured with a Sprint Performance Chamber: Comparison with High-Speed Cinematography and Correlates with Ecological Performance*

Locomotor performance can influence the ecological and evolutionary success of a species. For fish, favorable outcomes of predator-prey encounters are often presumably due to robust acceleration ability. Although escape-response or “fast-start” studies utilizing high-speed cinematography are prevalent, little is known about the contribution of relative acceleration performance to ecological or evolutionary success in a species. This dearth of knowledge may be due to the time-consuming nature of analyzing film, which imposes a practical limit on sample sizes. Herein, we present a high-throughput potential alternative for measuring fish acceleration performance using a sprint performance chamber (SPC). The acceleration performance of a large number of juvenile European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from two populations was analyzed. Animals from both hatchery and natural ontogenies were assessed, and animals of known acceleration ability had their ecological performance measured in a mesocosm environment. Individuals from one population also had their acceleration performance assessed by both high-speed cinematography and an SPC. Acceleration performance measured in an SPC was lower than that measured by classical high-speed video techniques. However, short-term repeatability and interindividual variation of acceleration performance were similar between the two techniques, and the SPC recorded higher sprint swimming velocities. Wild fish were quicker to accelerate in an SPC and had significantly greater accelerations than all groups of hatchery-raised fish. Acceleration performance had no significant effect on ecological performance (as assessed through animal growth and survival in the mesocosms). However, it is worth noting that wild animals did survive predation in the mesocosm better than farmed ones. Moreover, the hatchery-originated fish that survived the mesocosm experiment, when no predators were present, displayed significantly increased acceleration performance during their 6 mo in the mesocosm; this performance was found to be inversely proportional to growth rate.
Disk scheduling sinewave algorithm for minimizing the average jump rate of a hard drive over its lifetime

Disk scheduling plays an important role in determining the performance of a computer system. The amount of time the hard drive spends in seeking tracks directly decides the read-write speed for that particular batch. Which in turn decides how fast the programs written for that system respond, increasing the overall system storage and retrieval performance benchmark The proposed disk scheduling algorithm reduces the average head movements over the disk drive's lifetime by following a sinewave pattern around the middlemost track. Most disk scheduling algorithms follow a pattern consisting of a phase in which the head has to make a long jump across the cylinders, or an end to end jump like the ‘look’ algorithm. Instead, the proposed disk scheduling algorithm's objective is to reduce the effect mentioned above, thus improving the motion consistency of the read-write head. Considering the acceleration and deceleration forces applied on the head by the actuator, the sinewave algorithm may prove to reduce the actuator's stress, thus improving the life expectancy of the hard drive.
Sequent Calculus and Equational Programming

Proof assistants and programming languages based on type theories usually come in two flavours: one is based on the standard natural deduction presentation of type theory and involves eliminators, while the other provides a syntax in equational style. We show here that the equational approach corresponds to the use of a focused presentation of a type theory expressed as a sequent calculus. A typed functional language is presented, based on a sequent calculus, that we relate to the syntax and internal language of Agda. In particular, we discuss the use of patterns and case splittings, as well as rules implementing inductive reasoning and dependent products and sums.
Microsyntactic Phenomena as a Computational Linguistics Issue

Microsyntactic linguistic units, such as syntactic idioms and non-standard syntactic constructions, are poorly represented in linguistic resources, mostly because the former are elements occupying an intermediate position between the lexicon and the grammar and the latter are too specific to be routinely tackled by general grammars. Consequently, many such units produce substantial gaps in systems intended to solve sophisticated computational linguistics tasks, such as parsing, deep semantic analysis, question answering, machine translation, or text generation. They also present obstacles for applying advanced techniques to these tasks, such as machine learning. The paper discusses an approach aimed at bridging such gaps, focusing on the development of monolingual and multilingual corpora where microsyntactic units are to be tagged.
Studies on the prognostic test for uterine torsion in Surti buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

Fifty-five female buffaloes suffering from uterine torsion were presented to the clinic of Veterinary Gynaecology and Obstetrics, CVAS, Navania, Udaipur, Rajasthan for treatment. Three times blood samples were obtained from 55 buffaloes with uterine torsion (at the time of presentation of the animal, 1 h and 24 h after fetal delivery) and 10 healthy buffaloes to investigate the relationship between concentrations of aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Bilirubin, serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). The aim of this study was to investigate related alterations in these blood constituents. There were significant ( p <0.01) increases in AST, ALT, Bilirubin, serum creatinine and BUN in the affected buffaloes, possibly due to high uterine tissue damage. It may be inferred that torsion may lead to imbalance in biochemical profiles that affect the proper functioning of the uterine musculature. Buffaloes subjected to uterine torsion are associated with hepatic and renal dysfunction. In conclusion, concentration of above parameters can be used as a prognostic indicator for the occurrence of uterine torsion in buffaloes.
Using simulation to evaluate consistency protocols for replicated data

In a distributed system, data are often replicated for protection against site failures and network partitions. When data are replicated at several sites, a consistency control policy must be chosen to ensure a consistent view of the data and maintain the appearance that there is only a single replica of the data. The view presented to the user must remain consistent even in the presence of site failures and network partitions. Sites recovering from a failure must present the data stored at that site in such a way that it is consistent with the global view of the data. Several consistency control protocols have been proposed, and the most promising are variants of available copy schemes and schemes based on quorum consensus. Costs or space limitations may make it impossible to replicate a data object at enough sites to guarantee an acceptable level of fault tolerance. If new replicas of a data object can be created faster than a system failure can be repaired, then better reliability can be achieved by creating new replicas on other sites in response to site failures. This technique, known as regeneration, approximates the protection provided by additional replicas with only a modest increase in storage costs. The degree of fault tolerance achieved depends on both the degree of data redundancy and on the consistency protocol that is used to manage the object. The most common measures of fault tolerance include reliability, which is the probability that a replicated data object will remain continuously available over a given time period, and availability, which is the steady-state
A critical discourse analysis of some selected 2019 Nigerian presidential election campaign advertisements on social media

Political campaign advertisements are one of the mediums where the electorates hope to get the right information to help them make a choice before an election. The study explored the lexico-syntactic patterns, discourse strategies and how they were used to create ideologies in the 2019 Presidential campaign advertisements. The study adopts the theoretical framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) by Van Dijk called socio-cognitive model and his (2000) model on principles that express ideological stances. Five campaign advertisements were purposively selected for analysis from the following social media platforms: Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and also the following media outlets punch.com, nairaland.com, to mention but a few. The campaign advertisements chosen featured the two major candidates, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and Muhamadu Buhari of the APC (All Progressives Congress) in the 2019 Presidential elections. The study revealed that the campaign advertisements chosen used discourse markers that emphasized ideologies like; APC is a haven for corrupt Nigerians, Atiku is a thief, Buhari and Atiku do not care about the poor, Buhari is incorruptible, are among other ideologies that the campaign advertisements tried to portray. The study submits that discourse was negative especially in the presentation of the ‘out group’ (the political opponents) and that the ideology of the text creators was a very strong force in all the texts analyzed. Therefore, the electorates need to be more critical in reading these presidential campaign advertisements before forming their opinions and taking actions, in order to deepen our democracy.
Measurement-based behavioral model under mismatched conditions: a new and easy approach for an accurate model

Presently source- and load-pull techniques are used to characterize amplifiers under different impedance conditions and to find the optimal source and load matching circuitry. Because the tuning process is cumbersome, the measurement setups have been automated to collect power amplifier characteristics and to analyze this data off-line. Some limited capabilities do exist to couple load-pull data into simulators. This paper presents a straightforward approach, "based on LSNA technology", to extract measurement-based behavioral models of power amplifiers or any active component under mismatched conditions and use these models in commercially available simulators. This approach overcomes the drawbacks of other existing state of the art solutions.
An upper bound on the convergence time for distributed binary consensus

The problem addressed in this paper is the analysis of a distributed consensus algorithm for arbitrary networks, proposed by Bénézit et al. In the initial setting, each node in the network has one of two possible states (“yes” or “no”). Nodes can update their states by communicating with their neighbors via a 2-bit message in an asynchronous clock setting. Eventually, all nodes reach consensus on the majority states. We use the theory of electric networks, random walks, and couplings of Markov chains to derive an O(N4 log N) upper bound for the expected convergence time on an arbitrary graph of size N.
Predator-specific camouflage in chameleons

A crucial problem for most animals is how to deal with multiple types of predator, which differ in their sensory capabilities and methods of prey detection. For animals capable of rapid colour change, one potential strategy is to change their appearance in relation to the threat posed by different predators. Here, we show that the dwarf chameleon, Bradypodion taeniabronchum, exhibits different colour responses to two predators that differ in their visual capabilities. Using a model of animal colour perception to gain a ‘predator's eye view’, we show that chameleons showed better background colour matching in response to birds than snakes, yet they appear significantly more camouflaged to the snake visual system because snakes have poorer colour discrimination.
Performance Prediction for Embedded Systems

In this paper, we discuss different approaches to performance prediction of embedded systems. We distinguish two categories of prediction models depending on the system type. First we consider prediction models for hard real-time systems. These are systems whose correctness depends on the ability to meet all deadlines. Therefore, methods to compute the worst case execution time of each process are required. Then the worst case execution times are used in combination with scheduling algorithms to proof the feasibility of the system on a given set of processors. Second we consider prediction models for soft real-time systems whose deadlines can be missed occasionally. Stochastic approaches which determine the probability of meeting a deadline are used in this case. We discuss these approaches with an example based on Stochastic Automaton Networks. Finally, we discuss the applicability of performance prediction models for embedded systems on general software systems.
Diseño de un sistema compacto de potabilización de agua para consumo humano en la granja la fortaleza ubicada en el municipio de Melgar- Tolima

This degree work contains the design of a compact water purification system for Granja La Fortaleza, located in the municipality of Melgar - Tolima. The system is developed in a single module integrating the processes of coagulation - flocculation and sedimentation, followed by filtration and disinfection processes. It was sized considering the parameters required by the RAS 2000 Title C and Resolution 2115 of 2007 regarding the quality of drinking water. Laboratory tests were conducted to determine some design parameters and ensure the quality of treated water. The results indicate that the raw water drawn from artesian well, is suitable for drinking, also, that the construction of compact system is feasible in terms of volume occupied and operating costs required.
Force control of robot floating on the water utilizing vehicle restoring force

This paper presents a force control strategy for a robot floating on the water. The central strategy reduces the number of vehicle actuators required for the force control by utilizing the restoring force/moment applied to the vehicle. In this research, the relationship between thruster outputs and the contact force/moment at the endpoint is derived taking the restoring force into account, and the range of the realizable contact force is calculated using this relationship. Moreover, a simulator of the vehicle motion is developed and the results of experiment by means of this simulator illustrate the validity of the proposed algorithm.
Rewriting Aggregate Queries using Description Logic

This paper presents an application of a DL reasoner to the optimization of an object-relational query language. Queries containing aggregate functions are difficult to optimize because care must be taken to guarantee that the output value of the aggregate function is not affected. We present a mapping from an objectrelational aggregate query to a DL implication problem such that satisfaction of the implication is a sufficient condition for the correctness of a particular logical rewrite rule with respect to a given schema.
Perkembangan Tingkat Pengembalian Investasi Pendidikan Antar-Provinsi: Indonesia Family Life Survey 1993–2014

Penelitian ini melihat perkembangan dari tingkat pengembalian investasi pendidikan (return to education) dengan data Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS). Penelitian ini menggunakan Model Mincer untuk menentukan tingkat pengembalian investasi pendidikan. Tingkat pengembalian investasi pendidikan menurun dari tahun 1993 sampai 2014. Penurunan tingkat pengembalian investasi pendidikan untuk pria lebih besar dari pada wanita. Hasil tingkat pengembalian investasi pendidikan bervariasi antar-provinsi dan jenis kelamin, namun pada umumnya nilai return pada wanita lebih besar daripada pria. Pengaruh dari pengalaman kerja potensial tidak berbeda dari tahun 1993 sampai 1997, tetapi mulai meningkat di tahun 2000 dan 2014.
A symbiotic development strategy for farm areas and townships in Heilongjiang, China

This study focuses on the further well-coordinated development of farms and towns in Heilongjiang, China. In this research paper, we identified coordination problems and their causes through an analysis of the present status of farms and towns. For this purpose, a research framework was constructed using symbiosis theory, and a symbiotic development strategy was proposed to address the integration of the symbiotic unit, the optimization of the symbiotic interface, the selection of the symbiotic mode and the construction of the symbiotic environment.
Diagnostic utility of brain activity flow patterns analysis in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Background A previous small study suggested that Brain Network Activation (BNA), a novel ERP-based brain network analysis, may have diagnostic utility in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study we examined the diagnostic capability of a new advanced version of the BNA methodology on a larger population of adults with and without ADHD. Method Subjects were unmedicated right-handed 18- to 55-year-old adults of both sexes with and without a DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD. We collected EEG while the subjects were performing a response inhibition task (Go/NoGo) and then applied a spatio-temporal Brain Network Activation (BNA) analysis of the EEG data. This analysis produced a display of qualitative measures of brain states (BNA scores) providing information on cortical connectivity. This complex set of scores was then fed into a machine learning algorithm. Results The BNA analysis of the EEG data recorded during the Go/NoGo task demonstrated a high discriminative capacity between ADHD patients and controls (AUC = 0.92, specificity = 0.95, sensitivity = 0.86 for the Go condition; AUC = 0.84, specificity = 0.91, sensitivity = 0.76 for the NoGo condition). Conclusions BNA methodology can help differentiate between ADHD and healthy controls based on functional brain connectivity. The data support the utility of the tool to augment clinical examinations by objective evaluation of electrophysiological changes associated with ADHD. Results also support a network-based approach to the study of ADHD.
Grid infrastructures for developing mammography CAD systems

This paper presents a set of technologies developed to exploit Grid infrastructures for breast cancer CAD, that include (1) federated repositories of mammography images and clinical data over Grid storage, (2) a workstation for mammography image analysis and diagnosis and (3) a framework for data analysis and training machine learning classifiers over Grid computing power specially tuned for medical image based data. An experimental mammography digital repository of approximately 300 mammograms from the MIAS database was created and classifiers were built achieving a 0.85 average area under the ROC curve in a dataset of 100 selected mammograms with representative pathological lesions and normal cases. Similar results were achieved with classifiers built for the UCI Breast Cancer Wisconsin dataset (699 features vectors). Now these technologies are being validated in a real medical environment at the Faculty of Medicine in Porto University after a process of integrating the tools within the clinicians workflows and IT systems.
Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) as a Probe for Supersonic Hydrogen-Fuel/Air Mixing

The dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) method was used to measure temperature and the absolute mole fractions of N2, O2 and H2 in a supersonic non-reacting fuel-air mixing experiment. Experiments were conducted in NASA Langley Research Center's Direct Connect Supersonic Combustion Test Facility. Under normal operation of this facility, hydrogen and air burn to increase the enthalpy of the test gas and O2 is added to simulate air. This gas is expanded through a Mach 2 nozzle and into a combustor model where fuel is then injected, mixes and burns. In the present experiment the O2 of the test gas is replaced by N2. The lack of oxidizer inhibited combustion of the injected H2 fuel jet allowing the fuel / air mixing process to be studied. CARS measurements were performed 427 mm downstream of the nozzle exit and 260 mm downstream of the fuel injector. Maps were obtained of the mean temperature, as well as the N2, O2 and H2 mean mole fraction fields. A map of mean H2O vapor mole fraction was also inferred from these measurements. Correlations between different measured parameters and their fluctuations are presented. The CARS measurements are compared with a preliminary computational prediction of the flow.
Meta-Analysis of Gene Expression Profiles in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Reveals Involved Pathways

Background: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a unique subtype of acute leukemia. APL is a curable disease; however, drug resistance, early mortality, disease relapse and treatment-related complications remain challenges in APL patient management. One issue underlying these challenges is that the molecular mechanisms of the disease are not sufficiently understood. Materials and Methods: In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of gene expression profiles derived from microarray experiments and explored the background of disease by functional and pathway analysis. Results: Our analysis revealed a gene signature with 406 genes that are up or down-regulated in APL. The pathway analysis determined that MAPK pathway and its involved elements such as JUN gene and AP-1 play important roles in APL pathogenesis along with insulin-like growth factor–binding protein-7. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis could be useful for developing more effective therapy strategies and new targets for diagnosis and drugs.