Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Evaluation of Consensus Latency in Partitioning Networks

Consensus, or state machine replication, is critical for the deployment of distributed battlefield systems. Battlefield networks operate in environments with unpredictable wireless connectivity which lead to sparse networks and frequent partitioning, and this makes deploying centralized architectures where nodes require a connection to a remote server unsuitable. The Extended Virtual Synchrony (EVS) model provides membership views which enables a network to reach consensus even after experiencing a series of partitions and mergers. If a node wants to propose state transitions that require nodes that are not currently in its membership view, then the node needs to wait until it reconnects with those nodes. The time the node has to wait to reconnect to the other nodes introduces consensus delays in the network. In this work, we evaluate consensus latency by focusing on these queued state transition proposals due to both network partition characteristics and distributed application/mission design. The key findings of our results show that consensus delay is least affected by network partitioning when the network splits at a rate equal to or less than 1/4 the rate in which partitions merge. Our evaluation results provide application and mission designers guidelines on the tradeoffs between several network characteristics and desired consensus latency properties.
Analysis and Removal of Interference in Cognitive Radio Using RBFN

Spectrum prediction is a key technology of cognitive radio, which can help unlicensed users to determine whether the licensed user’s spectrum is idle. Based on radial-basis function (RBF) neural network, this paper proposed a spectrum prediction algorithm with K-means clustering algorithm (K-RBF). This algorithm could predict the spectrum holes according to the historical information of the licensed user’s spectrum. It not only increases the veracity of spectrum sensing, but also improves the efficiency of spectrum sensing. Simulation results showed that this prediction algorithm can predict the spectrum accessing of the licensed user accurately and the prediction error is only one-third of that of the RBF neural network.
Impact of viruses on airway diseases

There is strong epidemiological evidence that respiratory viral infections are associated with 80–85% of asthma exacerbations in children. There is less evidence in adults, but the available data suggest viruses are associated with around two-thirds to three-quarters of exacerbations in adults. These associations include severe exacerbations requiring hospitalisation. The most common viruses detected in these studies were rhinoviruses, accounting for two-thirds of viruses detected. Asthmatics have increased susceptibility to respiratory virus infection and have recently been shown to have profoundly defective interferon-β responses to virus infection, resulting in increased virus replication. Atypical bacterial infections are also associated with chronic asthma and asthma exacerbations and a recent study indicates antibiotic therapy active against atypical bacteria is effective in treatment of exacerbations. Recent data also indicates asthmatics are at increased risk of invasive pneumococcal disease, suggesting they may also have impaired antibacterial immunity. Research is urgently required to determine whether augmenting anti-infective immunity is beneficial in the treatment/prevention of asthma exacerbations. More recent data also implicates viruses in the majority of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Studies are also required investigating anti-infective host defence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) performance, health status, immune response and intestinal morphology after feeding a mixture of plant proteins-containing diets

The feasibility of reducing the fish meal (FM) content, as much as possible, in juvenile seabass diets by using a combination of four plant nutrients (plant mix, PX): soybean meal, SBM; soyprotein concentrate, SPC; corn gluten, CG and maize flour, MF was investigated . Seabass (mean initial body weight, 4.74±0.04 g) were fed with one of four isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets formulated to progressively reduce FM concentration of control diet (CTRL), by incorporation the PX, to be 30% (FM30 diet), 25% (FM25 diet), and 20% (FM20 diet) over a 13-week growth period. Fish were fed the experimental diets in triplicate and the resulting effects on growth performance, nutrient utilization, biochemical and amino acid composition, major blood constituents, immunity indicators and intestinal histology were evaluated. At the end of the trial, the FM25-fed fish presented growth, feed utilization, and survival rates comparable (P>0.05) to the CTRL fish. In addition, this diet did not negatively influenced major blood constituents, immunity indicators or intestinal histomorphology. Further dietary FM reduction to 20% (FM20 diet) and elevation of PX inclusion level (~ 59%) have caused a significant (P<0.05)decline in final fish weight, haemoglobin, erythrocyte, leukocyte and lymphocyte counts, elevated leukocytes phagocytic-activityand caused some abnormalities in the proximal intestine (PI) morphological features, but did not negatively impacted haematocrit value, mean erythrocyte cell volume (MCV), mean cellular haemoglobin content (MCH), mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), monocytes, eosinophils, serum total protein and lysozyme activity. Based on these results, the FM25 formulation (containing approximately 54% PX) can be considered the appropriate for reducing dietary FM down to 25% without compromising the performance, health, immunity or PI morphology of juveniles’ seabass.
Classification systems of processed food : a comparison

Within nutrition science several classification systems for processed food have been developed, e.g. by the IFIC or the IARC. In Germany, Werner Kollath developed a classification system for wholefood nutrition in the 1940s, which was later the basis for the classification system of von Koerber et al. A more recent classification system called NOVA was developed in Brazil and is now used in various public health research studies. The three systems all classify processed food in different ways. This paper gives an overview of the three systems, analyses their similarities and differences and explores their application to organic processed food.
STUDY OF THE ANTICORROSIVE ACTION OF EUCALYPTUS CAMALDULENSIS EXTRACT IN CASE OF MILD STEEL IN 1.0 M HCl

The anticorrosive action of two extracts of EucalyptusCamaldulensis.L (P1 and P2) is investigated in case of mild steel in 1.0 M HCl using several techniques such as weight loss, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel polarization curves. The corrosion inhibition efficiency of P1 and P2 increases with increase of the inhibitor’s concentration. The effect of the medium temperature on the corrosion inhibition is also studied. The Tafel polarization curves reveal that both Eucalyptus extracts behave as mixed type inhibitors and can act as effective corrosion inhibitors of mild steel in normal hydrochloric acid solution. The results obtained from the Tafel polarization curves and EIS are in a good agreement. The superficial analysis of mild steel is performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). It is found that the surface homogeneity increases in case of inhibitors application providing good protection of mild steel against corrosion in a hydrochloric medium.
Latent semantic network induction in the context of linked example senses

The Princeton WordNet is a powerful tool for studying language and developing natural language processing algorithms. With significant work developing it further, one line considers its extension through aligning its expert-annotated structure with other lexical resources. In contrast, this work explores a completely data-driven approach to network construction, forming a wordnet using the entirety of the open-source, noisy, user-annotated dictionary, Wiktionary. Comparing baselines to WordNet, we find compelling evidence that our network induction process constructs a network with useful semantic structure. With thousands of semantically-linked examples that demonstrate sense usage from basic lemmas to multiword expressions (MWEs), we believe this work motivates future research.
Bio-management of Citrus Nematode, Tylenchulus semipenetrans and Dry Root Rot Fungi, Fusarium solani under Laboratory and Field Conditions

Slow decline and dry root rot of citrus caused by Tylenchulus semipenetrans and Fusarium solani, respectively are serious diseases attacking many groves in Egypt. Efficacy of the bio-agents (Trichoderma harzianum, Bacillus subtilis, Streptomyces griseus and Paecilomyces lilacinus) against citrus nematode T. semipenetrans and their combination with Nemastop were studied in vitro. Such bio-agents and Nemastop were also studied under field conditions against both T.semipenetrans and F. solani infecting Washington Navel orange trees compared with control and Nemaphos. In vitro study revealed that all tested bio-agents had various degrees of effectiveness towards the juvenile's survival compared with control treatment. Meanwhile, Bio-Nematon achieved the highest percentage of mortality for T. semipenetrans (50.0%). The population and incidence of soil borne pathogens were examined after three, seven and twelve months in vivo. Results showed that all treatments led to clear significant reduction in disease incidence compared with control treatment. All bio-agents gave good effect on decreasing T. semipenetrans population and F. solani incidence for twelve months. Benefits, achieved by simultaneous application of bio-agents based on different mechanisms of actions, are discussed. A clear significant decrement in T. semipenetrans population was noticed with the combination of T. harzianum with Nemastop. Meanwhile, B. subtilis or T. harzianum reduced F. solani incidence.
Skipping Rope and Double Dutch Lessons for Elementary School Students

The purpose of this study was to measure the children response to newly introduced lesson contents they never experienced before; they are skipping rope and double dutch. Preceded by introducing these skipping rope and Double Dutch skills to PE teachers through a short training, then all teachers are assigned to start teaching them to their children in school through PE lesson. On the other period, teams of observers were assigned to monitor the quick yield of the learning at schools, both in skill acquisition and the enthusiasm of children over the skills being introduced. The observation data then be analyzed through a simple procedure and the results were abstracted into the calculated format, to withdraw the conclusion. The result, much to our surprise, was so promising, since the children were so enthusiastic to these new activities. This result has ruined the old perception that children would have only interested in to formal sport skills activities. This could have happened simply that children also would also be so attracted by the new challenging activities. Keywords—skipping rope; double dutch; basic movements
Cirurgia de revascularização transmiocárdica a laser de CO2

The authors report the effects of laser rays, the different kinds of rays and their interaction with biological tissues. The use of laser rays in medicine, from photocoagulation experimental studies in the animal retina to their use in atheroma plaques and the cardiac muscle is also reported, with emphasis on the pioneer studies carried out in Brazil. Indirect methods of myocardial revascularization, the basis for the use of laser rays in transmyocardial revascularization surgery are reported as well, in addition to randomized protocols which have shown this procedure is adequate for the treatment of a selected group of patients. A special emphasis is given to the kind of patient chosen for revascularization using laser, i.e., patients in end-stage coronary artery disease, with ischemic (and viable) myocardium with angina, after all the usual therapy resources have been tried, especially classic myocardial revascularization and angioplasty. The experience of the Heart Institute in a two-year period consists of 40 patients with the clinical characteristics above, who underwent transmyocardial revascularization using laser rays. After 12 months of follow-up, about 87.8% of them have a significant improvement of symptoms, with regression of class III or IV angina to classes 0, I or II (p<0.0001). Three (7.5%) early deaths and 2 late deaths were observed. Despite a mild improvement in left ventricular function, shown by magnetic resonance and echocardiographic study, there was no change in myocardial perfusion. The fate of the channels created by laser rays in the myocardium is studied based on our own results and in literature. The probable activity mechanisms are also discussed, emphasizing myocardial denervation and neoangiogenesis. Future perspective involves the use of laser in minimally invasive procedures combined to classic myocardial revascularization.
Context-aware Neural Machine Translation with Coreference Information

We present neural machine translation models for translating a sentence in a text by using a graph-based encoder which can consider coreference relations provided within the text explicitly. The graph-based encoder can dynamically encode the source text without attending to all tokens in the text. In experiments, our proposed models provide statistically significant improvement to the previous approach of at most 0.9 points in the BLEU score on the OpenSubtitle2018 English-to-Japanese data set. Experimental results also show that the graph-based encoder can handle a longer text well, compared with the previous approach.
Wounding and UVB Light Synergistically Induce the Biosynthesis of Phenolic Compounds and Ascorbic Acid in Red Prickly Pears (Opuntia ficus-indica cv. Rojo Vigor)

The present study evaluated the effects of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation and wounding stress, applied alone or combined, on the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds and ascorbic acid in the peel and pulp of red prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica cv. Rojo Vigor). Whole and wounded-fruit samples were treated with UVB radiation (6.4 W·m−2) for 0 and 15 min, and stored for 24 h at 16 °C. Phytochemical analyses were performed separately in the peel and pulp. The highest phenolic accumulation occurred after storage of the whole tissue treated with UVB, where the main phenolic compounds accumulated in the peel and pulp were quercetin, sinapic acid, kaempferol, rosmarinic acid, and sinapoyl malate, showing increases of 709.8%, 570.2%, 442.8%, 439.9%, and 186.2%, respectively, as compared with the control before storage. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity was increased after storage of the whole and wounded tissue treated with UVB light, and this increase in PAL activity was associated to phenolic accumulation. On the other hand, l-galactono-γ-lactone dehydrogenase (GalLDH) activity and ascorbic acid biosynthesis was enhanced due to UVB radiation, and the effect was increased when UVB was applied in the wounded tissue showing 125.1% and 94.1% higher vitamin C content after storage when compared with the control. Respiration rate was increased due to wounding stress, whereas ethylene production was increased by wounding and UVB radiation in prickly pears. Results allowed the generation of a physiological model explaining the UVB and wound-induced accumulation of phenolic compounds and ascorbic acid in prickly pears, where wounding facilitates UVB to access the underlying tissue and enhances an apparent synergistic response.
Learning From and About Others: Towards Using Imitation to Bootstrap the Social Competence of Robots

Infant imitation has been identified as a vital catalyst for social behavior in humans. Its importance lies in imitation's role in the development of a number of social capabilities, the most important of which are social identification ("others are like me") -achieved through the existence of cross-modal recognition; turn-taking; communicative skills; and the emergence of motor skills. Also, so-called mirror neurons quoted herein have been found to provide a possible neurological basis for imitative abilities.
OP-JCRE180039 906..932

Given the increasingly specific ways marketers can target ads, consumers and regulators are demanding ad transparency: disclosure of how consumers’ personal information was used to generate ads. We investigate how and why ad transparency impacts ad effectiveness. Drawing on literature about offline norms of information sharing, we posit that ad transparency backfires when it exposes marketing practices that violate norms about “information flows”—consumers’ beliefs about how their information should move between parties. Study 1 inductively shows that consumers deem information flows acceptable (or not) based on whether their personal information was: 1) obtained within versus outside of the website on which the ad appears, and 2) stated by the consumer versus inferred by the firm (the latter of each pair being less acceptable). Studies 2 and 3 show that revealing unacceptable information flows reduces ad effectiveness, which is driven by increasing consumers’ relative concern for their privacy over desire for the personalization that such targeting affords. Study 4 shows the moderating role of platform trust: when consumers trust a platform, revealing acceptable information flows increases ad effectiveness. Studies 5a and 5b, conducted in the field with a loyalty program website (i.e., a trusted platform), demonstrate this benefit of transparency.
THE DISORIENTED STATE: SHIFTS IN AND GOVERNANCE GOVERNMENTALITY, TERRITORIALITY

This introductory chapter discusses the relationship between state governance and specific forms of policy making in the light of three major kind of changes, in governmentality, territoriality and governance itself. Our basic assertion is that policy-specific developments are not just derivative but co-constitutive of broader discourses and practices, such as associated with the rise of neo-liberalism and multi-actor, multi-level governance. We then introduce the way we will explore our questions in the remainder of the book.
Reactive and Functional Polymers

Article history: Received 5 November 2015 Received in revised form 4 May 2016 Accepted 10 May 2016 Available online 12 May 2016 The electrospun chitosan nanofibers provide excellent material for immobilized proteolytic enzymes, and are biocompatible, nontoxic and hydrophilic matrices with large specific area. This paper deals with an application of electrospun chitosan nanofibers and optimizing conditions for their biofunctionalization bymodel proteolytic enzyme trypsin. Nanofibers from chitosan were prepared using Nanospider technology and covalent immobilization of trypsin followed. Three immobilization techniques preserving biocompatibility and utilizing amine and/or hydroxyl groups of chitosan were optimized and compared to simple adsorption to achieve maximum proteolytic activity per cm of the functionalized chitosan nanofibers (Tryp-NF). Significant differences were observed. Trypsin immobilized by the carbodiimide one-step protocol demonstrated the highest activity of the three procedures, ranging from 132 to 210 IU/cm (i.e., 548–874 IU/mg of nanofibers), depending on the initial amount of trypsin used. Long-term storage stability together with high reusability of Tryp-NF confirmed advantages of the immobilized enzyme. Tryp-NF showed no cytotoxicity toward growth of HeLa cells. The in vivo tests for irritation and skin sensitization demonstrated no undesirable skin reactions. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Shaping Rewards for Combined Reinforcement and Imitation Learning using Generative Models

—The potential beneﬁts of model-free reinforcement learning to real robotics systems are limited by its uninformed exploration that leads to slow convergence, lack of data-efﬁciency, and unnecessary interactions with the environment. To address these drawbacks we propose a method that combines reinforcement and imitation learning by shaping the reward function with a state-and-action-dependent potential that is trained from demonstration data. We show that this accelerates policy learning by specifying high-value areas of the state and action space that are worth exploring ﬁrst. Unlike the majority of existing methods that assume optimal demonstrations and incorporate the demonstration data as hard constraints on policy optimization, we instead incorporate demonstration data as advice in the form of a reward shaping potential trained as a generative model of states and actions. In particular, we use normalizing ﬂows and Generative Adversarial Networks to represent these potentials. We show that, unlike existing approaches that incorporate demonstrations as hard constraints, our approach is unbiased even in the case of sub-optimal and noisy demonstrations. We present an extensive range of simulations, as well as experiments on the Franka Emika 7DOF arm, to demonstrate the practicality of our method.
Chapter 2 Basic Machine Vision Techniques

A Machine Vision system is like a chain: it is only as strong as its weakest link. To most people, the ability to handle images inside a computer, or dedicated electronic hardware, is a complete mystery, although the basic concepts are apparently quite straightforward. It is usually far easier to understand what an image processing operator does than how it does it. When designing/choosing a Machine Vision system, understanding the image processing at this level is usually adequate, although, in Chapter 15, Professor Roy Davies points out the shortcomings of this attitude. One of the major problems facing vision engineers is that everyone thinks that they are an expert on vision. Would-be customers certainly do! It is common for a vision engineer to be given gratuitous and utterly inappropriate advice about how to analyse an image by clients. For some inexplicable reason, many people feel that they must contribute in this way, even though they have no knowledge whatsoever about the details of any of the operators described in this chapter. It must be appreciated that machines do not see as human beings and it is fruitless to try to design them to do so. There are several reasons for this:
Evaluation of Maternal Anxiety in Mothers of Infants Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Background: Preterm birth and subsequent admission of the infant to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be distressing for parents and lead to their anxiety. The aim of this study was to evaluate maternal anxiety in mothers of infants admitted to the NICU and determine the characteristics associated with maternal anxiety. Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive, cross-sectional study with participation of 100 mothers with infant that was born premature and hospitalized in NICU (mothers were selected through convenient sampling method) of Al-Zahra hospital, affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Data collection tools included baseline characteristics (21 items), and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 23.0). Results: The results of study showed that 62% (n=100) of mothers had moderate level of state anxiety and (54% (n=100) had moderate level of trait anxiety, mean (SD) state anxiety score was 48.62(6.00) and mean (SD) trait anxiety was 32.45(3.63. There was statistically significant difference regarding state anxiety mean scores and number of delivery, education level, gestational age at birth weeks and child order (P<0.05). Conclusion: Based on the results, mother of premature infants had moderate level of state anxiety. Having university degree, the mothers whose premature infants were at 33 weeks gestational age and mothers who had third or more delivery number and their child order was third and over had experienced state anxiety.