Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improvement of sperm motility by short-interval sequential ejaculation in oligoasthenozoospermic patients

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a consecutive second ejaculate, i.e, to determine if it contains an equal, or even higher, number of motile sperm, and whether it can improve the fertilization rate in IVF-ET treatment. Material and methods: From July 1996 through April 2007, 32 cycles in 22 couples, who had previously exhibited oligoasthenozoospermia, were recruited in this study. The first ejaculate was obtained after 3-5 days following sexual ejaculate abstinence. The second ejaculate was obtained 30-60 min after the first one. Several parameters concerning sperm quality and fertilization rate in IVF were compared between the first and second ejaculation. Results: The mean duration between the first and second ejaculation was 34.2 min (mean ± SEM). The second ejaculate showed a significant reduction in the volume of ejaculate. The sperm motility (35.2±13.3) and motile sperm concentration (5.4±7.3) of the second ejaculate were significantly higher than those of the first (24.3±13.2 and 2.2±1.8, respectively; P<0.05). The fertilization rate of sperm from the second ejaculate (53.3%) was significantly higher than that from the first one (28.9%, P<0.05), but cleavage rates and embryo scores were similar. Conclusions: Therefore, this sequential ejaculation might be useful for treatment of male infertility at these hospital and clinics.
Inequality Distribution of Income and Health in Selected Developing Countries

The health is associated with economic situation complex, safe people have more learning power, earning income is easier for them and more benefit give to society and able to take care of children and elderly people and they live the safer from others. This study is descriptive – analytic and it analyzes the effect of inequality distribution of income and control variables on the health indicators (life expectancy and total fertility rate) for a sample 22 of developing countries during terms (1995-2008) with using panel data and the software Eviews 7. The results indicate that inequality distribution of income has adversely effect on life expectancy and a significant positive effect on total fertility rate. Also, the per capita income, education and saving that are used as control variables and by taking constant income level, theses have a positive effect on life expectancy and a significant negative effect on total fertility rate.
10 Gb/s single-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with large aperture and oxygen implantation

High-speed single transverse mode 850 nm vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) with large emission aperture with a diameter of 8 µm were fabricated. These VCSELs exhibit good performance with threshold currents of 1.5 mA, a single transverse mode emission within the full operational range and a maximum output power of 3.8 mW. The large aperture is advantageous to these VCSELs with a smaller dynamic resistance (60 Ω) than that of conventional single-mode VCSEL. These single-mode VCSELs also demonstrate superior high-speed performance up to 10 Gb s−1.
Allophony and Allomorphy Cue Phonological Acquisition: Evidence from the European Portuguese vowel system*

The acquisition of morphophonological alternations is hardly investigated in phonology (Macken 1995, Bernhardt & Stemberger 1998, Hayes 2004, Kerkhoff 2004). Learnability models of phonological alternations often assume that allophonic variation is easy to learn, as it usually follows from the phonology of the language (Peperkamp & Dupoux 2002, Hayes 2004). On the other hand, these models assume that allomorphic variation is acquired late and learners often show paradigm uniformity at the early stages of development. In our study of longitudinal data of seven European Portuguese children, aged between 0;11 and 3;7, we investigate the acquisition vowel alternations and show that children start acquiring those very early. In particular, children even seem to distinguish vowels in neutralized context to a large extent. We argue that children acquire the abstract phonological vowel system of European Portuguese very early, precisely because of the large amount of systematic variation in the input. We will provide empirical evidence for the claim that the phonological processes in the language help children to set up the abstract vowel system of European Portuguese.
Exploring the Salience of Intergenerational Trauma among Children and Grandchildren of Victims of Apartheid-Era Gross Human Rights Violations

Abstract Apartheid, as a systemised and institutionalised process of race-based discrimination, exploitation and oppression, left in its wake a deeply traumatised society. Many feel that this collective trauma has not been sufficiently addressed and that this has rendered the peace achieved after Apartheid’s demise increasingly fragile. In addition to this, we are reminded that traumatic memories affect not only those who have personally experienced conflict and violence, but also future generations through what is known as intergenerational transmission of trauma. This paper explores the salience of intergenerational trauma in South Africa. At a conceptual level, it is framed by the life course perspective and historical trauma theory. Methodologically, a hermeneutic phenomenological approach was utilised. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 children and grandchildren (females = 10, males = 10) of victims of Apartheid-era gross human rights violations. The interview data was subjected to an interpretative analytical process that yielded a number of themes which provide support for the salience of intergenerational trauma amongst descendants of victims of Apartheid-era gross human rights violations. These themes – secondary traumatisation, socio-economic and material impact, and sense of powerlessness and helplessness – are discussed along with their possible implications, and foci for further research pointed to.
Peripheral Bone Mineral Density and Bone Turnover in Postmenopausal Women with Type 2 Diabetes

Objective: Several studies have suggested that diabetes affects Bone Mineral Density (BMD). In this study, we investigated the effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on BMD and the rate of bone turnover in postmenopausal women. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, in which we measured peripheral bone density and markers of bone turnover in 60 postmenopausal women with T2DM and 48 age, alcohol intake and physical activity - matched control postmenopausal women without diabetes. Results: BMD was significantly greater in subjects with T2DM than controls (0.51 gm/cm2 vs. 0.47 gm/cm2, p<0.01). Women with T2DM also had higher Body Mass Index (BMI) than the control group (mean: 33.7 kg/m2 vs. 26.7 kg/m2, p<0.0001). The difference in BMD between the two groups became non-significant after adjusting for the effect of BMI by multiple regression analysis (p=0.091). Osteocalcin, a marker of bone formation and three markers of bone resorption (cross-linked-N-telopeptides [NTX], C-telopeptides of type 1 collagen [CTX], and Helical peptide) were significantly reduced in T2DM compared with controls. However, the difference in the three bone resorption markers also became insignificant after adjusting for BMI. Conclusion: This study has shown that postmenopausal women with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus apparently have higher BMD and slow bone turnover when compared with matched controls. However, the difference in BMD between the two groups became non-significant after adjusting for the effect of BMI. This study therefore does not provide evidence that T2DM per se affects bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.
Hilbert series of the finite dimensional generalized Hecke algebras

It is known from the early results of Coxeter that the generalized Hecke algebras $H(Q_{m},3)$, $m\in\{2,3,4,5\}$, are finite dimensional. In this paper we compute the Hilbert series of these finite-type group algebras.
Ultra-sensitive Electrochemical Detection of E. coli Using Nano-porous Alumina Membrane

A combinational method has been developed for ultra-sensitive detection of E. coli. The method combined biological, nano-fabrication and electrochemical techniques to achieve highly specific and ultra-sensitive detection of bacterial pathogen. E. coli K12 was used as the target bio-agent to demonstrate the detection model. Nano-porous alumina membrane was chosen as filtration substrate to separate E. coli from the test samples because of their desirable physical properties. The surface of the membrane was blocked and not to bind to protein molecules. Bacterophage M13 was genetically modified with a histag on its minor coat protein III. This phage was used to infect its specific bacterial host E. coli K12 and replicated inside of the host. The nano-porous alumina membrane was used to filter exceeded phages and separate infected E.coli from the test sample. The replication time of bacterophage M13 was investigated. After a short period of culture, the replicated bacterophage was released from the host cell. The phage was increased 10 2 -10 5 fold in 2 -4 hrs. These baterophage were captured by antihistag antibody immobilized on the detection electrode and detected electrochemically. Various surface modification approaches on the detection electrode were tested to improve the efficiency of target recognition and detection sensitivity. This combinational method can be applied to the detection of various pathogenic bacteria.
A multi-layered energy consumption model for smart wireless acoustic sensor networks

Smart sensing is expected to become a pervasive technology in smart cities and environments of the near future. These services are improving their capabilities due to integrated devices shrinking in size while maintaining their computational power, which can run diverse Machine Learning algorithms and achieve high performance in various data-processing tasks. One attractive sensor modality to be used for smart sensing are acoustic sensors, which can convey highly informative data while keeping a moderate energy consumption. Unfortunately, the energy budget of current wireless sensor networks is usually not enough to support the requirements of standard microphones. Therefore, energy efficiency needs to be increased at all layers --- sensing, signal processing and communication --- in order to bring wireless smart acoustic sensors into the market. To help to attain this goal, this paper introduces WASN-EM: an energy consumption model for wireless acoustic sensors networks (WASN), whose aim is to aid in the development of novel techniques to increase the energy-efficient of smart wireless acoustic sensors. This model provides a first step of exploration prior to custom design of a smart wireless acoustic sensor, and also can be used to compare the energy consumption of different protocols.
The Impact of Quantitative Easing on Profitability of the U.S. Banking Industry

The severity of the 2007 financial crisis led to the implementation of quantitative easing in many countries, including the US. Even though there have been various studies on the impact of quantitative easing, research on quantitative easing and bank profitability is still limited. This paper tries to explore this novel aspect of quantitative easing via a model of profitability of banking industry. Using aggregate quarterly data from 1992Q4 to 2013Q4, this paper provides evidence that asset purchase and bank profitability are negatively correlated. This implies that quantitative easing, by purchasing a massive amount of assets, would drive down the profitability of the US banking sector. The result is shown to survive many robustness checks. However, due to some potential problems arising from the method used in this paper, further research should be carried out to confirm the exact effect of quantitative easing on bank profitability.
2 Copula Tests under Simple Hypotheses

We present a family of smooth tests for the goodness of fit of semiparametric multivariate copula models. The proposed tests are distribution free and can be easily implemented. They are diagnostic and constructive in the sense that when a null distribution is rejected, the test provides useful pointers to alternative copula distributions. We then propose a method of copula density construction, which can be viewed as a multivariate extension of Efron and Tibshirani (1996). We further generalize our methods to dynamic copula models of Chen and Fan (2006). We report extensive Monte Carlo simulations and three empirical examples to illustrate the effectiveness and usefulness of our method.
Scaling up close-range surveys, a challenge for the generalization of as-built data in industrial applications

As-built CAD data reconstructed from Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) data are used for more than two decades by Electricite de France (EDF) to prepare maintenance operations in its facilities. But today, the big picture is renewed: "as-built virtual reality" must address a huge scale-up to provide data to an increasing number of applications. In this paper, we first present a wide multi-sensor multi-purpose scanning campaign performed in a 10 floor building of a power plant in 2013: 1083 TLS stations (about 40.10 9 3D points referenced under a 2 cm tolerance) and 1025 RGB panoramic images (340.10 6 pixels per point of view). As expected, this very large survey of high precision measurements in a complex environment stressed sensors and tools that were developed for more favourable conditions and smaller data sets. The whole survey process (tools and methods used from acquisition and processing to CAD reconstruction) underwent a detailed follow-up in order to state on the locks to a possible generalization to other buildings. Based on these recent feedbacks, we have highlighted some of these current bottlenecks in this paper: sensors denoising, automation in processes, data validation tools improvements, standardization of formats and (meta-) data structures.
The 2010 spring drought reduced primary productivity in southwestern China

Many parts of the world experience frequent and severe droughts. Summer drought can significantly reduce primary productivity and carbon sequestration capacity. The impacts of spring droughts, however, have received much less attention. A severe and sustained spring drought occurred in southwestern China in 2010. Here we examine the influence of this spring drought on the primary productivity of terrestrial ecosystems using data on climate, vegetation greenness and productivity. We first assess the spatial extent, duration and severity of the drought using precipitation data and the Palmer drought severity index. We then examine the impacts of the drought on terrestrial ecosystems using satellite data for the period 2000–2010. Our results show that the spring drought substantially reduced the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and gross primary productivity (GPP) during spring 2010 (March–May). Both EVI and GPP also substantially declined in the summer and did not fully recover from the drought stress until August. The drought reduced regional annual GPP and net primary productivity (NPP) in 2010 by 65 and 46 Tg C yr−1, respectively. Both annual GPP and NPP in 2010 were the lowest over the period 2000–2010. The negative effects of the drought on annual primary productivity were partly offset by the remarkably high productivity in August and September caused by the exceptionally wet conditions in late summer and early fall and the farming practices adopted to mitigate drought effects. Our results show that, like summer droughts, spring droughts can also have significant impacts on vegetation productivity and terrestrial carbon cycling.
Future changes in the stratosphere-to-troposphere ozone mass flux and the contribution from climate change and ozone recovery

Abstract. Using a state-of-the-art chemistry–climate model we investigate the future change in stratosphere–troposphere exchange (STE) of ozone, the drivers of this change, as well as the future distribution of stratospheric ozone in the troposphere. Supplementary to previous work, our focus is on changes on the monthly scale. The global mean annual influx of stratospheric ozone into the troposphere is projected to increase by 53 % between the years 2000 and 2100 under the RCP8.5 greenhouse gas scenario. The change in ozone mass flux (OMF) into the troposphere is positive throughout the year with maximal increase in the summer months of the respective hemispheres. In the Northern Hemisphere (NH) this summer maximum STE increase is a result of increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, whilst in the Southern Hemisphere(SH) it is due to equal contributions from decreasing levels of ozone depleting substances (ODS) and increasing GHG concentrations. In the SH the GHG effect is dominating in the winter months. A large ODS-related ozone increase in the SH stratosphere leads to a change in the seasonal breathing term which results in a future decrease of the OMF into the troposphere in the SH in September and October. The resulting distributions of stratospheric ozone in the troposphere differ for the GHG and ODS changes due to the following: (a) ozone input occurs at different regions for GHG- (midlatitudes) and ODS-changes (high latitudes); and (b) stratospheric ozone is more efficiently mixed towards lower tropospheric levels in the case of ODS changes, whereas tropospheric ozone loss rates grow when GHG concentrations rise. The comparison between the moderate RCP6.0 and the extreme RCP8.5 emission scenarios reveals that the annual global OMF trend is smaller in the moderate scenario, but the resulting change in the contribution of ozone with stratospheric origin (O3s) to ozone in the troposphere is of comparable magnitude in both scenarios. This is due to the larger tropospheric ozone precursor emissions and hence ozone production in the RCP8.5 scenario.
Chloride Penetration in mortars with replacements of rice husk Ash and nano-SiO2

Ashes and nanoparticles (NP) have been incorporated individually in mortars to improve its macrostructure and microstructure. However, regarding the simultaneous use of ashes and NP there are few reports addressing the study of resistance to corrosion. It was evaluated in this work the mechanical, physical and electrochemical performance in mortars with plastic consistency according to ASTM C 1437-99, replacement of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) by rice husk ash (RHA) and nano Silica Oxide (nSO), conducting studies of mechanical resistance to simple compression, porosity, superficial absorption, rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) and accelerated corrosion in mortars with replacements of OPC of 1.0% of nSO and 20.0% of RHA. According to results, the simultaneous use of nSO + RHA has a higher performance in the properties of mortars with decreases in porosity and total charge passed of 3.9% and 75.6%, and increase in compressive strength, and corrosion of 7.1% and 37.6 %, respectively. Mortars of plastic consistency with replacement of OPC by RHA and nSO in simultaneous use count with higher performance in their physical, mechanical and electrochemical properties than in individual use of RHA and nSO.
Data stream management systems: a response to large scale scientific data requirements

Exact sciences research communities are dealing with data sets that are expected to reach exascale sizes in the years to come. Analysing such data sets becomes a tedious task, when using classical data processing paradigms. An increasing number of domains from exact sciences, like radio astronomy or financing, are handling data streams, which are sequences of values produced over time by data sources. Data streams require new processing approaches and a number of prototypes have already been implemented. As an important application of informatics in exact sciences, we consider the case of Data Stream Management Systems, as a response to increasingly large scale data in a great number of fields. We aim at highlighting the main challenges in data stream processing. Based on identified difficulties, we present a preliminary set of five principles, SCIPE, that we plan to use in further research work. The final purpose would be to design and develop a dedicated Scientific Data Stream Management System.
Role of predation in controlling bacterial and heterotrophic nanoflagellate standing stocks in the coastal Adriatic Sea: seasonal patterns

The role of bacteria and heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) in the microbial food web was studied over 1992/93 in KaStela Bay (Adriatic Sea). The average production of bacteria (12.3 pg C d-l) and HNF (4.8 pg C d-l) suggests that these organisms fix a significant amount of organic carbon. Small HNF (<8 pm) were the most important bactenal grazers, accounting, on average, for 80% of the total grazing on bacteria, whereas abundance and production of HNF were controlled by d a t e grazing Bacterivorous protozoa stimulated bactenal growth and contributed to an enhanced turnover of bacterial biomass. About 20% of annual bactenal production was channelled through the microb~al loop. However, bacterial carbon flux through the microbial loop showed marked seasonal oscillations with considerably higher values recorded during the warmer part of the year (June to November). Thus, in that period the microbial loop could be an important link between primary production and higher trophic levels. Grazing rates obtained by an RLB (radioactive-labelled bacteria) method were regularly higher than values obtained by the size fractionation method.
High-throughput, self-routing, optical switch for photonic slot routing

A high-throughput, self-routing, optical switch with low latency performance and no-contention property is proposed for the optical packet switching scheme known as photonic slot routing. The proposed switch, based on a modified Data Vortex structure, eliminates the need to pre-arrange the photonic slot transmission in a non-blocking manner, thus increasing the network bandwidth. Electro-absorption modulator technology is experimentally shown to be a promising solution for implementing compact and fastspeed operation Data Vortex switches.
Effect of elicitors on physiomorphological and biochemical parameters of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) and rapeseed (B. napus)

The present investigation was aimed to assess the effect of different concentrations of elicitors viz . , salicylic acid (SA) and benzothiadiazole (BTH) on physiomorphological and biochemical parameters of Brassica juncea and B. napus cultivars. The field experiment was conducted during 2012-13 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. Four different treatments of elicitors and a fungicide treatment were given to 10 week old plants up to four consecutive weeks. Content of total soluble protein, free amino acids, total sugars and reducing sugars of leaves of both B. juncea and B. napus were evaluated after each spray. The content of total soluble protein increased, whereas the contents of free amino acids, total sugars and reducing sugars decreased in all the treatments after each spray. Among all the treatments, the combinations of elicitors, i.e., BTH (3 ppm) + SA (33 ppm) and BTH (7 ppm) + SA (17 ppm) exhibited maximum contents of total soluble protein, free amino acids, total sugars and reducing sugars than control in both the cultivars. These treatments were more pronounced in increasing plant height, internodal distance and number of pods per plant in both the cultivars. Our results suggest that the combinations of elicitors act synergistically to promote growth and metabolic activities in B. juncea and B. napus cultivars leading to the induction and regulation of disease resistance.