Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Analysis of Face Recognition using DCT , DWT and PCA for Rotated faces

Face recognition has been an active research area in the pattern recognition and computer vision domains. Human’s day to day actions are increasingly being handled electronically, instead of face to face. Face is a complex multidimensional structure and needs good computing techniques for recognition. The main aim of Face Recognition system is to retrieve face images which are similar to a specific query face image in large face Databases. The retrieved face images can be used for many applications. In this paper we have done face recognition using Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). to varieties of test images which are rotated 15° towards right, 15° towards left, 30° towards right, 30° towards left, with low illumination and different facial expressions. Then we have developed a comparative analysis between all the three techniques based on recognition rate.
Biomass estimation models and methods for miombo woodlands of Malawi using field and remotely sensed data

v List of papers. vi 1.0 Introduction . 1 2.0 Objectives . 4 3.0 Conceptual framework . 5 4.0 Background . 7 4.1 Volume models . 7 4.2 Biomass models. 7 4.3 Application of UAVs in biomass prediction . 9 4.4 Influence of plot and sample size on UAV-assisted biomass estimates . 10 5.0 Materials and methods . 11 5.1 Study sites . 11 5.2 Data collection . 12 5.3 Data analyses . 16 6.0 Main findings and discussion. 20 6.1 Volume and biomass models . 20 6.2 Application of UAVs in biomass prediction . 22 6.3 Influence of plot and sample size on UAV-assisted biomass estimates . 24 7.0 Concluding remarks and future studies. 26 8.0 References . 29
Study to the effect of Thyroid Dysfunction on Lipid Profile

This study was carried out to investigate the pattern of lipid profile in individuals with thyroid dysfunction and healthy control and to know whether any correlation exists between serum lipids and thyroid hormones. The study was performed on 125 persons, among them 73 had thyroid dysfunction were accepted in the study as patients group and 52 subjects with normal thyroid function and no history of chronic diseases were taken as control group. Then the patient group subdivided into hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism groups on the bases of clinical examination and laboratory investigation for thyroid hormones. Serum total cholesterol (TC), High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), and Triglyceride (TG) were assessed in all groups. Our study indicate that there is a highly significant increase (p<0.0001) in the levels of TC, LDL, VLDL, and TG whereas HDL levels was found significantly decreased in hypothyroidism cases compared to hyperthyroidism and control subjects. Hyperthyroidism patients present highly significant decrease in serum level of TC, TG, LDL, and VLDL (p˂0.0001) compared to control subjects. There is significantly increase in the activity of HDL in hyperthyroidism patients when compared with control subjects (p˂0.001). I conclude that any increase in the levels of lipid fractions LDL, TC, VLDL and TG with a decrease in HDL levels may be contributory factor to the Dheyaa Sh. HammadStudy to the effect of Thyroid Dysfunction on Lipid Profile EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH Vol. VI, Issue 2 / May 2018 860 high risk of atherosclerosis induced coronary heart disease observed in hypothyroidism patients.
CADMIUM REMOVAL BY USING PUMICE MODIFIED WITH IRON NANOPARTICLES FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

In this study, the removal of cadmium by using pumice coated with iron nanoparticles (INPs) from synthetic wastewater was investigated. The effects of parameters influencing adsorption: contact time (10-20 min), pH (3-9), initial cadmium concentration (25-125 mg l) and adsorbent dose (2-10 g l) were studied. The pumice stone used in this research was, first, crashed and then sieved with 20 mesh standard sieves (0.85 mm); finally, it was coated with INPs. An atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to measure cadmium contents and isotherm models and adsorption kinetics were studied. The results showed the adsorption process of cadmium reached equilibrium at contact time of 80 min. With increasing pH solution, the efficiency enhanced which peaked at pH 7-8. Cadmium concentration increase resulted in a decrease in efficiency, whereas adsorbent dose increase improved it. Equilibrium data of adsorption followed isotherms models: Langmuir and Freundlich. The highest removal efficiency and adsorption capacity were, respectively, 83% and 17.27 mg g. Furthermore, absorption kinetics is better described by the pseudo second-order model. According to the results obtained, pumice coated with INPs is an effective adsorbent and can be introduced as a suitable option in practical applications.
Syntheses , Characterisation and Application of Palladium ( II ) Complexes as Catalysts in Heck Cross-Coupling Reaction

A new series of N,O-bidentate ligands, L1, L2, L3 and L4, and their Pd(II) complexes, PdL1, PdL2, PdL3 and PdL4 have been synthesised and characterised using various physico-chemical techniques, namely elemental analyses, IR and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopies, and conductivity analysis. The molecular geometries of PdL2 and PdL4 have been elucidated through single crystal X-ray crystallography revealing 2:1 molar equivalence of ligand: Pd with the Schiff bases that exhibited bidentate ligands behaviour, in which they coordinated through the phenolic O donor atoms and imine N. Upon complexation, the ν(C=N) around 1629-1639 cm-1 and ν(C-O) around 1251 to 1252 cm-1 shifted to lower frequencies by 4 to 23 cm-1. In this study, three parameters were chosen for the reaction conditions optimisation, which were types of bases, loadings for the catalyst, and temperatures of the reaction. Pd(II) complexes exhibited good catalytic activities for Heck coupling reaction with 100% conversion at 100°C within 12 hours of reaction time. Reducing the reaction temperature to 80°C reduced the conversion to a maximum of 80%.
Only about 25% of familial breast cancer is explained by mutations in brca1 and brca2, fewer by moderate penetrance genes like p53, pten, chek2, atm and palb2 and an unknown fraction by common variants of genes with low penetrance

1 Division of Experimental Therapy, 2 Molecular Biology, 3 Molecular Pathology, and 4 Family Cancer Clinic, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 5 Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands. 6 Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 7 Dept. of Pathology and Human Genetics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 8 Dept. Of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. 9 Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. 10 Department of Clinical Genetics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 11 Corresponing author P. Nederlof, e-mail: p.nederlof@nki.nl
Chapter 5 Role of Dietary Carotenoids in Different Etiologies of Chronic Liver Diseases

Carotenoids are tetraterpenoid organic pigments synthesized by a variety of plants and microorganisms. Dietary carotenoids, taken by animals through food, play an essential role in cell differentiation, morphogenesis, vision, prevention of cancer, atherosclerosis, and age-related macular degeneration in humans due to their potential to suppress oxidative stress. As reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage to biomolecules have been found to be involved in the causation and progression of chronic liver diseases (CLDs), including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, dietary antioxidants, which inactivate reactive oxygen species and obstruct oxidative damage, are considered as vital prophylactic strategic molecules. Data from various epidemiological studies and clinical trials strongly validate the observation that adequate carotenoid supplementation may significantly reduce the risk of several liver disorders. This chapter, thus, provides a comprehensive account of dietary carotenoids and includes the recent information with respect to their role in prevention of liver diseases.
Prognostic and Treatment Predictive Markers Associated with Cyclin D1 Gene Amplification and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer

Endocrine resistant breast cancer is a major therapeutical challenge and accurate selection of patients susceptible to certain types of anti-hormonal treatment strategies is pivotal. Discovery of novel biomarkers potentially predicting treatment response as well as the clinical course of breast cancer is essential to effectively improve therapies and diagnosis. The main goal of this thesis was to identify putative markers for prediction of clinical outcome and response to tamoxifen, the first-line endocrine treatment option for premenopausal breast cancer patients. The markers examined were associated with CCND1 amplification (Chk1 and β-arrestin1), which has previously been linked to a potential adverse effect of tamoxifen, or with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (Snail), a biological process crucial for the development of metastasis. Immunohistochemical analyses of the biomarkers were predominantly performed in a breast cancer cohort including premenopausal patients randomly assigned to receive either tamoxifen or no adjuvant treatment. The in vitro studies investigated the regulation of EMT in hypoxia, in a panel of human breast cancer cells lines. We found that deletion of the CHK1 gene is potentially associated with CCND1 amplification, and loss of Chk1 protein expression was demonstrated to be linked to an impaired response to tamoxifen in premenopausal breast cancer patients. Additionally, the EMT-regulator Snail, which has been reported to be involved in ER- signaling, was shown to predict tamoxifen response, where absence of nuclear Snail rendered patients less sensitive to this adjuvant therapy. Moreover, hypoxia induced an incomplete EMT in vitro, and Snail modulated the migratory propensity of breast cancer cells. Finally, stromal expression of β-arrestin1 was found to be an independent prognostic marker in a cohort of both pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer patients. In premenopausal patients both high expression and absence of β-arrestin1 was linked to poor prognosis, but expression of this protein was not associated with an altered tamoxifen response. In conclusion, these studies revealed two biomarkers with potential clinical significance in predicting the sensitivity to adjuvant tamoxifen, as well as one with an impact on clinical outcome. (Less)
EVALUATION OF EFFECT OF TRAINING THE HEALTH PROMOTING SCHOOL PLAN ON CHANGING ATTITUDE TOWARDS REDUCTION OF HIGH-RISK BEHAVIORS (SMOKING, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, DRUG ABUSE) AND INCREASE IN MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS

This study includes in quasi-experimental studies (pretest, posttest with control group) with the aim of evaluation of effectiveness of training health promoting school plan on changing attitude towards reduction of high-risk behaviors and increase in mental health of pre-university students. Statistical population of this study includes all Pre-university male students in Tehran, Iran and statistical sample of this study includes 40 Pre-university male students in Mathematics and Physics in Region 4 of Tehran who were selected using multistage sampling and randomly included in two groups (20 in test group and 20 in control group). The applied tool was has been questionnaire of changing attitude in high-risk behaviors and general health questionnaire (GHQ-28). There have been 12 2-hours treatment sessions for test group participants while control group received no intervention during this period. At the end of treatment sessions, study too was implemented as pretest for participants. The information of questionnaires was analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics including covariance analysis. According to the obtained results of this study, it could be found that training the heath promoting school plan effects on changing attitude towards reduction of high-risk behaviors (addiction and drug abuse, smoking, alcohol consumption) and increase in mental health of re-university students.
Significance of Lake Bosomtwe as a freshwater resource in Ghana ; communities ’ perception

The research seeks to find out the significance of freshwater and its sustainability in a given community, using Lake Bosomtwe as a case study. Most initial settlements were formed along water-bodies since freshwater helps to nourish and sustain life. Humans, however, have taken its abundance for granted. This is seen in the deterioration of water bodies near communities and the lack of access to clean water supply in these communities. This is a common feature in more than half of Africa's settlements especially Sub-Saharan Africa and specifically Ghana. Studies show that the measure one puts on the freshwater and the services the resource provides determines how it is used or protected. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 170 respondents (men and women) from the two districts in the Bosomtwe and Bosome-Freho Districts in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, bordering the Lake Bosomtwe. Primary data was generated through the administration of structured and semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and ranking methods were used to achieve objectives. The major findings indicate that the lake is a major source of protein and livelihood. Economic activities are having a great impact on the lake in terms of pollution and sedimentation on the Lake. Spiritual importance of the Lake has dwindled over time and the materialisation of the lake has become an important measure which is causing its possible extinction. Findings indicated only 39.8 percent of respondents rated religious issues as very important, with 84.5 percent rating economic issues as very important and 80.7 percent rating social issues as very important thus giving more prominence to the economic value of the lake resources.
PREDICTING THE SELLING PRICE OF DRIED EUCHEUMACOTTONII IN INDONESIA WITH FOUR CLASSIFIER OF DATA MINING TECHNIQUES

Dried Eucheumacottoniiseaweed (DES) is one of the main aquaculture commodities in Indonesia. Local farmers plant, harvest, and dry the seaweed, and subsequently sell it to traders. The selling price of seaweed depends on internal and external factors. To maximize their profit, farmers have to estimate the future price development by means of these factors. This paper presents a novel data-driven method reports on our attempts to develop methods to aid farmers in making such predictions. More specifically, we apply data mining to the task of predicting the seaweed price eight weeks ahead, at the time of selling. The data mining algorithm, i.e., classifier, requires attributes as its inputs. In our experiments, we selected three internal and three external factors as input attributes. The internal-factorattributes used are: current price, dirty content, and moisture content. The three external-factor attributes all relate to the weather and areminimum temperature, maximum temperature, and precipitation. All attributes are measured at time t. The output of classifier is a binary classification indicating if the seaweed sales price at time t plus eight weeks is larger or smaller than the price at time t. The data is collected from two publicly available sources and consists of 275measurements of six attributes each.We evaluated the performances of four classifiers on our data set using 10-fold cross-validation. The results obtained revealed that we were able to predict the selling price of seaweed with an accuracy of64%. Analysis of the trained classifier revealed that the main attribute used for predicting the future price is the current price. In conclusion, our data mining experiments suggest that it is feasible to predict the future price development of seaweedselling pricein Indonesia with accuracy above chance level.
Alternative ‘Recipes’ for High and Low Levels of Life Satisfaction: Structural Equation

One size fits all? In most previous empirical research on the determinants of Life Satisfaction (LS), there has been an assumption, usually unstated, that ‘one size fits all’. That is, it has been assumed that the covariates and potential causes of high and low LS are the similar for everyone, or at least everyone in the Western world (Diener et al, 1999). Even the newer literature on LS in low and middle income countries appears to be based on the same assumption, except for recognition of the greater importance of income, health and governmental corruption (Helliwell, Layard & Sachs, 2012-17).
Working Papers Series N ° D-1 9-2 0 0 6 < Defi ning viable recovery paths towards sustainable fi sheries >

This paper develops a formal analysis of the recovery processes for a fishery, from crisis situations to desired levels of sustainable exploitation, using the theoretical framework of viable control. We define sustainability in terms of biological, economic and social constraints which need to be met for a viable fishery to exist. Biological constraints are based on the definition of a minimal resource stock to be preserved. Economic constraints relate to the existence of a guaranteed profit per vessel. Social constraints refer to the maintenance of a minimum size of the fleet, and to the maximum speed at which fleet adjustment can take place. Using fleet size and fishing effort per vessel as control variables, we first identify the states of this bioeconomic system for which sustainable exploitation is possible, i.e. for which all constraints are dynamically met. Such favorable states are called viable states. We then examine possible transition phases, from non-viable to viable states and characterize recovery paths, with respect to the economic and social costs of limiting catches during the recovery period, and to the duration of this transition period. The analysis is applied to a single stock fishery; preliminary results of an empirical application to the bay of Biscay nephrops fishery are presented. In this case, transitions paths derived from the viability approach are compared to an open-access scenario and an optimal (with respect to an intertemporal discounted profit sum) harvesting scenario.
Cellular drug sensitivity in childhood acute myeloid leukemia : On behalf of the Nordic Society for Paediatric Haematology and Oncology

Despite major advances in our understanding of the biology of childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and the development of new cytotoxic drugs, the prognosis of long-term survival is still only 60-65 %. In the present research, we studied the pharmacokinetics of drugs used in the induction therapy of childhood AML and performed in vitro drug sensitivity testing of leukemic cells from children with AML.The aims of the studies were to correlate the results of the analysis to biological and clinical parameters and to identify subgroups of AML with specific drug sensitivity profiles in order to better understand why treatment fails in some patients and how therapy may be improved.Blood samples were analysed to study the pharmacokinetics of doxorubicin (n=41), etoposide (n=45) and 6-thioguanine (n=50). Doxorubicin plasma concentration and total body clearance were correlated to the effect of induction therapy, and doxorubicin plasma concentration was an independent factor for complete remission, both in univariate and multivariate analysis including sex, age, and white blood cell count at diagnosis. For etoposide and 6-thioguanine no correlation was found between pharmacokinetics and clinical effect. Children with Down syndrome (DS) tended to reach higher blood concentrations of etoposide and thioguanine nucleotides, indicating that dose reduction may be reasonable to reach the same drug exposure as in children without DS.Leukemic cells from 201 children with newly diagnosed AML, 15 of whom had DS, were successfully analysed for in vitro drug sensitivity by the fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay (FMCA). We found that samples from children with DS were highly sensitive to most drugs used in AML treatment. In non-DS children, the t(9;11) samples were significantly more sensitive to cytarabine (p=0.03) and doxorubicin (p=0.035) than other samples. The findings might explain the very favorable outcome reported in children with DS and t(9;11)-positive AML. A specific drug resistance profile was found for several other genetic subgroups as well. A detailed study of MLL-rearranged leukemia showed that cellular drug sensitivity is correlated both to partner genes and cell lineage, findings that support the strategy of contemporary protocols to include high-dose cytarabine in the treatment of patients with MLL-rearrangement, both in AML and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Our results indicate that drug resistance and pharmacokinetic studies may yield important information regarding drug response in different sub-groups of childhood AML, helping us to optimize future chemotherapy in childhood AML.
Too much or too little of R & D o ff shoring : The impact of captive o ff shoring and contract o ff shoring on innovation performance

Innovating firms may acquire foreign knowledge and improve their innovation performance by offshoring their R &D activities to their own foreign affiliates (captive offshoring) as well as by contracting out their R &D to external foreign parties (contract offshoring). This study examines the impact of both R & D offshoring strategies on innovation performance. Based on a panel dataset of 2421 R & D-active firms in Germany, we demonstrate that captive offshoring and contract offshoring differ fundamentally in their impact on firm innovation performance. At low degrees of offshoring, contract offshoring positively affects innovation performance and is preferable over captive offshoring. At larger degrees of offshoring, captive offshoring becomes more beneficial while contract offshoring is disadvantageous. Both offshoring strategies eventually harm innovation performance when excessively employed. Furthermore, the R &D offshoring-performance relationship is leveraged by R &D intensity, such that firms with a larger knowledge stock benefit stronger from both captive and contract
Theories of Dyslexia : Support by Changes in Auditory Perception 1

This study aims to examine contemporary theories on dyslexia, based on findings related to changes in auditory processing and speech perception found in dyslexics. The support for the phonological, allophonic and auditory deficit theories of dyslexia is discussed based on findings related to these changes in auditory perception. A new theoretical model is proposed, according to which dyslexia is a multifactorial-based deficit, with a gamut of associated behavioral symptoms. The deficit presented by dyslexics is partially linguistic, as advocated by the phonological theory, and partially auditory, as advocated by the theory of auditory deficit. Both factors interact and are inseparable in accounting for the symptomatology observed in reading and writing disorders.