Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identifying fabrication defects of metal packaged fibre Bragg grating sensors for smart pre-stressing strands

Metal packaged fibre Bragg grating sensors have the potential to provide reliable measurements of temperature and strain in high stress environments for the purpose of structural health monitoring. However due to the induction brazing fabrication process a small percentage of sensors are found to have defective brazed joints. We demonstrate a defect identification procedure derived from the batch temperature calibration of fibre Bragg grating sensors for temperature and strain measurement, allowing defective sensors to be identified before installation. The procedure was demonstrated on a sample of twelve temperature sensors fabricated for a small-scale smart pre-stressing strand validation test.
Fatty liver, carotid disease and gallstones: a study of age-related associations.

AIM To evaluate carotid intima-media thickening (IMT) and plaques, gallstone disease (GD) and fatty liver (FL) as a function of age. METHODS In 449 subjects, FL and carotid disease were assessed ultrasonographically. In a subgroup of 65/449 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), carotid disease, GD and associated factors were determined. RESULTS FL of unspecified etiology was more common in younger and GD in older individuals. FL subjects had an increased prevalence of IMT and a decreased prevalence of plaques and manifested carotid disease earlier. Plaques were more common in subjects with GD. Age was an independent predictor of carotid disease outcome and FL was a protective factor for plaques. In NAFLD, there was an inverse correlation between body weight and age and the latter independently predicted carotid findings. CONCLUSION Cardiovascular risk in patients with FL and NAFLD needs to be assessed as a function of age and body weight.
From dialogic to trialogic learning

This poster looks at dialogic learning in academic practice with the specific aim of the collaborative processing of texts. In identifying some shortcomings of these dialogic practices it introduces the notion of trialogic learning, and presents the results from a comparative study on the affordances of different asynchronous discussion tools to support a more content-oriented and trialogic form of conversation.
Growth hormone: uses and abuses

It has anabolic effects, but its use in ageing and other conditions is not established The therapeutic use of human growth hormone was first shown 45 years ago.1 In these years the number of approved and proposed uses of human growth hormone has grown from one to more than a dozen, and the number of patients being treated with it has increased from a handful to tens of thousands worldwide. The officially approved uses of human growth hormone vary from country to country, but it is commonly used for children with growth hormone deficiency or insufficiency, poor growth due to renal failure, Turner syndrome (girls with a missing or defective X chromosome), Prader-Willi syndrome (usually due to uniparental disomy in chromosome 15), and children born small for gestational age with poor growth past 2 years of age (table). Recently the Food and Drug Administration in the United States has also approved the use of human growth hormone …
Optimal Design of a Novel V-Type Interior Permanent Magnet Motor with Assisted Barriers for the Improvement of Torque Characteristics

This paper performs a study on the optimal design of V-type interior permanent magnet motors (VIPMMs), in which the rotor is equipped with assisted barriers for the improvement of average torque and torque ripple. The approach differs from the conventional interior permanent magnet motors, in which the reluctance torque due to saliency reaches a maximum value at a current phase angle located 45 electrical degrees with respect to the maximum value obtained from the magnetic torque produced by the rotor magnets. The adoption of assisted barriers is employed to improve the torque production by creating rotor asymmetry to allow the reluctance torque and the magnetic torque reach a maximum value near or at the same current phase angle. To evaluate the contribution, the frozen permeability method is utilized to segregate the torque into its reluctance and magnetic torque components. First, an iterative optimization is performed on a concept design of a 6/4 VIPMM for demonstrating the design principle based on finite element method. Then, the VIPMM is further optimized by algorithms, such as the kriging method and genetic algorithm for improving the torque characteristics and efficiency. As a result, the optimal VIPMM with assisted barriers shows the substantially improved performance compared with a conventional design.
The physico-chemical properties of some citrus seeds and seed oils

Abstract The chemical properties, mineral contents, fatty acid and tocopherol contents of seed and seed oils of some citrus genus provided from several locations in Turkey and Saudi Arabia were determined. While Ca contents of seeds were between 5018 mg/kg (Kütdiken lemon) and 7619 mg/kg (kinnow mandarin), K contents of seeds varied between 7007 mg/kg (Orlando orange) and 10334 mg/kg (kinnow mandarin). Glucose and fructose contents of citrus seed samples varied between 3.75 g/kg and 5.75 g/kg, and 4.09 g/kg and 6.03 g/kg. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids were established as dominant fatty acids. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acid contents of citrus seed oils varied between 19.6% (Kütdiken lemon) and 26.2% (pineapple orange), 21.3% (kinnow mandarin) and 31.4% (Kütdiken lemon) and 32.3% (Kütdiken lemon) and 43.7% (kinnow mandarin), respectively. The total amount of tocopherols of Turkish citrus oil varied between 0.5 mg/100 g (Fremont mandarin) and 18.8 mg/100 g (bitter orange).
Feature Driven Survey of Big Data Systems

Big Data has become a very important driver for innovation and growth for various industries such as health, administration, agriculture, defence, and education. Storing and analysing large amounts of data are becoming increasingly common in many of these application areas. In general, different application domains might require different type of big data systems. Although, lot has been written on big data it is not easy to identify the required features for developing big data systems that meets the application requirements and the stakeholder concerns. In this paper we provide a survey of big data systems based on feature modelling which is a technique that is utilized for defining the common and variable features of a domain. The feature model has been derived following an extensive literature study on big data systems. We present the feature model and discuss the features to support the understanding of big data systems.
A Single-Bit and Double-Adjacent Error Correcting Parallel Decoder for Multiple-Bit Error Correcting BCH Codes

This paper presents a novel high-speed BCH decoder that corrects double-adjacent and single-bit errors in parallel and serially corrects multiple-bit errors other than double-adjacent errors. Its operation is based on extending an existing parallel BCH decoder that can only correct single-bit errors and serially corrects double-adjacent errors at low speed. The proposed decoder is constructed by a novel design and is suitable for nanoscale memory systems, in which multiple-bit errors occur at a probability comparable to single-bit errors and double-adjacent errors occur at a higher probability (nearly two orders of magnitude) than other multiple-bit errors. Extensive simulation results are reported. Compared with the existing scheme, the area and delay time of the proposed decoder are on average 11% and 6% higher, but its power consumption is reduced by 9% on average. This paper also shows that the area, delay, and power overheads incurred by the proposed scheme are significantly lower than traditional fully parallelized BCH decoders capable of correcting any double-bit errors in parallel.
From Terminology to Evaluation: Performance Assessment of Automatic Signature Verification Systems

This paper is an effort towards the development of a shared conceptualization regarding automatic signature verification systems. The requirements of both communities, Pattern Recognition and Forensic Handwriting Examiners, are explicitly focused. This is required because an increasing gap regarding evaluation of automatic verification systems is observed in the recent past. The paper addresses three major areas. First, it highlights how signature verification is taken differently in the above mentioned communities and why this gap is increasing. Various factors that widen this gap are discussed with reference to some of the recent signature verification studies and probable solutions are suggested. Second, it discusses the state-of-the-art evaluation and its problems as seen by FHEs. The real evaluation issues faced by FHEs, when trying to incorporate automatic signature verification systems in their routine casework, are presented. Third, it reports a standardized evaluation scheme capable of fulfilling the requirements of both PR researchers and FHEs.
Boundary Pinning Effects on the Frequency Spectra of Point-Contact Spin-Torque Oscillators

Micromagnetic simulation is used to investigate the frequency spectra of a perpendicularly magnetized nanocontact spin-torque oscillator subject to different boundary pinning conditions. Boundary confinement is critical to the output spectra: spectra under two limiting conditions are attributed to the different pinning strengths at the boundaries. The correlation between boundary pinning strength and output spectra may facilitate the design of future nanocontact microwave devices.
Heparin: What Is It? How Does It Work?

The anticoagulant agent heparin inhibits thrombosis by interacting with antithrombin III. There are three distinct chemical elements that make up the heparin precursor molecule: Mucopolysaccharides, amino acids, and sugars. Separate from the chemical elements are three unique domains of activity that have been defined based on the functional interaction of heparin with antithrombin III. Bleeding complications are potential side effects of heparin therapy and may be caused by heparin interactions with platelets. However, reducing the size of the molecule (low‐molecular weight heparins) and varying the dosage may reduce the risk of excessive bleeding.
Intellectual Capital and Organizational Performance

In todayâ€™s knowledge economy the tangible assets like intellectual capital has become a source of sustainable growth and competitive lead. Corporations are paying more focus on value creation through these tangible assets. Better organizational performance can be ensured through effective management of firmâ€™s intellectual capital. The main purpose of this study is to highlight the interconnection among intellectual capital constituents and business performances in Pakistan. Intellectual capital constitutes; human capital, innovation capital and customer capital. The study uses exploratory approach to develop conceptual model, propose hypotheses and test these hypotheses quantitatively on scientific basis. The data has been collected through structured self administered survey questionnaires. Structural equation model (SEM) approach is adopted to test hypotheses. The study found overall significant association between overall intellectual capital. Significant associations have also been noted among all three dimensions of intellectual capital and the organizational performance. The implications and applications of the study have also been discussed in detail.
Stimulatory and Inhibitory Effects of Glucose and Insulin on Rat Blastocyst Development in Vitro

The effect of glucose and insulin on the in vitro development of the rat preimplantation embryo was studied by incubating rat blastocysts recovered on days 5 or 6 of pregnancy in the absence or presence of increasing levels of glucose and/or insulin for 24 or 48 h. A differential cell-staining method allowed the separate counting of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells at the end of the incubation period. In a high-glucose medium (17 mM), ICM and, to a lesser extent, TE developments were significantly and irreversibly inhibited. Low insulin concentrations (3 pM) stimulated ICM and TE development in the presence of 1.1 or 6 mM glucose. Higher insulin levels (30–600 pM) in a 6-mM glucose medium, resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of ICM and, to a lesser extent, TE development after both 24 and 48 h. This insulin-induced inhibition was reversible if insulin was removed from the medium after 24 h. In the absence of glucose in the medium, insulin was neither stimulatory nor inhibitory on ICM growth. Dead-cell occurrence in ICM after a 48-h incubation increased with increasing glucose concentration in the medium. Insulin alone did not increase dead-cell number but enhanced the effect of glucose. These results show that, in the presence of glucose, insulin might be stimulatory (at low concentrations) or inhibitory (at higher concentrations) on ICM development. A high glucose level was also inhibitory and increased dead-cell occurrence. The data suggest that insulin and glucose might interact and modulate blastocyst development as a function of their respective concentrations.
Yet Another Objective Approach for Measuring Cognitive Load Using EEG-Based Workload

This study conducted a preliminary investigation on the correlations between learners' EEG-based workload and their self-reported cognitive load in a multimedia learning context. An experiment including two learning tasks was conducted with 15 graduate students. The NeuroSky brainwave headset was used to collect participants' electroencephalography (EEG) data and using the theta/alpha ratio as brain workload during the learning tasks. On the other hand, a questionnaire was used to assess participants' self-reported cognitive load after the learning tasks. A paired samples t-test was used to test if there are any differences between the two learning tasks. The results show that cognitive load was significant, but the EEG-based theta/alpha ratio was not significant. In terms of the preliminary correlations, there are no significant results between the EEG-based theta/alpha ratio and cognitive load found. Future studies require more analyses of the EEG-based data, for example nonlinear approaches with a larger sample size.
DDoS attack isolation using moving target defense

Among the several threats to cyber services Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is most prevailing nowadays. DDoS involves making an online service unavailable by flooding the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system. It is easier for an insider having legitimate access to the system to circumvent any security controls thus resulting in insider attack. To mitigate insider assisted DDoS attacks, this paper proposes a moving target defense mechanism that involves isolation of insiders from innocent clients by using attack proxies. Further using the concept of load balancing an effective algorithm to detect and handle insider attack is developed with the aim of maximizing attack isolation while minimizing the total number of proxies used.
Analysis of the moment arms and kinematics of ostrich (Struthio camelus) double patellar sesamoids

The patella ("kneecap") is a biomechanically important feature of the tendinous insertion of the knee extensor muscles, able to alter the moment arm lengths between its input and output tendons, and so modify the mechanical advantage of the knee extensor muscle. However, patellar gearing function is little-explored outside of humans, and the patella is often simplified or ignored in biomechanical models. Here, we investigate patellar gearing and kinematics in the ostrich-frequently used as an animal analogue to human bipedal locomotion and unusual in its possession of two patellae at the knee joint. We use x-ray reconstruction of moving morphology (XROMM) techniques to capture the kinematics of the patellae in an adult ostrich cadaver, passively manipulated in flexion-extension. Moment arm ratios between the input and output tendons of each patella are calculated from kinematically determined centers of patellofemoral joint rotation. Both patellae are found to decrease the mechanical advantage of the extensor muscle-tendon complex, decreasing the tendon output force for a given muscle input force, but potentially increasing the relative speed of knee extension. Mechanically and kinematically, the proximal patella behaves similarly to the single patella of most other species, whereas the distal patella has properties of both a fixed retroarticular process and a moving sesamoid. It is still not clear why ostriches possess two patellae, but we suggest that the configuration in ostriches benefits their rapid locomotion and provides tendon protection.
Sex Differences in Human Olfaction: Between Evidence and Enigma

The sex of individuals plays an important part in determining their olfactory abilities, with females generally being superior to males. The present review examines the way in which sex differences influence sensitivity, identification, familiarity, and recognition of odours. It also examines whether sex differences are more pronounced with some odours than others, and how sex differences are affected by the manner of testing. Two different explanations for the superiority of females over males in olfaction are evaluated.
A reliable preloaded cycling time trial for use in conditions of significant thermal stress

The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of a 15‐min time trial preloaded with 45 min of fixed‐intensity cycling under laboratory conditions of thermal stress. Eight trained cyclists/triathletes (41 ± 10 years, VO2peak: 69 ± 8 mL/kg/min, peak aerobic power: 391 ± 72 W) completed three trials (the first a familiarization) where they cycled at ∼ 55% VO2peak for 45 min followed by a 15‐min time trial (∼75% VO2peak) under conditions of significant thermal stress (WBGT: 26.7 ± 0.8 °C, frontal convective airflow: 20 km/h). Seven days separated the trials, which were conducted at the same time of day following 24 h of exercise and dietary control. Reliability increased when a familiarization trial was performed, with the resulting coefficient of variation and intraclass correlation coefficient of the work completed during the 15‐min time trial, 3.6% and 0.96, respectively. Therefore, these results demonstrate a high level of reliability for a 15‐min cycling time trial following a 45‐min preload when performed under laboratory conditions of significant thermal stress using trained cyclists/triathletes.
Weekly epoetin alfa maintains hemoglobin, improves quality of life, and reduces transfusion in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

PURPOSE Epoetin alfa administered at 40,000 U once weekly (qw) to anemic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy increases hemoglobin levels, improves quality of life (QOL), and reduces transfusions. The benefit of epoetin alfa in maintaining hemoglobin levels in cancer patients with hemoglobin less than 12 g/dL has not been evaluated. METHODS Breast cancer patients (N = 354) receiving chemotherapy were randomly assigned in 1:1 ratio to epoetin alfa (40,000 U qw) or standard of care (SOC). QOL was assessed at baseline and week 12. Hemoglobin responses, transfusion requirements, and prognostic factors for responses were measured. RESULTS At week 12, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Anemia (FACT-An; mean, 2.16 +/- 12.84 for epoetin alfa v -4.43 +/- 13.42 for SOC) and FACT-An fatigue (mean, 1.85 +/- 10.52 for epoetin alfa v -3.55 +/- 11.14 for SOC) change scores were significantly higher in the epoetin alfa group (P < .0001). Hemoglobin responses defined as mean hemoglobin > or = 12 g/dL or a > or = 2 g/dL increase compared with baseline were significantly higher in the epoetin alfa group versus SOC: 52.0% v 5.1% and 65.7% v 6.3%, respectively (P < .0001 for both comparisons). Percentage transfused was significantly lower in the epoetin alfa group compared with SOC (8.6% v 22.9%). More than 90% of patients did not require a dose increase and 28.7% had a dose reduction. CONCLUSION Epoetin alfa administered at 40,000 U qw is effective in improving QOL, maintaining hemoglobin level, and reducing transfusion requirements in breast cancer patients. The high effectiveness observed could be attributed in part to early treatment with epoetin alfa.
Biology of alveolar type II cells

Abstract: The purpose of this review is to highlight the many metabolic properties of alveolar type II cells, their production of surfactant, their role in innate immunity, and their importance in the repair process after lung injury. The review is based on the medical literature and results from our laboratory. Type II cells produce and secrete pulmonary surfactant and for that purpose they need to synthesize the lipids of surfactant. One of the regulators of lipogenesis is the transcription factor sterol regulatory element binding protein‐1c (SREBP‐1c). This is a key transcription factor regulating fatty acid synthesis. Type II cells also proliferate to restore the epithelium after lung injury, clear alveolar fluid by transporting sodium from the apical to the basolateral surface, and participate in the innate immune response to inhaled materials and organisms. The type II cell is, in many ways, the defender of the alveolus. However, the type II cells work in concert with the other cells in the gas exchange regions of the lung to keep the alveoli open and reduce inflammation due to irritants in the air we breathe.
Assessment of antimalarial effect of ICL670A on in vitro cultures of Plasmodium falciparum

We tested in vitro the antimalarial properties of ICL670A, a newly developed iron chelator for the long‐term oral treatment of iron overload. Ring‐stage synchronized cultures of Plasmodium falciparum cultured in human erythrocytes were exposed to different concentrations of ICL670A and the conventional iron chelator, desferrioxamine B (DFO), for 48 h. Malarial growth was measured by incorporation of [3H]‐hypoxanthine. ICL670A at 30 µmol/l had marked antimalarial activity that was observable by 6 h after beginning the exposure of ring‐stage parasites to the agent. Over 48 h of culture, malarial growth was significantly lower with ICL670A than with DFO at concentrations of both 30 µmol/l (P = 0·008) and 60 µmol/l (P = 0·001). At 48 h, growth relative to control was 53% with ICL670A and 83% with DFO at concentrations of 30 µmol/l, and 20% with ICL670A and 26% with DFO at concentrations of 60 µmol/l. Standard 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) were similar for ICL670A and DFO. Precomplexation with iron completely abolished the inhibitory effect of ICL670A, indicating that this new agent, like DFO, probably inhibits parasite growth via deprivation of iron from critical targets within the parasite. Further studies to address the question of the antimalarial potential of ICL670A in combination with classic antimalarials would be of interest.