Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using wavelet transform and dynamic time warping to identify the limitations of the CNN model as an air quality forecasting system

Abstract. As the deep learning algorithm has become a popular data analysis technique, atmospheric scientists should have a balanced perception of its strengths and limitations so that they can provide a powerful analysis of complex data with well-established procedures. Despite the enormous success of the algorithm in numerous applications, certain issues related to its applications in air quality forecasting (AQF) require further analysis and discussion. This study addresses significant limitations of an advanced deep learning algorithm, the convolutional neural network (CNN), in two common applications: (i) a real-time AQF model and (ii) a post-processing tool in a dynamical AQF model, the Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model (CMAQ). In both cases, the CNN model shows promising accuracy for ozone prediction 24 h in advance in both the United States of America and South Korea (with an overall index of agreement exceeding 0.8). For the first case, we use the wavelet transform to determine the reasons behind the poor performance of CNN during the nighttime, cold months, and high-ozone episodes. We find that when fine wavelet modes (hourly and daily) are relatively weak or when coarse wavelet modes (weekly) are strong, the CNN model produces less accurate forecasts. For the second case, we use the dynamic time warping (DTW) distance analysis to compare post-processed results with their CMAQ counterparts (as a base model). For CMAQ results that show a consistent DTW distance from the observation, the post-processing approach properly addresses the modeling bias with predicted indexes of agreement exceeding 0.85. When the DTW distance of CMAQ versus observation is irregular, the post-processing approach is unlikely to perform satisfactorily. Awareness of the limitations in CNN models will enable scientists to develop more accurate regional or local air quality forecasting systems by identifying the affecting factors in high-concentration episodes.
EFFECT OF DIETARY SUMAC SEED POWDER AS ANTIOXIDANTS AND GROWTH PROMOTER ON EGG PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE AND BLOOD OF JAPANESE QUAIL LAYING

he effect of various levels of sumac seed powder (SSP) as antioxidant and growth promoter on laying performance, egg production, egg quality, some plasma concentration and reproductive performance of Japanese quail was investigated using 180 birds in 9 weeks of age, randomly assigned to four dietary treatments (0.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5% SSP) with 45 birds per treatment and 3 replicates (10 hens and 5 cocks each). The results obtained can be summarized as follows: At the overall periods quail fed 2% SSP recorded significant the highest (p≤0.05) feed consumption compared with 2.5% SSP, while, all levels of SSP recorded the best values of feed conversion ratio compared to the control group. Also, egg production %, egg number, egg weight and egg mass/hen/day for SSP treatments were significantly (p≤0.05)increased than those fed control diet. Sumac seed powder supplements significantly (p≤0.05) increased albumin height, internal quality unit, color yolk, shell% and yolk / albumin ratio. However, albumin% and shell thickness were significantly decreased compared with control group. Also, most levels of SSP had improved the blood hematological parameters such as white blood cells, hemoglobin, red blood cells and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration feeding especial birds fed 1.5 and 2% SSP compared to the control group. The birds fed 1.5% SSP recorded significantly (p≤0.05) the highest value for globulin and improved A/G ratio compared with other treatments. The plasma lipid profile, liver enzymes and total lipid were significantly reduced (p≤0.05) but increased total antioxidant capacity and by supplementation SSP. Reproductive performance significantly (p≤0.05)improved by feeding SSP. In conclusion, the data obtained showed that the diet supplemented with the sumac seed powder (1.5, 2.0 and 2.5%) for Japanese quail laying improved egg performance, egg quality, most of the blood hematological, blood biochemical parameters and reproductive performance.
A Survey of High-Efficient CABAC Hardware Implementations in HEVC Standard

: High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is the newest video coding standard developed to address the increasing demand for higher resolutions and frame rates. In comparison to its predecessor H.264/AVC, HEVC achieved almost double of compression performance that is capable to process high quality video sequences (UHD 4K, 8K; high frame rates) in a wide range of applications. CABAC is the only entropy coding method in HEVC, whose principal algorithm is inherited from its predecessor. However, several aspects of the method that exploits it in HEVC are different, thus HEVC CABAC supports better coding efficiency. Effectively, pipeline and parallelism in CABAC hardware architectures are prospective methods in the implementation of high performance CABAC designs. However, high data dependence and serial nature of bin-to-bin processing in CABAC algorithm pose many challenges for hardware designers. This paper provides an overview of CABAC hardware implementations for HEVC targeting high quality, low power video applications, addresses challenges of exploiting it in different application scenarios and then recommends several predictive research trends in the future.
EFFECT OF ORAL ADMINISTRATION WITH GRAPE SEEDS EXTRACT ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS TRAITS AND BLOOD PARAMETERS OF GROWING RABBITS

The current study was conducted to evaluate effect of oral grape seeds extract (GSE) at levels of 0, 75 and 125 mg/kg LBW daily for 21 days on growth performance, carcass traits and blood parameters of growing APRI rabbits. Total of fifteen growing APRI rabbit males having live body weight (LBW) of 618.67g and 8 weeks of age, were divided into three similar groups (n = 5 in each) rabbits in the 1st group were given 3 ml sterile distilled water (Control, G1), while in the 2nd and 3rd groups were given 3 ml distilled water containing 75 (G2) or 125 mg/kg LBW (G3) grape seeds extract. All rabbits were fed commercial complete feed diet and kept under the same managerial and climatic conditions. Results show that, the average final body weight, total weight gain and daily body weight gain of rabbits in G3 were significantly higher (P<0.05) (2180, 1564 and 27.93 g) than in G2 (2013, 1399 and 24.98 g) and control (G1) (1993, 1367 and 24.41g), respectively. Average daily feed intake was significant (P<0.05) higher for rabbit with oral grape seeds extract at 12 mg than for control, but no significant affected between the two levels (G2 and G3). Results showed insignificant effect of oral grape seeds extract on average feed conversion ratio (gm feed/g gain). However, there was a tendency of reduction for rabbit treated with 125 mg/kg (G3) as compared to level 75 mg/kg (G2) and control group (G1). Results showed that oral grape seeds extract were insignificantly affected in all carcass parameters, however, the tendency in carcass characteristics values (weight after slaughter, weight with abdominal, giblets, empty, head, spleen, heart and kidney) higher in rabbits treated with 125mg/kg (G3) followed by treated with 75 mg/kg (G2) then control group (G1). Concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) and AST were significantly higher (P<0.05) for growing rabbit in control group (G1) than both treatments (G2 and G3), while did not significant effect on concentration of total protein, albumin, globulin, A/G ratio, creatinine and activity of ALT enzyme. These findings suggest that oral of grape seeds extract with level of 125 mg/kg lead to improvement growth performance, health status and decreasing lipid contents in the body of APRI rabbits.
Real Effects of Public Country-by-Country Reporting and the Firm Structure of European Banks

European regulation mandates public country-by-country reporting for banks and is expected to increase reputational costs in case of tax haven activities. We test whether the availability of additional public information on the locations of banks' subsidiaries reduces their tax haven presence. In a preliminary difference-in-difference analysis we find that indeed, tax haven presence in “Dot-Havens” has declined significantly after the introduction of mandatory public country-by-country reporting for European banks, as compared to the insurance industry which is not subject to this regulation.
Flavonoids as Potent Phytochemicals in Cardiovascular Diseases Prevention

Flavanoids are the major plant phenolic secondary metabolites and represent the most studied phytochemicals. This family includes five major classes different by their specific chemical structure,we note: flavones, flavonols, flavanones, flavanols and anthocyanidins. Many epidemiological and experimental studies have shown that flavonoid intake is inversely correlated with cardiovascular disease events. In this field, a number of flavonoids from medicinal plants, fruits, vegetables, spices and beverages have been shown to beneficially affect parameters associated with cardiovascular diseases, including hyperlipemia and especially hypercholesterolemia, low density lipoprotein oxidation, blood platelet aggregation, and vascular reactivity. Therapeutic effects of flavonoids on lipid metabolism disorder have been attributed to effective diminution of total cholesterol, Triglycerides, LDL-Cholesterol and Apo B levels. On the other hand, their beneficial effect results also in an increase of HDLcholesterolol, bile acids secretion and lipid catabolism. Furthermore, flavonoids play a pivotal role in preventing CVD related to oxidative stress via four distinct mechanisms including direct free radicals scavenging, pro-oxidant metal ions chelating, lipid peroxidation attenuation by recycling other antioxidants and preservation of the HDL-associated paraoxonase activity which has been shown to prevent oxidation of LDL particles. Moreover, flavonoids are able to inhibit cellular enzymes, implicated in cellmediated oxidation of LDL particles including phospholipase A2, cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase, GSH reductase, xanthine oxidase and NADPH-oxidase. Flavonoids also protect platelet aggregation and related vascular complications through an increase of cAMP levels leading to intracellular Ca lowering, an inhibition of thromboxane formation and thromboxane receptor antagonism. Plus, these phytochemicals are able to play an important role on the endothelial function in regard to preventing hypertension via eNOS stimulation. The promising findings on biological activities of plant flavonoids can guide studies of the biochemical mechanisms underlying the protective effect of these compounds at arterial and cardiac levels to uncover new strategies for the treatment of vascular diseases and cardiac related complications.
Modulation of Spasticity by Trans-Spinal Direct Current Stimulation in Animals with Spinal Cord Injury

Modulation of Spasticity by Trans-Spinal Direct Current Stimulation in Animals with Spinal Cord Injury by Wagdy W. Mekhael, DPT Advisor: Zaghloul Ahmed, PT, Ph.D. Central nervous system injuries usually produce motor impairments that are exacerbated by pathologically altered muscle tone. Abnormal muscle tone interferes with voluntary movement and is associated with loss of dexterity. Prior work in our laboratory demonstrated that 30-second trans-spinal direct current (DC) stimulation can temporarily modify muscle tone in anesthetized spastic mice after spinal cord injury (SCI). These experiments described DC-induced muscle tone responses to be polarity-dependent. That is, anodal stimulation (current passed from the lumbar spine to sciatic nerve) decreased muscle tone, and cathodal stimulation (current passed from the sciatic nerve to the lumbar spine) increased it. The present study investigates the therapeutic potential of noninvasive trans-spinal DC stimulation (tsDCS) to modulate spasticity in awake mice with SCI. The study aims to investigate the following: 1The effects of short-term tsDCS and repeated-sessions of tsDCS on muscle tone and on skilled and unskilled locomotion. 2The long-term modulatory effects of tsDCS on the stretch reflex of the triceps surae muscle (TS), using the rate-dependent depression (RDD) of Hoffmann’s reflex. 3The changes in muscle tone as a result of combining tsDCS with several
The Role of Education in Individual Ethical Decision Making of Accounting Lecturer in Tangerang

The objective of this research is to reveal the role of education toward ethical awareness, ethical judgments, and ethical intentions of accounting firm staffs in Tangerang. Based on the previous studies education was more influent ethical decision making in the stage of ethical awareness and ethical judgments, but weaknesses in ethical intentions. Education would develop ethical idealism and more idealistic individual usually support ethical decision making. This phenomenon would describe that the implementation of education in higher education has not strong influent to Tangerang accounting lecturers ethical decision making.
Leave my Apps Alone! A Study on how Android Developers Access Installed Apps on User’s Device

To enable app interoperability, the Android platform exposes installed application methods (IAMs), i.e., APIs that allow developers to query for the list of apps installed on a user’s device. It is known that information collected through IAMs can be used to precisely deduce end-users interests and personal traits, thus raising privacy concerns. In this paper, we present a large-scale empirical study investigating the presence of IAMs in Android apps and their usage by Android developers.Our results highlight that: (i) IAMs are widely used in commercial applications while their popularity is limited in open-source ones; (ii) IAM calls are mostly performed in included libraries code; (iii) more than one-third of libraries that employ IAMs are advertisement libraries; (iv) a small number of popular advertisement libraries account for over 33% of all usages of IAMs by bundled libraries; (v) developers are not always aware that their apps include IAMs calls.Based on the collected data, we confirm the need to (i) revise the way IAMs are currently managed by the Android platform, introducing either an ad-hoc permission or an opt-out mechanism and (ii) improve both developers and end-users awareness with respect to the privacy-related concerns raised by IAMs.
Impact of HER2 status in resected gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in a Western population

Background HER2 status is a predictive biomarker of response to trastuzumab in advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma. However, there is relatively little known about the role of HER2 in resected gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma in the Western population. Methods Retrospective, observational, single centre study of patients with gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma undergoing surgery with curative intent between January 2007 and June 2014 in the University Hospital Complex of Santiago de Compostela. The expression of HER2 was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using DAKO-HercepTest™ and gene amplification with DuoCISH using a DAKO-DuoCISH kit. The study of HER2 expression and amplification was carried out in all the patients and it was correlated with classic clinicopathological parameters, survival and recurrence pattern. Results 106 patients were included. HER2 expression was as follows: 71.7% HER2 negative, 21.7% HER2 equivocal and 6.6% HER2 positive, or with HER2 overexpression. 13.2% of patients (14/106) had HER2 amplification by DuoCISH. A significant association was seen between overexpression and amplification of HER2 (p < 0.001). HER2 positivity was associated with the intestinal subtype (p = 0.010) and a low grade of differentiation (p = 0.018). Likewise, HER2 was significantly associated with a worse prognosis: overall survival (OS) 32.3 months HER2 positive versus 93.9 months HER2 negative (HR 0.42; confidence interval 95% 0.18–0.93; p = 0.028); and the presence of distant metastasis without accompanying locoregional recurrence (p = 0.048). Conclusion HER2 status defines a subgroup with differentiated clinicopathological characteristics, worse prognosis and distant dissemination, without accompanying locoregional recurrence, in patients with resected gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma operated on in a Western population.
HSRC Policy Brief 5-Better value from public infrastructure.indd

Introduction In recent years, South Africa has been rocked by revelations, made at various commissions of inquiry, of alleged large-scale and widespread corruption involving organs of state and privatesector actors. The appointment of these commissions suggests that fighting corruption is high on the agenda of the Ramaphosa administration. ‘State capture’ has been especially prevalent in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Eskom, Transnet and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa. These SOEs have been engaged in extensive infrastructure expansion but have been subjected to inappropriate political control and abuse of the tender process, and have become vehicles for patronage instead of service delivery.
Photovoltaic Smart Grids in the Prosumers Investment Decisions: A Real Option Model

Abstract The digitization of power system represents one of the main instruments to achieve the target set by the European Union 2030 climate and energy Agenda of affordable energy transition. During the last years, such innovation process has been associated with the Smart Grid (SG) term. In this context, efficiency and flexibility of power systems are expected to increase and energy consumers to be active also on the production side, thus becoming prosumers (agents that both produce and consume energy). This paper provides a theoretical real option framework with the aim to model prosumers’ decision to invest in photovoltaic power plants, assuming that they are integrated in a SG. Our main focus is to study the optimal plant size and the optimal investment threshold, in a context where exchange of energy among prosumers is possible. The model was calibrated and tested with data from the Northern Italy energy market. Our findings show that the possibility of selling energy between prosumers, via the SG, increases investment values. This opportunity encourages prosumers to invest in a larger plant compared with the case without exchange possibility and that there is a positive relation between optimal size and (optimal) investment timing. The effect of uncertainty is in line with the literature, showing increasing value to defer with volatility. Our comparative statics stress the need for policies to push the PV efficiency.
A Literature review of Chinese people's perceptions of Distributive Fairness

In recent years, with the Chinese society into the transition period, a series of Social group events caused by unfair distribution happened frequently. The Chinese public doubts about the equitable distribution seems to have increased. "The Chinese public feel that the distribution system is fair or not" the issue has aroused widespread concern from all walks of life, including scholars. With the slowdown in China's economic development, the introduction of multiple values of freedom, "What are the sources of Chinese people's perceptions of Distributive Fairness in contemporary China? " This issue has also attracted the attention of academia. This paper aims to make a brief analysis of the Perceptions of Distributive Fairness of Chinese people . Based on the two theories of "Structural Determinism Theory" and " Local Comparative Theory", this paper also makes a brief analysis of the sources of Distributive fairness in China.
Job satisfaction and psychological health of bankers in Calabar, Nigeria

Background: Satisfied employees tend to be healthier and more productive. There is no known study on the overall job satisfaction and psychological health of bank employees in Nigeria.Objective: To assess the level of job satisfaction and its relationship to psychological health among bank employees in a southern city of Nigeria.Design: A cross-sectional descriptive survey.Setting: Commercial Banks in Calabar, Nigeria.Subjects: Professional employees engaged in core Banking activities.Results: Response rate was 75%. About half (52.6%) reported overall job satisfaction. The most commonly mentioned reason for job dissatisfaction was lack of promotion. About one third of respondents were at increased likelihood of having a psychological disorder. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between job satisfaction and GHQ scores. Satisfied respondents were least likely to have psychological disorder.Conclusion: About half of the bank employees were satisfied with their jobs. A negative correlation was found between job satisfaction and psychological health of these workers. Causes of job dissatisfaction should be addressed by employers of labour to improve job satisfaction, psychological health and productivity.
Scotland's Rural College Supporting human nutrition in Africa through the integration of new and orphan crops

Citation for pulished version (APA): Dawson, ID. , Hendre, P., Powell, W. , Sila, D. , McMullin, S. , Simons, T. , Revoredo-Giha, C. , Odeny, D. A. , Barnes, AP. , Graudal, L. , Watson, CA. , Hoad, SP. , Burnett, FJ. , Muchugi, A. , Roshetko, J. M. , Hale, I. L. , Van Deynze, A. , Mayes, S. , Kindt, R. , . Jamnadass, R. (2018). Supporting human nutrition in Africa through the integration of new and orphan crops into food systems: Placing the work of the African Orphan Crops Consortium in context. (Working Paper No. 276 ed.) World Agroforestry United Nations. https://doi.org/10.5716/WP18003.PDF
Comparative Analysis Of Topologies Used In SEPIC Converter For Power Factor Correction

Expensive use of power electronic devices in various applications of power system which could result in power quality issues like low power factor, high THD, high electric stresses and complexity in cascaded connection. In order to overcome the above problems, there is a need to operate converter at unity power factor. In this work, a new modified multiplier SEPIC PFC topology is proposed and Comparative analysis has been carried out with conventional single stage SEPIC PFC topology. The performance of proposed topology can be Inspected by carrying simulation in MATLAB environment with PI and PID controller. The obtained results justice effectiveness of proposed work.