Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linear bioconvection in a suspension of randomly swimming, gyrotactic micro-organisms

We have analyzed the initiation of pattern formation in a layer of finite depth for Pedley and Kessler’s new model [J. Fluid Mech. 212, 155 (1990)] of bioconvection. This is the first analysis of bioconvection in a realistic geometry using a model that deals with random swimming in a rational manner. We have considered the effects of a distribution of swimming speeds, which has not previously received attention in theoretical papers and find that it is important in calculating the diffusivity. Our predictions of initial pattern wavelengths are reasonably close to the observed ones but better experimental measurements of key parameters are needed for a proper comparison.
Lipid Profiles are Altered in Rats Fed with Different Garlic Cultivars

Garlic has antioxidant and hypocholesterolemic properties that are attributed to its organosulfur compounds being allicin, which is reported to be the most active of these compounds. We hypothesized that allicin content could reduce plasma concentrations of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), HDL (high density lipoproteins), VLDL (very low density lipoproteins), and glucose. Two different cultivars of commercial garlic, Peruano and Jinxiang, were used. Thirty male Wistar rats were distributed into 6 groups and fed for 15 days with standard diet (Control), Control with Peruano garlic treatment (CGP), Control with Jinxiang garlic treatment (CGCH), cholesterol-added control diet (CholC), cholesterol-added diet with Peruano garlic treatment (CholGP), and cholesterol-added diet with Jinxiang garlic treatment (CholGCH). Garlic treatment consisted of a daily oral dose of 1ml of lyophilized garlic. We observed that garlic treatment in Control group significantly reduced plasma TG and VLDL concentrations. The CGCH group presented a significant increase in plasma TC levels (25.5%) and glucose (11%). No significant changes in TC, HDL, TG and VLDL were observed in CholGP and CholGCH, but levels of fasting plasma glucose were increased: CholGP (23%) and CholGCH (27.5%). Results suggested allicin treatments alter lipid profile in rats. Nevertheless, further studies are necessary to address the increase in plasma glucose levels. (Int J Biomed. 2015;5(3):155-161. )
Formal Synthesis of Real-Time System Models in a MDE Approach

—The development of real-time embedded systems is quite complex because of the wide range of execution platforms and of the importance of non-functional requirements. Further-more, Model Driven Engineering is particularly suitable for han-dling the diversity of implementation targets. Therefore, several real-time embedded systems development suites leverage Model Driven Engineering by automatically generating platform-specific code from high-level design models. Such tools may also take non-functional requirements into account by integrating verification activities. These activities typically rely on the generation of formal models from the same high-level design descriptions used for code generation. However, few tool suites support both code and formal model generation. Furthermore, among these, most overlook real-time operating systems mechanisms. Therefore, both code and formal models generated by these tool suites may not behave as specified in the high-level design descriptions. The present work extends the SExPIsTools code generator tool suite with a support for the generation of formal models. The proposed strategy relies on the composition of formal model fragments described using an extension of the classical Time Petri Nets. This paper presents a formalization of this composition that generically considers the behavior of platforms. As an illustration, we then give the formal model describing the behavior of an application on two different platforms (OSEK/VDX and VxWorks) and check a safety property on both models.
Issue ownership and the vote: salience or competence?

Parties often are associated with specific issues. They can “own” an issue when they develop a reputation of competence and attention in that domain. While there is much aggregate-level evidence on the relation between issue salience and party results, the individual-level mechanisms are less well understood. This paper develops an individual-level model of issue ownership effects. It suggests distinguishing between two aspects of issue ownership: which party is considered to care most about a given issue, and which party is considered to have the best solutions in that domain. The model suggests that both aspects of issue ownership have different effects. When a party is associated with a given issue, voters’ preferences on the corresponding issue should have a larger impact on the evaluation of the issue owner. But when a party is considered to be most competent in that domain, the effect of spatial distances should decrease. These hypotheses are tested with a statistical model that allows the impact of voter-party issue distances on party utilities to vary across both parties and issues. This model is applied to data from the 2011 Swiss election study.
What is a neutral criterion of ontological commitment

In this paper I raise the question of what counts as a neutral criterion of ontological commitment. I claim that the neutrality of a criterion should be measured by the neutrality of the method it provides for determining ontological commitment. Explicit criteria provide methods for determining ontological commitment while implicit criteria do not, and therefore competing explicit criteria may be compared and evaluated on the basis of neutrality while implicit criteria may not. Further, I suggest that the question of neutrality for explicit criteria is a question of topic-neutrality. In the light of these claims, I argue that the reason that Armstrong (2004) gives for his proposal to replace Quine's criterion with a truthmaker criterion fails. Mastersppsats: 30 hp Kurs: FT2800 Teoretisk filosofi: Mastersuppsats Nivå: Avancerad nivå Termin/år: Vt/2017 Handledare: Anna-Sofia Maurin Examinator: Susanna Radovic Nyckelord: metaontology, ontological commitment, metametaphysics
Architecture for the Secret-Key BC3 Cryptography Algorithm

Cryptography is a very important aspect in data security. The focus of research in this field is shifting from merely security aspect to consider as well the implementation aspect. This paper aims to introduce BC3 algorithm with focus on its hardware implementation. It proposes an architecture for the hardware implementation for this algorithm. BC3 algorithm is a secret-key cryptography algorithm developed with two considerations: robustness and implementation efficiency. This algorithm has been implemented on software and has good performance compared to AES algorithm. BC3 is improvement of BC2 and AE cryptographic algorithm and it is expected to have the same level of robustness and to gain competitive advantages in the implementation aspect. The development of the architecture gives much attention on (1) resource sharing and (2) having single clock for each round. It exploits regularity of the algorithm. This architecture is then implemented on an FPGA. This implementation is three times smaller area than AES, but about five times faster. Furthermore, this BC3 hardware implementation has better performance compared to BC3 software both in key expansion stage and randomizing stage. For the future, the security of this implementation must be reviewed especially against side channel attack.
Electric Taxi Charging Guidance Strategy Based on Electric Vehicle Agent-based Simulation

Electric vehicles connected to the electricity grid will have a great impact on the power system, especially with the high penetration of electric vehicles, the safety and stability of the power system could be threatened. In order to accurately simulate the electric taxi operation behavior and load characteristic, this paper proposes a mothed based on multi-agent technique and reinforcement learning algorithm to study the operation behavior of electric taxis. Different charging strategies on the operation of electric taxi are studied. Based on the charging strategy of shortest path, a charging guidance strategy model is proposed, which considers the charging distance, the charging queue time and the charging equilibrium degree of the charging equipment. The simulation results show that the electric taxi adopting the charging guidance strategy will not only decrease the charging queue time, improve the operation time and income of the electric taxi, but also help improve the equilibrium degree and utilization rate of the charging equipment, reduce the power grid loss and voltage offset.
EXTENSION AND APPLICATION OF A NONLINEAR REDUCED ORDER MODEL TO GUST LOAD PREDICTION IN TIME DOMAIN

This paper aims at extending a markov chain based reduced order model to discrete gust load prediction in an aeroelastic simulation. An method for the incorporation of the disturbance velocity approach is presented and evaluated for the AGARD445 wing based on different training strategies. The reduced order model trained under elastic and gust load conditions can successfully predict the gust response in a rigid and in an elastic setup. Thus the presented ROM approach can serve as one single CFD surrogate model to predict aerodynamic forces under multiple loading conditions.
Neurodegenerative Disease : The Current Challenge in the Diagnosis and Detection of Preclinical Phases

Artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning protocols offer solutions to complex data processing and analysis. Increasingly these solutions are being applied in the healthcare field, most commonly in processing complex medical imaging data used for diagnosis. Current models apply AI to screening populations of patients for markers of disease and report detection accuracy rates exceeding those of human data screening. In this paper, we explore an alternate model for AI deployment, that of monitoring and analysing an individual’s level of function over time. In adopting this approach, we propose that AI may provide highly accurate and reliable detection of preclinical disease states associated with agingrelated neurodegenerative diseases. One of the key challenges facing clinical detection of preclinical phases of diseases such as dementia is the high degree of inter-individual variability in aging-related changes to cognitive function. AI based monitoring of an individual over time offers the potential for the early detection of change in function for the individual, rather than relying on comparing the individual’s performance to population norms. We explore an approach to developing AI platforms for individual monitoring and preclinical disease detection and examine the potential benefits to the stakeholders in this technological development.
Net radiative forcing and air quality responses to regional CO emission reductions

Abstract. Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions influence global and regional air quality and global climate change by affecting atmospheric oxidants and secondary species. We simulate the influence of halving anthropogenic CO emissions globally and individually from 10 regions on surface and tropospheric ozone, methane, and aerosol concentrations using a global chemical transport model (MOZART-4 for the year 2005). Net radiative forcing (RF) is then estimated using the GFDL (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory) standalone radiative transfer model. We estimate that halving global CO emissions decreases global annual average concentrations of surface ozone by 0.45 ppbv, tropospheric methane by 73 ppbv, and global annual net RF by 36.1 mW m −2 , nearly equal to the sum of changes from the 10 regional reductions. Global annual net RF per unit change in emissions and the 100 yr global warming potential (GWP 100 ) are estimated as −0.124 mW m −2 (Tg CO) −1 and 1.34, respectively, for the global CO reduction, and ranging from −0.115 to −0.131 mW m −2 (Tg CO) −1 and 1.26 to 1.44 across 10 regions, with the greatest sensitivities for regions in the tropics. The net RF distributions show widespread cooling corresponding to the O 3 and CH 4 decreases, and localized positive and negative net RFs due to changes in aerosols. The strongest annual net RF impacts occur within the tropics (28° S–28° N) followed by the northern midlatitudes (28° N–60° N), independent of reduction region, while the greatest changes in surface CO and ozone concentrations occur within the reduction region. Some regional reductions strongly influence the air quality in other regions, such as East Asia, which has an impact on US surface ozone that is 93% of that from North America. Changes in the transport of CO and downwind ozone production clearly exceed the direct export of ozone from each reduction region. The small variation in CO GWPs among world regions suggests that future international climate agreements could adopt a globally uniform metric for CO with little error, or could use different GWPs for each continent. Doing so may increase the incentive to reduce CO through coordinated policies addressing climate and air quality.
Détermination des précipitations et des crues extrêmes en Suisse à l’aide de la méthode PMP-PMF

Les barrages alpins en Suisse doivent etre dimensionnes pour resister a des crues extremes avec un temps de retour d’au moins 10.000 ans. La methode PMP-PMF a ete appliquee pour estimer des pluies et des crues extremes avec un temps de retour aussi eleve. Les PMP ont ete calculees avec un modele atmospherique et un modele de pluie pour plusieurs durees avec une resolution horizontale de 2 km. Ces modeles permettent de reproduire de maniere satisfaisante ces PMP pour l’ensemble du pays lorsqu’on les compare avec les precipitations extremes estimees pour un temps de retour de 500 ans a partir de methodes statistiques. Les PMP calculees par les modeles sont toutefois trop elevees sur plusieurs sommets alpins et trop basses au Sud des Alpes. Malgre ces approximations, elles peuvent etre utilisees pour calculer avec un modele hydrologique approprie des crues de securite avec un temps de retour d’au moins 10.000 ans pour les bassins versants en Suisse ayant une surface inferieure a 230 km2.
Toward a Pan-African HIV Vaccine Development Agenda

Introduction: Africa’s centrality to the global HIV epidemic is well known. Less often discussed are the specific scientific, organizational and regulatory challenges of developing a safe and broadly effective HIV vaccine for the continent where such a tool is most needed. Discussion: New efforts are underway to develop vaccines that will address the extraordinary viral diversity that characterizes HIV on the African continent; advance more effective clinical trial designs; address regulatory barriers that slow scientific progress; and more effectively engage African researchers and institutions as full partners in the continent’s HIV vaccine development and testing efforts. In this commentary, the authors summarize recommendations, grounded in these recent efforts, that have emerged from a series of meetings, most recently during the HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) conference in October 2016.The recommendations include a four-pillar strategy, developed at the 2015 Kigali meeting of researchers, regulators, funders and advocates convened by The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise in collaboration with key stake holders, to overcome the most pressing scientific and organizational roadblocks to developing effective HIV vaccines for Africa, as well as steps that have been taken since then. Conclusions: The ongoing efforts of this group, including this commentary, aim to bring new thinking to the fore in efforts to overcome longstanding obstacles to the development of effective HIV vaccines for Africa, and to ensure that no country or population is left behind in the search for an effective vaccine.
Detecting and evaluating land cover change in the eastern half of East Timor (1972-2011)

Land use / land cover (LULC) change detection based on remote sensing (RS) data is an important source of information for various decision support systems. In East Timor where forest plays a key role in sustaining communities’ livelihoods the information derived from LULC change detection is invaluable to the conservation, sustainable development and management of forest resources. To assess the patterns of land cover change, as a result of complex socio-economic factors, satellite imagery and image processing techniques can be useful. This study is concerned with identifying change in land use and land cover types in East Timor between 1972 and 2011, using satellite images from Landsat MSS, TM and ETM+ sensors. Seven major cover types were identified in this study including forest, mixed rangeland, grassland, farmland, built-up areas, bare soil and water. A combination of NDVI differencing, supervised and unsupervised classification was used to derive final classification maps. Due to the lack of ground truth data, further processing were performed to improve the final classification maps by applying rationality change test. Post-classification comparison change detection technique was used to assess categorical changes between 1972 and 2011. The results highlight a significant level of deforestation due to uncontrolled illegal logging and increase in farmland, built-up areas, as well as bare soil. This decline has had considerable impact on the livelihoods of rural communities. As the new nation of Timor-Leste establishes itself, it must consider its current stock and distribution of natural resources to ensure that development efforts are geared towards sustainable outcomes. Without this information historical patterns of resource consumption, development efforts may, unwittingly, lead to continuing decline in forest resources.
Study of rs17251221 single nucleotide polymorphism of calcium sensing receptor gene and its association with calcium nephrolithiasis in a cohort of Egyptian calcium nephrolithiasis patients.

Doaa Hashad. Background: Calcium nephrolithiasis is the most common type of renal stones representing about 70-80% of all cases. Since calcium stones are a multifactorial disorder, both genetic and environmental factors predispose to disease occurrence. Previous studies have indicated that genetic polymorphisms of the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) gene are highly associated with stone formation.CASR geners17251221 is an A/G transition substitution mutation which is located in an intron of the CASRgene.The aim of the present study was to investigate whether CASR gene polymorphism rs1725122 is associated with the development of calcium nephrolithiasis. Methods: DNA samples were collected from forty Egyptian calcium nephrolithiasis patients and forty ageand sex-matched healthy controlsfor detection of CASR gene polymorphism rs17251221 using5' Nuclease assay. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two studied groups as regards the genotypes or allele frequency, but a significant association between rs17251221 and stone multiplicity in calcium nephrolithiasis patients was detected. Conclusion: Although no association was detected between calcium sensing receptor gene rs17251221polymorphism and the development of calcium nephrolithiasis, the mutant G allele ofthe polymorphism might be considered a marker for stone multiplicity in Egyptian calcium nephrolithiasis patients.
Trophic control of bacterial growth in microcosms containing a natural community from northwest Mediterranean surface waters

A simple steady-state model based on P-limited bacterial growth rate and predator controlled bacterial biomass predicts bacterial production (BP) to be proportional to the square of ciliate biomass (C). Changes in ciliate biomass will then drive changes in bacterial production and carbon demand. This model was compared to experimental microcosms where natural mixed microbial communities from Villefranche Bay (northwest Mediterranean) were given daily additions of phosphate and glucose in a factorial design. In accordance with the proposed model, we found no effect of glucose additions on the incorporation of 14C-leucine, except when combined with phosphate. Phosphate enrichment had a stimulatory effect on bacterial production, even when no glucose was added, but after an initial phase of ca 2 d, leucine ~ncorporation increased more in carboys receiving glucose and phosphate in combination than in carboys enriched with phosphate alone. After 3 to 4 d, leucine incorporation culmnated. These observat~ons are consistent with a scenario where, initially, bacterial growth rate was P-limited. Stimulation of bactenal carbon demand resulting from transfer of added phosphorus into ciliate biomass was, however, apparently larger than the increase in the system's production of labile organic C. The explanation suggested for the observed culmination in bacterial production is thus a switch from Pto C-linllted bacterial growth rate. In such a scenario, glucose addition allows a larger increase in bactenal consun~ption before the pool of labile DOC is depleted. DOC accumulation was found only in carboys to which glucose was added without phosphate.
Macroeconomic Responses to Oil Price Increases and Decreases in Seven OECD Countries

The correlations between oil-price movements and GDP fluctuations are investigated for the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany (West), France, the United Kingdom, and Norway. The responses to price increases and decreases are allowed to be asymmetric. Bivariate correlations as well as partial correlations within a reduced-form macroeconomic model are considered. The correlations with oil-price increases are negative and significant for most countries, but positive for Norway, whose oil-producing sector is large relative to the economy as a whole. The correlations with oil-price decreases are mostly positive, but significant only for the United States and Canada. Most countries show evidence of asymmetric effects, with Norway again as an exception.
Habitats Ecological Characteristics of Asplenium scolopendrium L. and its RAPD Analysis

This study was conducted to investigate the environmental characteristics of natural habitats, and the genetic variations in samples from 19 different quadrates of Asplenium scolopendrium 10 habitats. The natural habitats of A. scolopendrium were located at an altitudes 110-973 m with inclinations of 7-30°. All the quadrates were located on north facing slopes. The average field capacity of the soil is 31.4%, with organic matter at 16.7%, and the pH is 5.84. The soil texture was confirmed as sandy loam in 8 habitats and silt loam in 2 habitats. A total of 214 vascular plants were identified from 10 habitats. The importance value of the herbaceous layer (H) was the highest in A. scolopendrium, at 10.4%, followed by Arachniodes standishii (7.3%), Dryopteris crassirhizoma (6.5%), and Polystichum tripteron (5.3%), which implies that the natural habitats of A. scolopendrium are affinity with ferns. The species diversity of A. scolopendrium was estimated as on average 1.09, while the dominance and evenness were 0.12 and 0.87, respectively. The result of the RAPD analysis, among 59 bands amplified with a primer, 25 (42.4%) showed polymorphism. Twenty-one individuals of 10 habitats could be classified into four groups with similarity coefficient values ranging from 0.74 to 1.0. Mt. Mullae and Geumdaebong populations shows basal branching within the 21 individuals. Ulleung-do island and Jeju-do island population forms an independent clade, respectively. Mt. Moak and Byeonsan-bando clade formed a sister to the Ulleung-do island and Jeju-do island clade.