Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ensemble Learning in Hyperspectral Image Classification: Toward Selecting a Favorable Bias-Variance Tradeoff

Automated classification of hyperspectral images is a fast growing field with numerous applications in the areas of security and surveillance, agriculture, urban management, and environmental monitoring. Although significant progress has been achieved in various aspects of hyperspectral classification (e.g., feature extraction, feature selection, classification, and post-classification processing), the problem has not been addressed so far from a bias-variance decomposition point of view. In this work, we introduce a consistent unified framework that jointly considers all steps in the hyperspectral image classification chain from a bias-variance decomposition perspective. Additionally, we show how state-of-the-art techniques in feature extraction, ensemble-based classification, and post-classification segmentation are related to the bias-variance tradeoff and how this relation can be used to improve classification accuracy. An important outcome of our analysis is that all the steps of the classification chain should be optimized jointly as this unified optimization can guide toward a more favorable bias-variance tradeoff. Experimental results of the proposed framework in the case of four hyperspectral datasets prove the effectiveness of our approach.
The Effect of Users’ Individual characteristics and Social Influence on Cyberethics and Usage in Web 2.0

The issue on cyber ethics cannot be solved within technical and legal boundaries. Therefore, this study intends to consider the antecedents affecting cyber ethics from the perspectives of individual characteristics and social influences. Specifically, the current research aims to investigate (1) the effect of individual characteristics(self-efficacy, locus of control) on cyber ethics in web 2.0 environment, (2) the impact of social influences(subjective norm, image, visibility) on cyber ethics, (3) the moderation effect of a user's personality(extroversion, introversion) between individual characteristics and social influences, finally (4) the interrelationship between cyber ethics and the type of web 2.0 service participation of users(consumption, production).
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Corticobasal Degeneration

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is an adult–onset, progressive parkinsonian syndrome with strikingly asymmetrical features, and signs and symptoms referable to both cerebral cortex and basal ganglia. Although once considered rare, it is now recognized with increasing frequency during life. Eight patients with clinically diagnosed CBD and 8 age– and sex–matched patients with Parkinson's disease underwent high–field–strength magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. MRIs were graded by a blinded neuroradiologist using a semiquantitative (0–3) scale. MRI of patients with CBD revealed significantly greater T2–weighted signal hypointensity in the putamena and globi pallidi, and ventricular enlargement. When specifically sought, asymmetrical cortical atrophy was identified in 5 of 8 CBD patients. Increased T2–weighted lenticular signal hypointensity, ventricular enlargement, and asymmetrical cortical atrophy are supportive MRI findings of CBD.
Undecaprenyl Pyrophosphate Involvement in Susceptibility of Bacillus subtilis to Rare Earth Elements

ABSTRACT The rare earth element scandium has weak antibacterial potency. We identified a mutation responsible for a scandium-resistant phenotype in Bacillus subtilis. This mutation was found within the uppS gene, which encodes undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase, and designated uppS86 (for the Thr-to-Ile amino acid substitution at residue 86 of undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase). The uppS86 mutation also gave rise to increased resistance to bacitracin, which prevents cell wall synthesis by inhibiting the dephosphorylation of undecaprenyl pyrophosphate, in addition to enhanced amylase production. Conversely, overexpression of the wild-type uppS gene resulted in increased susceptibilities to both scandium and bacitracin. Moreover, the mutant lacking undecaprenyl pyrophosphate phosphatase (BcrC) showed increased susceptibility to all rare earth elements tested. These results suggest that the accumulation of undecaprenyl pyrophosphate renders cells more susceptible to rare earth elements. The availability of undecaprenyl pyrophosphate may be an important determinant for susceptibility to rare earth elements, such as scandium.
Control system of an Autosampler: configuration and operation software and Fieldbus type communication protocol

Autosamplers are devices with the capability to collect and deploy samples for further analysis in tubes uniformly distributed within predefined trays, with remarkable speed and accuracy. Such devices are widely available in the market and whilst their prices are high, its programming and tasks are apparently simple. Taking this economic problematic and adding the portability concept, thus came the idea for here presented work: an Autosampler operating over 3 axis, X, Y and Z, capable of executing the same operating tasks already available in the market, configured and controlled by means of a user friendly application. In the present paper we will focus the development of the user friendly application that runs on a PC, and of the software protocol used to communicate with our stand-alone developed Autosampler.
An intravascular large B-cell lymphoma with a t(3;14)(q27;q32) translocation

A 61-year-old man with no symptom was found with bilateral adrenal nodules on CT scan during a routine physical check-up. The left nodule was removed by adrenalectomy, and the patient was diagnosed with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma (IVLBCL) on pathological and immunohistochemical examinations. Using a set of dual-colour, break-apart probes and fluorescence in situ hybridisation, it was revealed that the lymphoma cells have tetraploid karyotype, with a breakpoint in BCL6 gene, which was further confirmed as a t(3;14)(q27;q32) translocation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of IVLBCL with such a translocation.
Interactions between Histamine and Leukotrienes in the Microcirculation: Aspects of Relevance to Acute Allergic Inflammation a

Acute allergic inflammation is characterized by increased blood flow, extravasation of plasma, and recruitment of circulating leukocytes. These events are triggered by locally released inflammatory mediators, including histamine and leukotrienes. In the microcirculation, the cysteinyl-leukotrienes (LTC,, LTD,, LTE,) evoke dosedependent extravasation of plasma with a potency exceeding that of histamine by approximately lo00 times. ' The permeability increase is localized to postcapillary venules,' and ultrastructural studies of tissues exposed to histamine or cysteinylleukotrienes have shown that plasma proteins leak out via gaps between contracted endothelial cells. " On the other hand, local administration of leukotriene B4 (LTB,) causes leukocytes to adhere to the venular endothelium, followed by emigration to the perivascular inter~titium? -~ This process is accompanied by plasma leakage that is unrelated to endothelial gap formation and is entirely dependent on the presence andor intact adhesive function of At sites of acute inflammation, the chemical and cellular complexity provides a basis for multiple interactions, some of which involve synergism between inflammatory mediators that have different profiles of action in the microcirculation. The classical example in this respect is potentiation by specific vasodilators such as prostaglandin & (PGC) of plasma extravasation induced, for example, by bradykinin or histamine? In this case, the enhancement of plasma leakage is believed to result from the increased blood flow and hydrostatic pressure in venules where the integrity of the endothelial barrier has been disrupted.I0 Leukocyte recruitment into tissues in response to chemotactic factors has also been shown to be potentiated by specific vasodilators;" however, the detailed microvascular mechanisms behind this type of synergism involving inflammatory cells have not been clarified.
The role of travel experience and gender on travel information source selection

Purpose This paper aims to identify the most popular travel information sources used among tourists and investigates how travel information selection differs across travel experience and gender. Design/methodology/approach This study used convenient and quota sampling strategy, questionnaires were distributed to 270 respondents at Sultanahmet and Grand Bazaar areas. A screening question was used to classify respondents. Findings First, past travel experience, travel agent, travel websites and hotel websites are generally the most frequently used travel information sources in destination selection due to conveniences and reliability. Second, first-timers prefer to use external information sources such as Facebook, guidebooks, travel agents and newspapers to gather information about destinations, whereas repeat visitors prefer to use internal information sources such as friends’ suggestions and past travel experience. Lastly, female visitors rely more on internal information sources such as friends’ suggestions and past travel experience. However, males prefer to use external information sources like Facebook, television, blog, travel agents, newspaper and guidebooks in choosing Turkey as a destination. Research limitations/implications Because factors studied, travel information sources selected, number of respondents and questionnaire distribution area are limited, future studies can expand to a bigger area so more respondents could get more reliable results. Practical implications This paper could help tourism industries understand searching behaviours among different types of tourists better to promote businesses in convenient sources and reach target customers easily. Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to study how travel information searching behaviours differ among tourists.
Characterization of Bax-sigma, a cell death-inducing isoform of Bax.

The Ced-9/Bcl-like family of genes codes for proteins that have antiapoptotic and proapoptotic activity. Several Bax isoproteins have been detected by 2-D gel electrophoresis, and a novel human member, designated as Bax-sigma, has been identified and cloned from human cancer promyelocytic cells. Bax-sigma contains BH-3, BH-1, and BH-2 domains, putative alpha-5 and alpha-6 helices, and the carboxy-terminal hydrophobic transmembrane domain but lacks amino acids 159 to 171 compared to Bax-alpha. mRNA expression analysis by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and RNase protection assays have revealed that Bax-sigma is expressed in a variety of human cancer cell lines and normal tissues. To investigate the potential role of Bax-sigma in apoptosis, first its effects were compared to those of Bax-alpha by transient expression in human B lymphoma Namalwa cells. Both Bax-sigma and Bax-alpha promoted apoptosis, as detected by DNA fragmentation and morphological analysis by electron microscopy. The apoptosis induced by Bax-sigma and Bax-alpha was correlated with their expression, cytochrome c release, and caspase activation. In a yeast two-hybrid system, Bax-sigma interacted with several Ced-9/Bcl family members but had no affinity for the human Egl-1 homologs Bik and Bad and the Ced-4 homolog Apaf-1. In human cells, Bax-sigma function was counteracted by Bcl-xL overexpression, and co-immunoprecipitation experiments indicated that Bax-sigma was associated with Bcl-xL. Furthermore, Bax-sigma overexpression increased cell death induced by various concentrations of genotoxic agents with the most pronounced effect occurring at low camptothecin and vinblastine dose levels. Our results suggest that Bax-sigma, a novel variant of Bax, encodes a protein with a proapoptotic effect and mode of action similar to those of Bax-alpha.
Continuous Optimization On the convergence of inexact block coordinate descent methods for constrained optimization

We consider the problem of minimizing a smooth function over a feasible set defined as the Cartesian product of convex compact sets. We assume that the dimension of each factor set is huge, so we are interested in studying inexact block coordinate descent methods (possibly combined with column generation strategies). We define a general decomposition framework where different line search based methods can be embedded, and we state global convergence results. Specific decomposition methods based on gradient projection and Frank–Wolfe algorithms are derived from the proposed framework. The numerical results of computational experiments performed on network assignment problems are reported. 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Factors Influencing Adoption of Green Practices by Small and Medium Sized Hotels in Thailand

This article investigates factors that influence hotel owner-managersâ€™ perception toward green practice adoption in Southern Thailand. The driving factors in research consisted of owner-manager attitudes, environmental awareness, perceived benefits, green consumers, and competitors. A quantitative research design was employed in conducting this study. A total of 236 questionnaires were distributed to hotels ranging from mid-scale hotels to budget hotels. A sample of 145 hotel owner-managers completed questionnaires, which were used for the analysis. This study found that owner-manager attitudes, environmental awareness, and competitors have significantly influenced the adoption of green practices. However, the effect of perceived benefits and green consumers is not significant. This article provides practical implications for small and medium sized hotels (SMHs) to adopt more green practices.
Living longer, contributing longer.

IN 1988, the image of the "Greedy Geezer" was born. Depicted on the cover of The New Republic magazine, the advancing army of angry-faced older persons wielding garden trowels, fishing poles, and golf clubs looked menacing, poised to assault America. The essay inside by Henry Fairlie 1 described what the cover expressed visually: Older people are selfish and drain the country of resources that might otherwise be channeled elsewhere, especially to children. There have been other similar negative attacks on older people in this country. The Concord Coalition, for example—a membership organization dedicated to federal deficit reduction—has, in its concern over the solvency of public entitlement programs, scapegoated older people. The image of the affluent Greedy Geezer and his or her arrogant sense of entitlement has become a powerful symbol in this time of negative attitudes toward government and increased tax resistance, and it is helping to foment an artificially
Effect of high physiological levels of factor VIII: C and factor V on rate of generation of thrombin activity in vitro

Increased plasma FVIII:C concentrations occur in several conditions, including diabetes, but whether this leads to clinically relevant hypercoagulability is uncertain. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of increasing FVIII:C levels on coagulation in vitro using a computer-assisted measurement of thrombin activity. Defibrinated plasma was activated with kaolin, thrombin activity measured using the chromogenic substrate S2238 and time to generate 50% maximal thrombin activity (T50) recorded in seconds. Increasing FVIII:C levels from 100 to 350% significantly reduced T50 (mean ± SD) from 91 ± 3 to 64 ± 6.2 s (P < 0.001, n = 6), and T50 correlated inversely with FVIII:C(r = - 0.884, P< 0.001,n = 36). Increasing FV concentrations resulted in an additive effect with high FVIII:C levels on the rate of thrombin generation. The results showed that increasing plasma FVIII:C and FV concentrations accelerate rate of generation of thrombin activity independently, and in an additive manner.
Arable Crop Farming and Adoption of Bee Pollination Services among Farming Households in Kwara State, Nigeria

The majority of crop pollination services are provided by the honey bee (Apis mellifera) but almost not available in most developing countries including Nigeria. This study was undertaken to assess adoption of Bee Pollination Services (BPS) by arable crop farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A field survey with questionnaire administration was conducted in 10 Local Government Areas of Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 160 farmers consisting of 80 watermelon and 80 soybean farmers were randomly sampled in two categories. The first category consist of 17 watermelon and 31 soybean farmers with farms located near apiary while the second category consist of 63 watermelon and 49 Original Research Article Oladimeji et al.; AJAEES, 15(2): 1-10, 2017; Article no.AJAEES. 31305 2 soybean farmers far away from apiary. The tools of analysis were descriptive statistics, net margin model and double difference estimators. The results revealed that the average age of watermelon and soybean farmers were 43 and 45 years, mean education index of 4.1 and 4.6 years respectively, household size of 8 for both and average annual farm income of ₦120550 and ₦135600 respectively. The empirical results also revealed there is a significant difference in average annual farm income among watermelon and soybean farmers who adopt BPS and nonadopters. The result showed that low level of farmers’ awareness of importance of BPS and lack of relevant knowledge and skill to adopt BPS are the two most critical constraints towards adoption and application of BPS. The study recommends farmers’ enlightenment and training through extension agents to adopt bee pollination service for insect dependent crop production.
Characteristics of the rumen proteolysis of fraction I (18S) leaf protein from lucerne (Medicago sativa L)

1. The rate of proteolysis of fraction 1 (18S) leaf protein in the rumen of sheep and cattle was affected by diet and the rate on fresh lucerne (Medicago sativa L) was three to nine times the rate on a hay + concentrate diet. 2. Simultaneous rumen fermentations in vivo and in an artificial rumen showed that the rates of proteolysis of fraction I in vitro was approximately 80% of the rates in sheep. 3. Using 14C uniformly-labelled fraction I protein at low concentrations, proteolysis exhibited 1st-order kinetics. Over a wide range of protein concentrations the velocity v. substrate concentration curve showed Michaelis–Menten characteristics typical of an enzyme-catalysed reaction. With rumen fluid from a hay + concentrate-fed sheep the maximum velocity was 2.6 mg protein nitrogen/1 per min and the Michaelis constant was 75 mg nitrogen/1. 4. Rapid adsorption of 14C-labelled fraction I protein onto bacterial cells preceded proteolysis. 5. Sucrose-density-gradient analysis showed initial incorporation of 14C from protein into rumen bacteria followed by partial transfer to rumen protozoa. 6. No peptides were detected during proteoiysis showing that the rate-limiting step occurred during the initial stages of proteolysis. Only small amounts of free amino acids were released except for leucine, isoleucine, valine and ornithine, which showed significantly increased levels. 7. Volatile fatty acids were the main 14C-labelied end products and were rapidly produced in descending concentrations: acetate > propionate > 3-methyl + 2-methyl butyrate > butyrate > isobutyrate > valerate.
An adaptive algorithm for image resolution enhancement

We present a novel and fast algorithm to enhance the resolution of an image by an arbitrary factor which is based on adaptively selecting different interpolating filters depending on local image analysis. Local image regions are analyzed in terms of edges and texture. This local image analysis is then used to select appropriate filters. We show that our algorithm significantly outperforms the standard bicubic interpolation method and does not suffer from ringing and blurring artifacts. Furthermore, we show a variant of the algorithm which works very well for scaling of bilevel images.
Adaptive beamforming method based on closed-loop power control for DS-CDMA receiver in multipath fading channels

In this paper, we propose smart step closed-loop power control (SSPC) algorithm in a direct sequence-code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) receiver in the presence of frequency-selective Rayleigh fading. This receiver consists of three stages. In the first stage, with conjugate gradient (CG) adaptive beamforming algorithm, the desired users' signal in an arbitrary path is passed and the inter-path interference is canceled in other paths in each RAKE finger. Also in this stage, the multiple access interference (MAI) from other users is reduced. Thus, the matched filter (MF) can be used for the MAI reduction in each RAKE finger in the second stage. Also in the third stage, the output signals from the matched filters are combined according to the conventional maximal ratio combining (MRC) principle and then are fed into the decision circuit of the desired user. The simulation results indicate that the convergence speed of the SSPC algorithm is faster than other algorithms. Also, we observe that significant saving in total transmit power (TTP) are possible with our proposed algorithm.
A 2013 updated systematic review & meta‐analysis of 36 randomized controlled trials; no apparent effects of non steroidal anti‐inflammatory agents on the risk of bleeding after tonsillectomy

Although the literature suggests that non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective in controlling post‐operative pain in the paediatric population, physicians have been reluctant to utilise these medications after tonsillectomy due to concerns of increased bleeding rates. While many surgeons prescribe opioid analgesics postoperatively, these are associated with a number of potential adverse side‐effects including nausea, vomiting, constipation, excessive sedation and respiratory compromise.
Energy, Exergy and Economic Evaluation Comparison of Small-Scale Single and Dual Pressure Organic Rankine Cycles Integrated with Low-Grade Heat Sources

Low-grade heat sources such as solar thermal, geothermal, exhaust gases and industrial waste heat are suitable alternatives for power generation which can be exploited by means of small-scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). This paper combines thermodynamic optimization and economic analysis to assess the performance of single and dual pressure ORC operating with different organic fluids and targeting small-scale applications. Maximum power output is lower than 45 KW while the temperature of the heat source varies in the range 100–200 °C. The studied working fluids, namely R1234yf, R1234ze(E) and R1234ze(Z), are selected based on environmental, safety and thermal performance criteria. Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Specific Investment Cost (SIC) for two operation conditions are presented: maximum power output and maximum thermal efficiency. Results showed that R1234ze(Z) achieves the highest net power output (up to 44 kW) when net power output is optimized. Regenerative ORC achieves the highest performance when thermal efficiency is optimized (up to 18%). Simple ORC is the most cost-effective among the studied cycle configurations, requiring a selling price of energy of 0.3 USD/kWh to obtain a payback period of 8 years. According to SIC results, the working fluid R1234ze(Z) exhibits great potential for simple ORC when compared to conventional R245fa.