Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Different POD Processing Methods for SPIV-Measurements in Compressor Cascade Tip Leakage Flow

Though the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method has been widely adopted in flow analysis, few publications have systematically studied the influence of different POD processing methods on the POD results. This paper investigates the effects of different decomposition regions and decomposition dimensionalities on POD decomposition and reconstruction concerning the tip flow in the compressor cascade. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) measurements in the blade channel are addressed to obtain the original flow field. Through vortex core identification, development of the tip leakage vortex along the chord is described. Afterwards, each plane is energetically decomposed by POD. Using the identified vortex core center as the geometric center, the effects of different decomposition regions with respect to the vortex core are analyzed. Furthermore, the effects of different single velocity-components as well as their combination are compared. The effect of different decomposition regions on the mode 1 energy fraction mainly impacts the streamwise velocity component. Though the addition of W velocity component in the decomposition does change the spatial structures of high-order modes, it does not change the dynamic results of reconstruction using a finite number of POD modes. UV global analysis is better for capturing the kinetic physics of the tip leakage vortex (TLV) wandering.
Path Oblivious

We show how to construct an optimal, statistically secure oblivious priority queue through a simple modification to the (non-recursive) Circuit ORAM algorithm [12]. Let N denote the maximum number of items the priority queue can store. Imagine a Circuit ORAM binary tree with N leaves, where each non-root node in the tree can hold O(1) records that are either real or dummy, and the root node can hold super-logarithmically (in the security parameter) many records. Every real element in the tree carries its own position label, which ties the element to a path in the tree. Each node in the tree is additionally tagged with the minimum element in its subtree (henceforth called a subtree-min) as well as its position label. Observe that whenever a path in the tree is modified, it takes only path-length amount of work to modify the subtree-min of all nodes along the path. We can support Insert and ExtractMin queries as follows:
A renewed argument for crystal size control of ice sheet strain rates

At present, it is generally believed that crystal size has no direct influence on strain rate in the ice sheets and that the fraction of strain rate enhancement there which is not ascribable to c axis fabric is due to impurity content. Here we challenge this view because it is not consistent with recent results from analyses of deformation at Meserve Glacier and instead ascribe residual enhancement in the ice sheets to variations in crystal size. We resurrect the idea that variations of crystal size can be an important part of the total shear enhancement in the ice sheets, though agree with Paterson that this effect is generally dominated by variations of crystal fabric. We propose that the enhanced shear strain rate of ice age ice in southern Greenland, as inferred from tilt of the Dye 3 borehole, can be explained as a result of combined fabric variations and crystal size variations, with these two ice properties accounting for roughly 70% and 30% of the average enhancement, respectively. Permitting a grain size dependence of ice viscosity also resolves the quandary concerning closure and tilt of the Agassiz Ice Cap borehole.
Cultural Aspects of Social Anxiety Disorder: A Qualitative Analysis of Anxiety Experiences and Interpretation

Objective: Anxiety is a complex phenomenon on which culture has a prominent influence. The present study aimed to investigate the cultural aspects of social anxiety disorder (SAD) in an Iranian population. Method : A qualitative content analysis research was done to answer the study question. A total of 16 individuals with social anxiety disorder (six men and 10 women) were selected using purposeful sampling method (M = 24.43, SD = 4.56). The study was conducted in Tehran, Urmia, and Sanandaj- Iran. Participants were from different ethnic backgrounds (LOR, FARS, TURK, and KURD). Data were analyzed by thematic analysis using an inductive method. Results: Analysis of participants’ records yielded five distinct categories with some subcategories, which are as follow: (1) anxiety experiences; (2) core beliefs; (3) reasons of being anxious; (4) effects of SAD on life aspects; and (5) coping strategies. Conclusion: It seems that symptoms of social anxiety and its underlying beliefs, causes and effects and coping strategies are almost experienced and interpreted in a way that could be the same as DSM-5 clinical presentation of social anxiety, with the exception that somatic symptoms are experienced by almost all participants.
– What Comes First : The Food or the Nutrient ? What Comes First : The Food or the Nutrient ? Executive Summary of a Symposium 1 – 3

This article summarizes background materials and presentations at a symposium that considered the issue of the role of foods and dietary patterns vs. nutrients in relation to chronic disease risk. A model of food synergy is presented as a basis for studying whole foods and dietary patterns. Findings from a series of studies of walnuts were presented and support the concept that walnuts are a healthy food, with specific benefits in amousemodel of breast cancer growth, reductions in cardiovascular disease risk factors in humans, and motor performance and in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo cellular response to challenge in an aged-rat model. J. Nutr. 144: 543S–546S, 2014.
HCN Content and Forage Yield of Multi-Cut Forage Sorghum under Different Organic Manures and Nitrogen Levels

Global trend in animal production indicates a rapid increase in the consumption of livestock products. India supports nearly 20 per cent of the world livestock population on a land area of only 2.3 per cent. It is a leader in cattle (16 per cent) and buffalo (55 per cent) population and has world’s second largest goat (20 per cent) and fourth largest sheep (5 per cent) population, respectively. But, the country has only 4.4 per cent of the cultivated area under fodder crops with an annual total forage production of 833 m t (390 m t green and 443 m t dry). In Tamil Nadu, the area under fodder crops is 1.72 lakh ha producing 340 lakh tonnes of fodder annually as against the requirement of 486 lakh tonnes (Season and Crop Report, 2013-14). It is estimated that the deficit will increase over 64.2 and 24.8 per cent of green and dry fodder, respectively by 2020 [1].
Resolving outbreak dynamics using approximate Bayesian computation for stochastic birth–death models

Earlier research has suggested that Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) makes it possible to fit intractable simulator-based stochastic birth-death models to investigate communicable disease outbreak dynamics and that the accuracy of ABC inference can be comparable to that of exact Bayesian inference based on for example particle-filtering Markov Chain Monte Carlo. However, recent findings have indicated that key parameters such as the reproductive number, R, may remain poorly identifiable from data generated under an infinite alleles model. Here we show that the identifiability issue can be resolved by taking into account disease-specific characteristics of the transmission process in closer detail in the birth-death model. Using tuberculosis (TB) in the San Francisco Bay area as a case-study, we consider the situation where the genotype data are generated as a mixture of two stochastic processes, each with their distinct dynamics and clear epidemiological interpretation. ABC inference based on the ELFI software yields stable and accurate posterior inferences about outbreak dynamics from aggregated annual case data with genotype information. We also show that under the proposed model the infectious population size can be reliably inferred and that it is approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than considered in the previous ABC studies focusing on the same data, which is much better aligned with epidemiological knowledge about active TB prevalence. Similarly, the reproductive number R related to the primary underlying transmission process is estimated to be nearly three-fold compared with the previous estimates, which has a substantial impact on the interpretation of the fitted outbreak model. Our Python codes implementing the simulator model and the inference algorithm are freely available for further research and use at GitHub.
Functional strategies of the hindlimb muscles in the mouse deer

ABSTRACT We observed the muscles of hindlimb, talus, and tarsal joints in the lesser mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus) and greater mouse deer (Tragulus napu) that have conserved the original morphological characters of the musculoskeletal system in the Ruminantia. The proximal trochlea articulating to the distal end of the tibia obviously turned at a medio-proximal direction. Since the proximal parts of the muscle bundles were concentrated in the lateral side of the thigh, the tension of the extensor muscles in the hindlimb is mediodistally conducted. It indicates that the extending power of hindlimb muscles is not parallel with the direction of the trochlea, but crosses the angle of the proximal pulleys in the talus. We suggest that the crossing may enable the animal to stand and run stably and to bear its body weight. We compared the development of the hindlimb muscles in the mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus and Tragulus napu) with that in the Sika deer (Cervus nippon) and Chinese muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi). The dry weight of the muscles in the mouse deer indicated that the mass of the muscles were obviously concentrated in the lateral side of the proximal area and in the cranial side in the distal area in comparison with the two other large-bodied species. We can conclude that the present findings of the hindlimb muscles and talus in the mouse deer indicate the original functional strategy of the locomotion in non-specialized species of the Suborder Ruminantia.
Modeling Extreme Roll Motions and Capsizing of a Moderate-Speed Ship in Astern Waves

Munif et al. 1) had proposed a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) nonlinear mathematical model for predicting extreme roll behaviors and capsizing for a ship in astern waves with a moderate forward velocity. To validate this model, the authors carried out several numerical runs at the condition corresponding to the free-running model experiment by Hamamoto et al. 2) The comparison in time series and capsizing boundaries between the model experiment and the numerical simulation shows a reasonably good agreement. Furthermore, by comparing with the 4 DOF mathematical model excluding heave and pitch motions, it is revealed that the effect of heave and pitch motions can be significant when the wave steepness becomes larger.
Nutrient Metabolism Dietary Pectin with High Viscosity Lowers Plasma and Liver Cholesterol Concentration and Plasma Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein Activity in Hamsters 1

We fed semipurified diets containing pectin with either a high or low in vitro viscosity at a level of 3 g/100 g air-dried diet to hamsters for 8 wk. A control group was fed cellulose and a positive control group was fed psyllium. The pectins used were a calcium-sensitive pectin (CS-pectin) that has a high viscosity and a noncalciumsensitive pectin (NCS-pectin) that has a low viscosity. In the presence of calcium, CS-pectin has a more than 80-fold higher viscosity than NCS-pectin which offered the opportunity to investigate the possible role of viscosity in the hypolipidemic properties of pectin. The hamsters fed CS-pectin or psyllium had considerably lower plasma cholesterol concentrations (3.69 6 0.44 and 4.21 6 0.45 mmol/L, respectively, mean 6 SD, n 5 14) than those fed NCS-pectin (5.03 6 1.15 mmol/L) or cellulose (5.72 6 1.04 mmol/L). Differences in total plasma cholesterol were reflected in both high density lipoprotein and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol. There was no effect of fiber on low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Liver cholesterol concentrations paralleled the plasma cholesterol levels and were 9.91 6 2.48 mmol/g of liver for the CS-pectin group, 15.03 6 5.75 for the psyllium group, 17.69 6 10.66 for the NCS-pectin group, and 25.57 6 9.23 for the cellulose group. Fecal bile acid and neutral steroid excretion tended to be higher in the hamsters fed CS-pectin than in their counterparts fed NCS-pectin. The hamsters fed psyllium had significantly greater fecal excretions of bile acids than the hamsters fed cellulose, CS-pectin or NCS-pectin, whereas the excretion of fecal neutral sterols tended to be lower. Plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity was significantly lower in the hamsters fed CS-pectin than in those fed NCS-pectin. The results of this study suggest that the viscosity of pectins may determine their cholesterolemic effect. J. Nutr. 128: 1944–1949, 1998.
Application of Nanotechnology for high performance textiles

An adjustable clamp is provided for sine plates that make use of gage blocks to set the appropriate height and angle. A chain is disposed through a clamp block having two capstans. An adjustable screw bolt wedges the chain against the capstans and can increase or decrease the tension on the chain depending on whether the chain is pulled between the capstans or released. The chain ends are bolted to the bottom plate of the sine plate and hooked over a catch on the upper plate. Increasing the tension in the chain applies pressure between the gage block and the plates of the sine plate to prevent the gage block from being inadvertently displaced. The clamp stabilizes the sine plate so that the workpiece has a stable mounting.
GENOTOXICITY OF SHALLOW WATERS NEAR THE BRAZILIAN ANTARCTIC STATION "COMANDANTE FERRAZ" (EACF), ADMIRALTY BAY, KING GEORGE ISLAND, ANTARCTICA

Series of biomonitoring surveys were undertaken weekly in February 2012 to investigate the genotoxicity of the shallow waters around the Brazilian Antarctic Station "Comandante Ferraz" (EACF). The comet assay was applied to assess the damage to the DNA of hemocytes of the crustacean amphipods Gondogeneia antarctica collected from shallow waters near the Fuel Tanks (FT) and Sewage Treatment Outflow (STO) of the research station, and compare it to the DNA damage of animals from Punta Plaza (PPL) and Yellow Point (YP), natural sites far from the EACF defined as experimental controls. The damage to the DNA of hemocytes of G. antarctica was not significantly different between sites in the biomonitoring surveys I and II. In survey III, the damage to the DNA of animals captured in shallow waters near the Fuel Tanks (FT) and Sewage Treatment Outflow (STO) was significantly higher than that of the control site of Punta Plaza (PPL). In biomonitoring survey IV, a significant difference was detected only between the FT and PPL sites. Results demonstrated that the shallow waters in front of the station may be genotoxic and that the comet assay and hemocytes of G. antarctica are useful tools for assessing genotoxicity in biomonitoring studies of Antarctic marine coastal habitats.
LARA: A Learning and Reading Assistant

This working paper presents an overview of LARA (Learning and Reading Assistant), a set of tools we are in the early stages of developing. The idea of LARA is to support reading as a learning strategy for improving the learner’s command of a new language. LARA offers a range of options for semi-automatically marking up text in ways that can help the learner. These currently include construction of a personalised concordance based on the learner’s reading history, addition of recorded audio ﬁles, and insertion of links to translations and online linguistic resources. We illustrate with initial examples in English, Farsi and Icelandic and sketch ideas for further work. This will help to pave the road to including additional languages. Our medium-term goal is to include LARA as a component platform in CALLector, a social network currently under construction which will link together creators and users of online CALL content
Efficient Image Recognition and Retrieval on IoT-Assisted Energy-Constrained Platforms From Big Data Repositories

The advanced computational capabilities of many resource constrained devices, such as smartphones have enabled various research areas including image retrieval from big data repositories for numerous Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The major challenges for image retrieval using smartphones in an IoT environment are the computational complexity and storage. To deal with big data in IoT environment for image retrieval, this paper proposes a light-weighted deep learning-based system for energy-constrained devices. The system first detects and crops face regions from an image using Viola–Jones algorithm with additional face and nonface classifier to eliminate the miss-detection problem. Second, the system uses convolutional layers of a cost effective pretrained CNN model with defined features to represent faces. Next, features of the big data repository are indexed to achieve a faster matching process for real-time retrieval. Finally, Euclidean distance is used to find similarity between query and repository images. For experimental evaluation, we created a local facial images dataset, including both single and group facial images. This dataset can be used by other researchers as a benchmark for comparison with other real-time facial image retrieval systems. The experimental results show that our proposed system outperforms other state-of-the-art feature extraction methods in terms of efficiency and retrieval for IoT-assisted energy-constrained platforms.
Topic-Based Engagement Analysis: A Case Study

ABSTRACT The content on the web is increasing at an explosive rate. This makes it important to generate interpretations of web content in a way that could facilitate building of relevant systems. Keeping this notion in focus, we carry out an analysis to understand and generate interpretations of engagement of users with respect to topics discussed on a hacker forum. Since this could be first study of its kind, we present our results in way that could be easily interpreted and be used for carrying out further research. We make use of a number of existing machine learning techniques and models in this study. The study lists results obtained from different techniques for the same dataset and offers insight on the results obtained. There is also a discussion section that points out the usefulness of these results in encouraging user participation.
A New Distance-Based Consensus Reaching Model for Multi-Attribute Group Decision-Making with Linguistic Distribution Assessments

The increasing complexity of the social and economic environment nowadays makes it more and more impracticable for a single decision maker or expert to consider all the relevant factors of a decision-making problem [1]. For this reason, many companies, organizations, and administrations employ multiple members in complex decision-making processes, which is known as group decision-making (GDM). Generally, GDM can be understood as a process to aggregate individual opinions of multiple experts so as to acquire a group opinion in the situations where experts verbalize their preferences regarding multiple alternatives [2].
THE COMPARISON OF PROSODIC BOUNDARY FEATURES WITH ENCLITICIZED AND PROCLITICIZED FUNCTION WORDS

In spontaneous speech, unlike read speech, prosodic phrasing doesn’t match with syntactic structure oft en. Previous research confirms that this phenomenon usu ally occurs at intermediate phrase boundaries where function words are encliticized or procliticized. The researc h aims at observing prosodic boundary feature chang e as intermediate boundary positions were relocated. Ten pairs of the sentences selected from the audio book 『Hoot』 (spontaneous speech) and high school English textboo k (read speech) were extracted and the function words were encliticized to proceeding host words or proclitici zed to succeeding host words. After measuring the le ngth of the pauses, final syllables, and the changes of fundamental fre quencies using Pratt, differences among prosodic bo undary features were analysed. The results showed that the pause leng ths at intermediate phrase boundaries shortened, fi nal syllable length increased and high phrase accents prevailed over low phrase accents. Final syllable lengthening a nd phrase accents occurred at the early phases of boundary po siti ns. In conclusion, prosodic phrasing exposes t he overall sentence structure at the early stages of utterance , and listeners can anticipate the upcoming develop ment of utterances. Considering that prosodic phrasing is essential for language learning, learners of English as a second l anguage should practice prosodic phrasing rather than syntactic ph rasing.
Hedging Insurance Books

Complex insurance risks typically have multiple exposures. If available, options on multiple underliers with a short maturity can be employed to hedge this exposure. More precisely, the present value of aggregate payouts is hedged using least squares, ask price minimization, and ask price minimization constrained to long only option positions. The proposed hedges are illustrated for hypothetical Variable Annuity contracts invested in the nine sector ETF’s of the US economy. We simulate the insurance accounts by simulating risk-neutrally the underliers by writing them as transformed correlated normals; the physical and risk-neutral evolution is taken in the variance gamma class as a simple example of a non-Gaussian limit law. The hedges arising from ask price minimization constrained to long only option positions delivers a least cost and most stable result.
Title The psychophysiological effects of Taichi and exercise in residential Schizophrenic patients : a 3-arm randomized controlled trial

Background: Patients with schizophrenia are characterized by high prevalence rates and chronicity that often leads to long-term institutionalization. Under the traditional medical model, treatment usually emphasizes the management of psychotic symptoms through medication, even though anti-psychotic drugs are associated with severe side effects, which can diminish patients’ physical and psychological well-being. Tai-chi, a mind-body exercise rooted in Eastern health philosophy, emphasizes the motor coordination and relaxation. With these potential benefits, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) is planned to investigate the effects of Tai-chi intervention on the cognitive and motor deficits characteristic of patients with schizophrenia. Methods/design: A 3-arm RCT with waitlist control design will be used in this study. One hundred and fifty three participants will be randomized into (i) Tai-chi, (ii) exercise or (iii) waitlist control groups. Participants in both the Tai-chi and exercise groups will receive 12-weeks of specific intervention, in addition to the standard medication and care received by the waitlist control group. The exercise group will serve as a comparison, to delineate any unique benefits of Tai-chi that are independent of moderate aerobic exercise. All three groups will undergo three assessment phases: (i) at baseline, (ii) at 12 weeks (post-intervention), and (iii) at 24 weeks (maintenance). All participants will be assessed in terms of symptom management, motor coordination, memory, daily living function, and stress levels based on self-perceived responses and a physiological marker. Discussion: Based on a promising pilot study conducted prior to this RCT, subjects in the Tai-chi intervention group are expected to be protected against deterioration of motor coordination and interpersonal functioning. They are also expected to have better symptoms management and lower stress level than the other treatment groups. Trial registration: The trail has been registered in the Clinical Trials Center of the University of Hong Kong (HKCTR-1453).