Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Model for Pyrolysis and Oxidation of Two Common Structural Timbers

The reduced cross section method for the calculation of timber structures’ fire resistance is based on empirical and numerical assessment of charring propagation. The current work aims to construct a model for the pyrolysis and oxidation of spruce and pine woods to allow coupled simulations of cross section reduction and burning rate in fire models. A pyrolysis model for these woods is formulated based on thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and supported by heat of pyrolysis and heat of combustion measurements by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC), respectively. The results from small scale measurements (TGA, DSC and MCC) are consistent with each other. Therefore, heat of pyrolysis and heat of combustion was determined for the wood primary components by fitting a simulation into these experimental results. As a future work, cone calorimeter experiments are performed to optimize material properties and validate the model, and necessity of introducing an oxidation model is examined.
Prevalence and Correlates of Hysterectomy in Rural Women of Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh

Existing statistics indicate that the prevalence of hysterectomy is in surge in India. Most of the data is from hospital based and population based studies are limited. Hence the present investigation was undertaken to assess the prevalence and correlates of hysterectomy in a randomly selected free living 403 women aged between 15 to 50 years from Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. The prevalence of hysterectomy was 5.2 percent (Mean age: 36.57 ± 6.95). Hysterectomy prevalence was found to be 2.5 percent in 30 to 39 yrs age group and rose to 16.8 percent in >40 yrs age group. Women with >40 yrs of age were 7.7 times at risk towards hysterectomy when compared to 30 to 39 yrs of age. Women with no formal education were 3.88 times to have had hysterectomy than women with formal education. The occurrence of hysterectomy was significantly associated with age at menarche >16 years (OR: 6.30). The study highlight that the strongest correlates of hysterectomy were: >40 years of age, illiteracy and age at menarche >16 years. In conclusion the results infer that improving socioeconomic factors of the women may have sizeable effects in the mitigation of hysterectomy.
Electrolarynx System Using Voice Conversion Based on WaveRNN

Voice is very important in our daily life. However, some people cannot speak because of throat surgery. Electrolarynx (EL) is a way for them to speak again but this voice is flat and noisy like a buzzer. Therefore, we propose a new Electrolarynx system based on WaveRNN. When we use it, the EL voice is converted into a voice close to the natural voice. We assume that this system will be provided as a smartphone application. In the experiment, we evaluated the converted voice by the system and found that naturalness improved.
Effects of nonlinearity of f(R) gravity and perfect fluid in Kaluza-Klein models with spherical compactification

We study the effects associated with nonlinearity of f(R) gravity and of the background perfect fluid manifested in the Kaluza-Klein model with spherical compactification. The background spacetime is perturbed by a massive gravitating source which is pressureless in the external space but has an arbitrary equation of state (EoS) parameter in the internal space. As characteristics of a nonlinear perfect fluid, the squared speeds of sound are not equal to the background EoS parameters in the external and internal spaces. In this setting, we find exact solutions to the linearized Einstein equations for the perturbed metric coefficients. For nonlinear models with f (R0) 6= 0, we show that these coefficients acquire correction terms in the form of two summed Yukawa potentials and that in the degenerated case, the solutions are reduced to a single Yukawa potential with some “corrupted” prefactor (in front of the exponential function), which, in addition to the standard 1/r term, contains a contribution independent of the three-dimensional distance r. In the linear f (R) = 0 model, we generalize the previous studies to the case of an arbitrary nonlinear perfect fluid. We also investigate the particular case of the nonlinear background perfect fluid with zero speed of sound in the external space and demonstrate that a non-trivial solution exists only in the case of f (R0) = 0.
SYSTEMATICS OF THE DROMOMERYCINES AND ALETOMERYCINES (ARTIODACTYLA: PALAEOMERYCIDAE) FROM THE MIOCENE AND PLIOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA

The subfamilies Dromomerycinae and Aletomerycinae were part of an endemic radiation of North American Miocene and Pliocene cervoid ruminant artiodactyls characterized by a variety of bony horns. Their species-level systematics has not been reviewed since Frick (1937), and the groups were oversplit with many redundant subgenera and 49 named species, most of which were nomina nuda (no diagnosis provided) and have not been analyzed since 1937. We use modern biological species concepts and statistical methods to greatly reduce the number of valid taxa in the subfamily. Among the Aletomerycinae, the late Arikareean immigrant Aletomeryx contains three species, A. gracilis (with three junior synonyms), A. marslandensis, and A. occidentalis. The peculiar, curve-horned Sinclairomeryx is monotypic; two other species are junior synonyms of S. riparius. Among the Dromomerycinae, Drepanomeryx (Matthomeryx) matthewi is a junior synonym of D. falciformis. The bowhorned Rakomeryx sinclairi is also monotypic, with five junior synonyms. Straight-horned Dromomeryx borealis is also monotypic (with three synonyms), as is Subdromomeryx antilopinus (raised to generic rank), which has four junior synonyms. As part of the simultaneous immigration event of the Cranioceratini in the late Arikareean, there is only one valid species, Barbouromeryx trigonocorneus, with two additional invalid subgenera and three invalid species. The common genus Bouromeryx, which had been split into eight species, contains only two: the smaller late Hemingforidan B. submilleri, and the Barstovian B. americanus. The monotypic three-horned Procranioceras skinneri remains valid, but is elevated to generic rank. Cranioceras, which has two straight supraorbital horns and its posteriorly-oriented occipital horn, once contained seven species, but now consists of the larger C. unicornis and the smaller C. teres. The Hemphillian cranioceratins Yumaceras (elevated to generic rank) still has three valid species, and Pediomeryx hemphillensis (with two synonyms) of the late Hemphillian is the last member of the lineage. Thus, 49 previously recognized species has been reduced to just 18 species in 12 genera (most of which are now monotypic) with no subgenera. This clarification of the taxonomic confusion of such an important group greatly enhances their usefulness in biostratigraphy and paleoecology.
Conservation in the wake of myrtle rust – a case study on two critically endangered Australian rainforest plants

We investigated ex situ conservation options for two Australian rainforest species severely affected by myrtle rust in the wild – Rhodamnia rubescens (Benth.) Miq. and Rhodomyrtus psidioides (G.Don) Benth. Both species were successfully initiated into tissue culture though the rate of contamination was high and not significantly improved by the disinfection techniques tested. Explants surviving initiation grew well on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS; pH 6.0) with 30 g L−1 sucrose, 1 µm benzyl adenine and 0.2 µm indole-3-butyric acid. Culture of R. rubescens for eight weeks on MS with 0, 5, 10 or 20 µm indole-3-butyric acid resulted in root production for some plantlets, and successful transfer to potting mix; no significant differences in root production among treatments were detected. Both species were successfully propagated by semi-hardwood cuttings with strike rates of 0–67% for R. rubescens and 0–75% for R. psidioides. For R. rubescens, pretreatment of cuttings with Zaleton® and incubation in Preforma® plugs reduced the time to root development and significantly improved the strike rate (P = 0.001). R. rubescens seed proved to be orthodox and suitable for standard seedbanking; R. psidioides seed proved to be freezing sensitive but suitable for storage at 4°C. As the two species now produce few viable seeds in the wild, however, conservation by seedbanking will first require the establishment of a seed orchard from vegetatively propagated plants. We recommend swift action to conserve species in the Pacific similarly affected by myrtle rust before their growth and reproductive capacity are seriously diminished.
Large Deviation Spectra of Chaotic Time Series from Bray – Liebhafsky Reaction *

We applied multifractal analysis on time series obtained by deterministic simulation of the Bray– Liebhafsky oscillatory reaction. Large deviation spectrum was used to represent multifractal properties of the attractor. We obtained spectrums with two peaks, one in region of low and the other in region of high values of Hölder exponent. Their intensity depends on flow rate. The method developed on the results from numer ical simulations is tested on the experimental record from the same reaction system and multifractality of the time series is confirmed. DOI: 10.1134/S0036024409090192 c Z ˆ
Expression of gag-CA Gene of Jembrana Disease Virus with Cationic Liposomes and Chitosan Nanoparticle Delivery Systems as DNA Vaccine Candidates Authors:

One of the obstacles in increasing the population of Bali cattle is the presence of infectious diseases called Jembrana disease that attacks only Bali cattle. This disease is caused by Jembrana Disease Virus (JDV). A prevention method has been introduced; A DNA vaccine candidate was developed by inserting the gag-CA JDV gene in the pEGFP-C1 vector and a delivery system using cationic liposomes and chitosan nanoparticles, which is an important factor in the success of DNA vaccines in inducing immunity. The purpose of this study was to know the expression of the gag-CA gene with these delivery systems and the effectiveness of each delivery system. The expression of the gag-CA gene was tested using HeLa cells. The gag-CA gene JDV has been optimised using codon and inserted in pEGFP-C1. Then, the recombinant DNA was cloned using the E. coli DH5α host. The improvement result was confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction analysis and sequencing. Recombinant DNA plasmids have been isolated and formulated with cationic liposomes and chitosan nanoparticles. The best characterization of encapsulation with gel inhibition test was chitosan nanoparticles with ratio mass of DNA with chitosan 1:2, diameter size about 178.0 nm and zeta potential +22.5 mV from the measurement using Particle Size Analyzer, while cationic liposome complex was prepared using commercial reagents. The expression results were analysed using fluorescence observation, Two-Step RT-PCR followed by Real-Time PCR analysis and Western Blot. The results showed the design of recombinant DNA plasmids with cationic liposomal and chitosan nanoparticle delivery systems expressing the gag-CA gene JDV. This is evidenced by the proliferation of EGFP-Capsid fusion proteins in HeLa cells and Normalised Expression in Real Time PCR, i.e. 5.36029 for cationic liposome conducting system and 0.00533 for * Corresponding author: asmaranikusumawati2018@gmail.com Lalu Unsunnidhal et al. 16 chitosan nanoparticle delivery system. Also a positive band was also obtained with cationic liposomal delivery system on Western blot.
Two-Phase Instance Segmentation for Whiteleg Shrimp Larvae Counting

Whiteleg shrimp accounts for the highest proportion in the shrimp export of Vietnam. Yet, in hatcheries, shrimp larvae quantity is still estimated manually. Several approaches were proposed to address this issue but overlapping problem reduced accuracy significantly. In this paper, this problem is addressed by implementing two-phase Mask R-CNN based instance segmentation to segment shrimp larvae for counting purpose. Compared to one-phase Mask R-CNN, the accuracy of counting by applying two-phase Mask R-CNN increased by a maximum margin of 16.1%. Our model had remarkable results, with accuracy ranging from 92.2% to 95.4% for moderate overlapping images.
Scaling Laws for Age of Information in Wireless Networks

We study age of information in a multiple source-multiple destination setting with a focus on its scaling in large wireless networks. There are <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> nodes uniformly and independently distributed on a fixed area that are randomly paired with each other to form <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> source-destination (S-D) pairs. Each source node wants to keep its destination node as up-to-date as possible. To accommodate successful communication between all <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> S-D pairs, we first propose a three-phase transmission scheme which utilizes local cooperation between the nodes along with what we call <italic>mega update packets</italic> to serve multiple S-D pairs at once. We show that under the proposed scheme average age of an S-D pair scales as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O\left({n^{\frac {1}{4}}\log n}\right)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> as the number of users, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, in the network grows. Next, we observe that communications that take place in Phases I and III of the proposed scheme are scaled-down versions of network-level communications. With this along with scale-invariance of the system, we introduce hierarchy to improve this scaling result and show that when <italic>hierarchical cooperation</italic> between users is utilized, an average age scaling of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O(n^{\alpha (h)}\log n)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> per-user is achievable, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$h$ </tex-math></inline-formula> denotes the number of hierarchy levels and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha (h) = \frac {1}{3\cdot 2^{h}+1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. We note that <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha (h)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> tends to 0 as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$h$ </tex-math></inline-formula> increases, and asymptotically, the average age scaling of the proposed hierarchical scheme is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O(\log n)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. To the best of our knowledge, this is the best average age scaling result in a status update system with multiple S-D pairs.
Process-Based Anomaly Detection and Analysis for Cyber-Physical System with MQTT Protocol

In this research, we proposed a process-based anomaly detection method for Cyber-Physical System (CPS). Our method performs relaxation on monitoring the data and focuses more on the relationship of the execution order of message passing between the devices in the MQTT-based network. First, we performed a ‘bird’s eye’ monitoring technique to discover the execution order of message passing in the MQTT network with process mining. Then, we grasp the structure of the process model with a tree model called a process tree. Using the process tree, we check the deviations of normal behavior’s process tree and the monitored behavior’s process tree. Since CPS is a closed-loop system and MQTT protocol has pre-specified execution, we can easily detect deviations in the process tree as an anomaly. However, it is still hard to perform forensic analysis. Next, we proposed a forensic analysis method, which comes as an advantage of this approach compared to the black-boxed detection method, such as machine learning. The process-based approach can backtrack message passing by traversing the process tree and identify the execution operator in the parent nodes to find affected devices and execution order related to the incident. Finally, we showed an application example and evaluation of our method.
Running head: BEYOND THE CHALLENGE HYPOTHESIS In press at Hormones and Behavior Beyond the Challenge Hypothesis: The Emergence of the Dual-Hormone Hypothesis and Recommendations for Future Research

The challenge hypothesis makes specific predictions about the association between testosterone and status-seeking behaviors, but the findings linking testosterone to these behaviors are inconsistent. The dual-hormone hypothesis was developed to help explain these inconsistencies. Specifically, according to this hypothesis, testosterone’s association with status-seeking behavior depends on levels of cortisol. Here, we (1) describe the dual-hormone hypothesis in relation to the challenge hypothesis; (2) review recent studies that tested the dual-hormone hypothesis as well as meta-scientific evidence of heterogeneous dual-hormone findings across studies; (3) discuss potential explanations for this heterogeneity, including methodological considerations, contextual factors, and individual differences; and (4) provide recommendations for new work aimed at testing and extending the dual-
Observations of 1s–1s np and 1s–np lines in RESIK soft X-ray spectra

RESIK is the X-ray bent crystal spectrometer on the CORONAS-F satellite. Between 2002 and 2003, RESIK collected numerous spectra of active regions and flares in the wavelength range from 3.37 to 6.09 Å. This range includes many strong emission lines due to transitions 1s–1s np and 1s–np, in He-like and H-like ions, respectively; the n = 2 and 3 lines are routinely observed for Si, S and Ar ions. For some flares RESIK has observed enhanced emission in spectral features coinciding with lines due to transitions for n up to 9 or 10. Identifications of these features, not previously observed in astrophysical spectra, are presented in this paper. Their observed intensities are compared with those from theory. 2005 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Do Venture Capitalists Affect Investment Performance? Evidence from First-time Funds

Can venture capitalist skill explain the heterogeneity and persistence of venture capital fund performance, and if so which skills matter and when? This paper sheds light on these two questions by examining whether characteristics based on the educational and work histories of the venture capitalist teams who form first-time funds can predict the performance of those funds. First-time funds whose founding teams possess venture investing experience exhibit greater percentages of portfolio company exits. However, the correlation between past venture investing experience and fund exit percentages doubles when the founding team also has experience managing a start-up. Further, the predictive power of founding team characteristics on fund performance is stronger in seed stage funds than for later stage funds. Decomposing fund exit percentages by IPOs and acquisitions as well as first round investments and follow-on investments shows which team characteristics matter more for different types of exits and is suggestive of the roles that various characteristics play in the performance of funds’ investments. Finally, I show that the predictive ability of venture capitalist characteristics persists in follow-on funds. The findings indicate that skill plays an important role in the heterogeneity and persistence of venture capital fund performance and indicate which measures of skill seem to matter and when. I thank seminar participants at Carnegie Mellon, Duke, the first RICAFE2 conference at the London School of Economics, the American Finance Association Meetings and the Western Finance Association Meetings for their comments and Sridhar Arcot, Michael Brandt, Rudiger Fahlenbrach, Simon Gervais, David Hsu, Laura Lindsey, Manju Puri, David Robinson and Catherine Schrand for their suggestions. I thank Joseba Celaya, Adrian Cighi and Ling Luo for research assistance. All errors are mine. * Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Box 90120, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Email: rebeccaz@duke.edu; Tel: +1-919-660-7981; fax: +1-919-660-8038
The effect of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibition on diabetic nephropathy.

Background Renal function declines progressively in patients who have diabetic nephropathy, and the decline may be slowed by antihypertensive drugs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether captopril has kidney-protecting properties independent of its effect on blood pressure in diabetic nephropathy. Methods We performed a randomized, controlled trial comparing captopril with placebo in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in whom urinary protein excretion was ≥ 500 mg per day and the serum creatinine concentration was ≤ 2.5 mg per deciliter (221 μmol per liter). Blood-pressure goals were defined to achieve control during a median follow-up of three years. The primary end point was a doubling of the base-line serum creatinine concentration. Results Two hundred seven patients received captopril, and 202 placebo. Serum creatinine concentrations doubled in 25 patients in the captopril group, as compared with 43 patients in the placebo group (P =0.007). The associated reductions in risk.
Technological Forecasting & Social Change Market share dynamics using Lotka–Volterra models

Article history: Received 24 July 2014 Received in revised form 22 January 2016 Accepted 25 January 2016 Available online xxxx Although competition in the marketplace is inherently dynamic and firms change their competitive behavior over time, firms' competitive struggle is generally described using autonomous Lotka–Volterra (LV) models. A great limitation of autonomous LV systems is that the interaction coefficients are constant, and hence firms are assumed to have constant competitive strategies. Also, the solutions of LVmodels are generally unknown. To address these shortcomings, we introduce a class of integrable nonautonomous LV models. Our LV models present some relevant advantages. First, the analytical solutions of this system are known, thereforewe no longer need to fit the LV coefficients. Second, the analytical solutions only depend on the utility functions of the competing firms. Third, our model has a strong connection with the logit model. As mainstream economics extensively use the logit model to describe market demand, our approach has solid economic foundations. In the second part of the article, we test the performance of our approach by studying two cases in competition economics. We find that our model has a better ability to describe and forecast market evolution than the LV autonomous models proposed in the literature. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Overcoming Bathtub Failure Curve for Dependable Flash Storage Through Exploiting RAID Protection

The advent of MLC/TLC/QLC and 3D/4D NAND flash memory technologies leads to increased capacity along with decreased reliability of SSDs. Flash storage is increasingly used in various fields such as mobile devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, home appliances, automobiles, etc. In such a system, the error handling techniques of the storage device have a great influence on the reliability of the system. Generally, failure rate of a storage device follows the bathtub curve. In particular, flash storage suffers from high bit error rate as flash memory undergoes P/E (Program/Erase) cycles. Though error rate of flash storage such as SSDs follows the bathtub curve, most of SSDs use the ECC scheme with fixed strength against failures. Hence, we propose Flexible Strength RAID (FS-RAID) scheme that employs RAID configuration and dynamically adjusts its strength against failures according to the typical failure rate of the device lifetime. In addition, we propose a method to greatly improve reliability by combining RAID parity and existing ECC. Through the evaluation using SSD simulator, we show that the proposed two techniques are quite effective.