Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The proposal of an urban risk monitoring system to direct the development of resilient cities

Traditional vulnerability assessment methods are ‘reactive’ measures for mitigating the risks accumulated in a city during its process of urbanization. Accurate data accumulation is cumbersome, and due to the time taken for conducting surveys, there is often a time lag of few years between the initiation of the survey and completion of the analysis. In rapidly changing urban economies this would result in an unreliable representation of risk, where, in order to bring about maximum impact through urban planning strategies, it is important to ensure the real-time accuracy of the analysis. This study proposes the implementation of an Urban Risk Monitoring System within municipal entities which can represent real-time vulnerability monitoring by connecting data owned by multiple government sectors. It discusses the need and feasibility for implementing such a monitoring system in developing nations where it can aid in directing developments with ‘proactive’ measures to ensure a safer growth rather than risk accumulation. Furthermore, it presents our current endeavors in Yangon, Myanmar, to implement such a system and its use case samples for evaluating urban functions for emergency situations in terms of ambulance and fire services access as well as evacuation space capacity for the residents. Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 1538505 (email: yasmin@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp) Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 1538505 Project Researcher, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 1538505 Bhattacharya, Y. , Kato, T. and Matsushita, T. The Proposal of an Urban Risk Monitoring System to direct the Development of Resilient Cities. Proceedings of the 11 National Conference in Earthquake Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA. 2018. Eleventh U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering Integrating Science, Engineering & Policy June 25-29, 2018 Los Angeles, California The Proposal of an Urban Risk Monitoring System to direct the Development of Resilient Cities Y. Bhattacharya, T. Kato and T. Matsushita
Integrated hydrometeorological, snow and frozen-ground observations in the alpine region of the Heihe River Basin, China

Abstract. The alpine region is important in riverine and watershed ecosystems as a contributor of freshwater, providing and stimulating specific habitats for biodiversity. In parallel, recent climate change, human activities and other perturbations may disturb hydrological processes and eco-functions, creating the need for next-generation observational and modeling approaches to advance a predictive understanding of such processes in the alpine region. However, several formidable challenges, including the cold and harsh climate, high altitude and complex topography, inhibit complete and consistent data collection where and when it is needed, which hinders the development of remote-sensing technologies and alpine hydrological models. The current study presents a suite of datasets consisting of long-term hydrometeorological, snow cover and frozen-ground data for investigating watershed science and functions from an integrated, distributed and multiscale observation network in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin (HRB) in China. Meteorological and hydrological data were monitored from an observation network connecting a group of automatic meteorological stations (AMSs). In addition, to capture snow accumulation and ablation processes, snow cover properties were collected from a snow observation superstation using state-of-the-art techniques and instruments. High-resolution soil physics datasets were also obtained to capture the freeze–thaw processes from a frozen-ground observation superstation. The updated datasets were released to scientists with multidisciplinary backgrounds (i.e., cryospheric science, hydrology and meteorology), and they are expected to serve as a testing platform to provide accurate forcing data and validate and evaluate remote-sensing products and hydrological models for a broader community. The datasets are available from the Cold and Arid Regions Science Data Center at Lanzhou (https://doi.org/10.3972/hiwater.001.2019.db, Li, 2019).
Characterization of Industrial Runoff in Boon Lay

Industrial stormwater runoff quality data were collected from a tributary leading to Sungei Lanchar along Chin Bee Crescent, in Boon Lay, from December 2006 to March 2007. A total of 16 randomly selected samples across 7 storm events were analyzed for conventional properties including pH and metal concentrations (Al, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Ti, V and As) in different fractions using sequential extraction method. The four main metal fractions are water-soluble fraction, acid-soluble, reducible and oxidizable. Metal concentrations in the extracts were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The chemical characteristics of industrial runoff were compared with the allowable limits set by the Environmental Pollution Control Act (EPCA) in 2002.
Metal Transfer in Pulsed Current Gas Metal Arc Welding

In order to achieve one drop per pulse operational conditions with pulsed current GMAW, it is necessary to control both the drop size at the peak current and the melting rate of the electrode. In this study, a static force balance analysis was used to predict the droplet size at the peak current and a weighted sum of the melting rates measured under Direct Current Electrode Positive (DCEP) welding was employed to estimate the melting rate with pulsed current. Combining the static force balance analysis and the weighted sum method, a model is proposed to predict the optimal conditions of one drop per pulse operation. The model is found to be in good agreement with the experimental results when the base current and the load duty cycle are small. When the base current increases above 220 A and the load duty cycle exceeds 10% using 1.6-mm-diameter steel electrodes, the prediction of the model deviates significantly from the experimental results. The discrepancy between the model and the experimental results is discussed Y. S. KIM is Assistant Professor, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Hong Ik University, Seoul, Korea, and T. W. EAGAR is Co-Director, Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Richard P. Simmons Professor of Metallurgy, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. and is shown to be due to tapering of the electrode tip at high welding currents.
IJPRES AN ADAPTIVE POWER OSCILLATION DAMPING CONTROLLER BY STATCOM WITH ENERGY STORAGE

Using fuzzy logic control the design of an adaptive power oscillation damping (POD) controller for a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) equipped with energy storage presents in this paper. The effective in increasing the damping of the system at the frequencies of interest, also in the case of system parameter uncertainties and at various connection points of the compensator in proposed method . This is achieved using a signal estimation technique based on a modified recursive least square (RLS) algorithm, which allows a fast, selective, and adaptive estimation of the low-frequency electromechanical oscillations from locally measured signals during power system disturbances. First, the analysis of the impact of active and reactive power injection into the power system will be carried out using a simple two-machine system model. A fuzzy logic control and control strategy that optimizes active and reactive power injection at various connection points of the STATCOM will be derived using the simplified model. Small-signal analysis of the dynamic performance of the proposed control strategy will be carried out. The effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy logic method to provide power oscillation damping irrespective of the connection point of the device and in the presence of system parameter uncertainties will be verified through simulation results.
Microstrip Patch Antennas With Enhanced Gain by Partial Substrate Removal

A method to enhance gain of a microstrip patch antenna is investigated by partially removing the substrate surrounding the patch. The partial substrate removal reduces the losses due to surface waves and dielectric substrate. The effects of substrate removal in different configurations on the gain of the antenna are studied numerically and validated experimentally. Compared to a conventional patch antenna, the antennas with partial substrate removal can enhance gain, for example, up to 2.7 dB. Furthermore, it is observed that the enhancement of gain is more due to loss reduction of surface waves and dielectric substrate than increased patch size when the effective dielectric constant of substrate is lowered. Such a technique can be applied in designs operating at higher frequencies whereby surface wave and substrate losses are more significant though the 2.4-GHz design is exemplified here for ease of fabrication and measurement purposes.
Zirconia Based / Nafion Nanocomposite Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications

The nanoparticles of zirconium oxide, sulfated zirconia and phosphated zirconia were used to modify Nafion membrane in order to improve the water retention, thermal stability, proton conductivity and methanol permeability. The modified Nafion nanocomposite membranes were used for high temperature fuel cell between 120-140°C. The inorganic nanoparticles were incorporated within Nafion by recast, swelling-impregnation and ion exchange methods. The inorganic nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, BET, FTIR, TGA, DSC, SEM and TEM, while nanocomposite membranes were characterized for water uptake, ion exchange capacity, methanol permeability, and proton conductivity. Pristine ZrO2, sulfated and phosphated ZrO2 were successfully synthesized. The particle sizes ranged from 10 nm to 30 nm, with good dispersity in the membrane. The conductivity of the Nafion / 5% sulfated zirconia membrane exceeded 0.103 S/cm at room temperature and has the highest water uptake of 35%. On the other hand, Nafion / 15% sulfated zirconia was found to have the highest ion exchange capacity of 1.42 meg.g -1 .
Integrating hot water under a benthic barrier for curlyleaf pondweed turion control

The submersed aquatic macrophyte curlyleaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus L.) is a widespread invasive plant of aquatic areas throughout the United States and much of the world. Its vegetative reproductive propagules, including turions, increase the difficulty of eradication or effective control. In this study, we evaluated the effect of heated water circulated under an insulated benthic bottom barrier as a potential nonchemical and rapid method to inhibit sprouting of turion propagules on or near the sediment surface. We exposed turions to water temperatures of 25, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 C for time periods ranging between 30 and 300 s in both benchand mesocosm-scale experiments. Heated-water exposures significantly inhibited turions sprouting at 50 and 60 C in both experiments, but only gave complete inhibition in sprouting in the bench-scale experiment with exposure to 60 C for 300 s. In both benchand mesocosm-scale experiment, 60-s or higher exposure times at 70 and 80 C gave complete inhibition in turion sprouting. The cost to maintain a 5-min exposure to 70 C water under a 1-m insulated barrier is estimated at $0.172 USD (~ $1,720 ha ). This would be even more cost effective using wholesale energy cost estimates. Thus, this technique might be a practical and cost effective method of eradicating small incipient infestations of aquatic weed propagules, such as curlyleaf pondweed turions.
METODOLOGIA RECURSIVA PARA PROJETO DE OBSERVADOR ADAPTATIVO BASEADO EM REALIZAÇÃO MÍNIMA NO ESPAÇO DE ESTADOS

Abstract— In this article, a methodology design in the discrete-time domain of an adaptive state observer with minimal realization in state space is proposed. The adopted methodology is based on the estimation of the system state variable, as well as on the parameters of the plant model, using the Recursive Eigensystem Realization Algorithm. The experimental results of control by pole placement of a thermal plant are presented to illustrate the efficiency and applicability of the proposed methodology.
Is Whole‐Plant Photosynthetic Rate Proportional to Leaf Area? A Test of Scalings and a Logistic Equation by Leaf Demography Census

Allometric scalings and a logistic equation assume that whole‐plant photosynthetic rate under resource‐unlimited conditions is proportional to leaf area. We tested this proportionality for the herb Helianthus tuberosus. During growth, we repeatedly measured the percentage of leaves with high, medium, and low photosynthetic capacity to estimate the whole‐plant sum of photosynthetic capacity. We found that the whole‐plant sum of the light‐saturated photosynthetic rate of leaves is proportional to the whole‐plant leaf area, disregarding the dynamics of the leaf population. We also found that the daily photosynthesis of each leaf appeared as a linear function of the light‐saturated photosynthetic rate of that leaf, as predicted by the optimization theory. Using those results, we expressed whole‐plant photosynthetic rate as a product of the light‐saturated whole‐plant photosynthetic rate and an efficiency index that reflects resource limitation as in the logistic equation. This efficiency decreased with increasing leaf area, reflecting light limitation. Therefore, realized whole‐plant photosynthetic rate is not proportional to leaf area. These “diminishing returns” are well explained by a simple saturating curve, such as the logistic equation.
Causal Graph Analysis with the CAUSALGRAPH Procedure

Valid causal inferences are of paramount importance both in medical and social research and in public policy evaluation. Unbiased estimation of causal effects in a nonrandomized or imperfectly randomized experiment (such as an observational study) requires considerable care to adjust for confounding covariates. A graphical causal model is a powerful and convenient tool that you can use to remove such confounding influences and obtain valid causal inferences. This paper introduces the CAUSALGRAPH procedure, new in SAS/STAT® 15.1, for analyzing graphical causal models. The procedure takes as its input one or more causal models, represented by directed acyclic graphs, and finds a strategy that you can use to estimate a specific causal effect. The paper provides details about using directed acyclic graphs to represent and analyze a causal model. Specific topics include sources of association and bias, the statistical implications of a causal model, and identification and estimation strategies such as adjustment and instrumental variables. Examples illustrate how to apply the procedure in various data analysis situations.
Immune Responses to Animal Trypanosomosis: A Review

The aim of this document is to review the current knowledge on Trypanosome parasites of animals with emphasis on the immunological response and points to the wealth of information available for trypanosomiasis, in contrast to the numerous gaps in our understanding of immune responses to trypanosomal infections. African trypanosomes are pathogens for humans and livestock. They are single-cell, extra-cellular parasites that cause persistent infections of the blood and induce profound immune-suppression. The specific immune response to the infecting parasites is complex and involves both the humoral and cellular branches of immune systems. In trypanosomosis, parasite growth is primarily controlled through T-cell dependent antibody responses to the variable surface glycoproteins and possibly to other molecules embedded on the surface of the parasites. Cellular immune responses also occur but at the level of immune-suppression directed against B cells. Additionally, a variety of immune-modulatory cytokines like TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12 and etc are produced during the course of infection. The center of the immune-pathology is the T-cell-independent production of antibodies to the variant surface glycoprotein of trypanosomes, the anti-VSG antibody-mediated phagocytosis of trypanosomes by macrophages, and the subsequent profound dysregulation of the macrophage system. It has, however, been demonstrated that a T-cell subset is critical in protective immunity.
Are High-Growth Firms Overrepresented in High-Tech Industries?

It is frequently argued that policymakers should target high-tech firms, i.e., firms with high R&D intensity, because such firms are considered more innovative and therefore potential fast-growers. This argument relies on the assumption that the association among high-tech status, innovativeness, and growth is actually positive. We examine this assumption by studying the industry distribution of high-growth firms (HGFs) across all four-digit NACE industries, using data covering all limited liability firms in Sweden during the period 1997–2008. The results of fractional logit regressions indicate that industries with high R&D intensity, ceteris paribus, can be expected to have a lower share of HGFs than can industries with lower R&D intensity. The findings cast doubt on the wisdom of targeting R&D industries or subsidizing R&D to promote firm growth. In contrast, we find that HGFs are overrepresented in knowledge-intensive service industries, i.e., service industries with a high share of human capital.
A Brief Review : Copy-Move Forgery Detection

One of the most common methods of digital image forgery is Copy-move forgery (CMF). For copy-move forgery, the copied region may be rotated or flipped to fit the scene better. In copy–move image forgery, a region from some image location is copied and pasted to a different location of the same image. To better hide the forgery, post-processing is applied. Using keypointbased features, like SIFT features, for detecting copy–move image forgeries has produced promising results. In this paper, various methods of Copy-Move Forgery have been studied, which are classified into Block-based methods and Feature-based methods. Then, the key techniques of Copy-Move Forgery Detection (CMFD) are demonstrated. The goal of copy-move forgery detection is to find duplicated regions within the same image. Copy-move detection algorithms operate roughly as follows: extract blockwise feature vectors, find similar feature vectors, and select feature pairs that share highly similar shift vectors. Rotation or scale invariant features that can be more easily integrated in the CMFD pipeline have been studied.
Antibacterial stability of Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz leaves extract and its mechanism

Aims: This study was conducted to observe the stability of Spondias pinnata leaf (SPL) extract antibacterial at different pH, salt concentration and temperature, to examine its antibacterial effectivity on minced fish, and to determine its fraction’s antibacterial mechanism. Methodology and results: The tested SPL ethanolic extract, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and water fractions’ antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus and Vibrio parahaemolitycus. Its stability against pH, salt, and thermal variation was studied, as well as the mechanism and application in fish. Ethyl acetate fraction and water fraction showed the highest activity against B. cereus (MIC 0.62 mg/mL). Protein profile analysis using gel electrophoresis showed that B. cereus cells exposed with SPL ethyl acetate fraction and water fraction showed thinner protein bands as compared to control. Severe damage of the cells treated with 3 MIC was also observed under SEM. Antibacterial activity of SPL ethanolic against Bacillus cereus and Vibrio parahaemolitycus were stable against heat treatment (80–121 °C for 15 min) and NaCl treatment (0–10% w/v), whereas the inhibition zone respectively at pH 4 (10.31±0.25 and 8.09±0.97 mm) was higher than pH 7 (8.45±0.52 and 6.66±1.84 mm). Application of SPL ethanolic extract in fish broth showed higher antibacterial activity than in fish flesh, which gave bactericidal effect at 3 MIC. Conclusion, significance and impact study: Ethanol extract can be developed as a natural preservative in fish
Selenoproteins in human thyroid tissues

The aim of the present work was to clarify whether the activities of selenoenzymes can serve as markers for different tumors or goiters, as classified by histological criteria. The following parameters were determined: 1) selenium content of plasma (Se), 2) activities of the selenoenzymes: plasma glutathione peroxidase (plGSHPx), cytosolic glutathione peroxidase (cGSHPx), type I and type II iodothyronine deiodinases (ID‐I, ID‐II), thioredoxin reductase (THRR) in human thyroid tissues. The material came from follicular neoplasm, papillary carcinoma, struma nodosa, struma lymphomatosis Hashimoto, other thyroid surgery specimens, and normal tissues. There was no difference in Se nor in plGSHPx between patients and healthy volunteers. No significant differences were found for any parameter in thyroid carcinoma versus normal or goitrous thyroid tissue. In the whole group of thyroid surgery specimens the statistically significant correlations were found between ID‐I and ID‐II and between THRR and selenoperoxidases. Principal components analysis confirmed the above correlation and moreover revealed correlation between Se and plGSHPx, but did not detect any clear distinction between patients with the different diagnoses.
Salivary testosterone levels and autism-spectrum quotient in adults.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between salivary testosterone levels and autistic traits in adults. METHODS A total of 92 male and female adults participated in the present study. Their salivary testosterone level (T) and score of Japanese version of Autism-spectrum Quotient (AQ) were assessed to examine the relationship between salivary testosterone level and autistic traits in adults. RESULTS We observed a positive correlation between T and AQ in a group of both sexes. The correlation disappeared when we conducted correlation analysis by sex. However, although there was no sex difference in the score of the subscale of attention switching, attention switching was related to T. CONCLUSIONS Although the relationship between T and AQ may mainly result from sex differences, the subscale of attention switching may be modulated by testosterone.
Cultural potential of the Russian province higher educational institutions young teachers

Basic properties and substance of cultural capital and potential of young provincial intellectuals are researched in the article. The meaning of terms “cultural capital” and “cultural potential” are explicated. The Author analyses main approaches to studying cultural potential of the person and social group. The empiric base is presented by mass survey and the focus group interviews with young teachers of the institutes of higher education located in the Ural federal district. They were considered as main subjects of cultural work in social space of the region. [Gavrilyuk T.V. Cultural potential of the Russian province higher educational institutions young teachers. Life Sci J 2014;11(12s):762-766] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 164
Publications 2004-0701 Task-focused Summarization of Email

We describe SmartMail, a prototype system for automatically identifying action items (tasks) in email messages. SmartMail presents the user with a task-focused summary of a message. The summary consists of a list of action items extracted from the message. The user can add these action items to their “to do” list.