Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a cohort study focusing on treatment response to nutritional counseling

OBJETIVOS: A doenca hepatica gordurosa nao alcoolica ea principal causa de patologia hepatica. Essencial para seu manejo ea perda de peso. Nosso objetivo foi avaliar as respostas a aconselhamento nutricional em pacientes cronicos com esta condicao. METODOS: Estudo prospectivo de coorte com inclusao consecutiva de 105 individuos com doenca hepatica gordurosa nao alcoolica que receberam dieta individualizada de baixa caloria (1400-1600kcal/dia, de acordo com o sexo) e aconselhamento a cada 3 meses, durante 24 meses. A perda de peso de 5% ou mais foi considerada como resposta terapeutica adequada. RESULTADOS: Dos 105 pacientes, 45 (42,9%) nao voltaram para uma segunda avaliacao. A media de idade foi de 55 ± 9 anos, 81,6% eram mulheres e o indice de massa corporal foi de 31,9 (23,8-44,9) kg/m2. O tempo de seguimento foi de 6,5 (3,2-26,9) meses e numero medio de entrevistas foi de 3 (2-11). A sindrome metabolica e a hipercolesterolemia foram mais comuns em mulheres. O numero de individuos que perderam mais de 5% em peso foi: 5/20 (25%) em 6 meses; 3/15 (33%) aos 12 meses; 3/18 (17%) e aos 18 meses 4/13 (31%) no final do seguimento. A perda de peso corporal media aos 6, 12, 18 e 24 meses diminuiu significativamente. CONCLUSOES: A adesao ao aconselhamento nutricional epobre em pacientes com doenca hepatica gordurosa nao alcoolica. Apenas uma pequena proporcao de pacientes que atingiu a perda de peso corporal programada a longo prazo.
On-chip Power Supply Noise Measurement Circuit with 2.06mV/count Resolution

This paper describes measurement of an on-ship power supply noise in mixed-signal integrated circuits. To measure the on-chip power supply noise, we can check the effects of analog circuits and compensate it. This circuit consists of two independent measurement channels, each consisting of a sample and hold circuit and a frequency to digital converter which has a buffer and voltage controlled oscillator(VCO). The time-based voltage information and frequency-based power spectrum density(PSD) can be achieved by a simple analog to digital conversion scheme. The buffer works like a unit-gain buffer with a wide bandwidth and VCO has a high gain to improve resolution. This circuit was fabricated in a 0.18um CMOS technology and has 2.06mV/count. The noise measurement circuit consumes 15mW and occupies .
Multi-Sensor Aerosol Products Sampling System

Global and local properties of atmospheric aerosols have been extensively observed and measured using both spaceborne and ground-based instruments, especially during the last decade. Unique properties retrieved by the different instruments contribute to an unprecedented availability of the most complete set of complimentary aerosol measurements ever acquired. However, some of these measurements remain underutilized, largely due to the complexities involved in analyzing them synergistically. To characterize the inconsistencies and bridge the gap that exists between the sensors, we have established a Multi-sensor Aerosol Products Sampling System (MAPSS), which consistently samples and generates the spatial statistics (mean, standard deviation, direction and rate of spatial variation, and spatial correlation coefficient) of aerosol products from multiple spacebome sensors, including MODIS (on Terra and Aqua), MISR, OMI, POLDER, CALIOP, and SeaWiFS. Samples of satellite aerosol products are extracted over Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) locations as well as over other locations of interest such as those with available ground-based aerosol observations. In this way, MAPSS enables a direct cross-characterization and data integration between Level-2 aerosol observations from multiple sensors. In addition, the available well-characterized co-located ground-based data provides the basis for the integrated validation of these products. This paper explains the sampling methodology and concepts used in MAPSS, and demonstrates specific examples of using MAPSS for an integrated analysis of multiple aerosol products.
Partial Replacement of Soybean Meal by Peanut and Sesame Seed Meals in Practical Diets for Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

This study was conducted to evaluate the partial replacement of soybean meal by sesame seed and peanut meals in practical diets for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Four isonitrogenous (44% protein) and isolipidic (19% lipid) diets were formulated. The trial diets were prepared to include 10% sesame seed meal (S10), 10% peanut meal (P10), 5% sesame seed meal+5% peanut meal mix (SP10) and a control (C) with no replacement of soybean meal. There were four dietary treatments, with three replicates for each treatment. The fish (initial average weight; 79.86±0.14 g) were hand-fed twice a day to apparent satiety under a natural light regime for 65 days. At the end of experiment, the best growth was determined in SP10 group (p<0.05). The growth performance of S10 and P10 groups was significantly lower than control and SP10 groups (p<0.05). The hepatosomatic index (HSI) and viscerosomatic index (VSI) values were not affected from the protein sources in the diets (p>0.05). Comparing to the initial sample, the moisture, protein, lipid and ash contents in the body composition of the fish increased in all experimental groups and were not significantly differed among the groups (p>0.05). In the crude protein digestibility was no differences in among groups (p>0.05), but the highest apparent protein digestibility coefficients were determined for C (91.26%) and SP10 (91.93%) groups. The present results demonstrated that 10% sesame seed meal and peanut meal could be used in diets of rainbow trout without any negative effects on growth. The results showed that using these protein sources together may provide better results rather than using them alone.
Social Media Adoption in Adult Education – Administrators’ Experience

The rapid development of social media poses a multitude of considerations on this technology adoption. The emphasis in literature is put mainly on student or teacher perspective and less emphasis is dedicated upon administrators who also represent an important group of stakeholders. The aim of the study is to examine the phenomenon of potential educational use of social media at the public institutions of adult education based on administrators’ lived experience, taking into account how administrative factor influences social media adoption in education. The findings reveal that admitting the advantages of social media use, administrators also identify certain problematic areas and have cautious attitudes towards social media in education.
Can Experiential Ownership Violate the Immunity Principle ? A Reply to

In what follows, I respond to Haug and Jung’s criticisms of my target paper and defend the following claims: (1) the sense of experiential ownership can misrepresent the fact of experiential ownership; (2) the sense of experiential ownership is eligible to serve as a bearer of IEM; (3) at least some versions of IEM face genuine counterexamples; and (4) as far as the sense of self-as-subject is concerned, IEM is not a trivial property. Finally, I describe a new set of experiments that induced what I call “the self-touching illusion. ” The data, I suggest, strengthen the view that both the sense of self-as-subject and IEM are open to empirical as well as philosophical investigation.
Evaluation of Pure Aluminium Inoculated with Varying Grain Sizes of an Agro-waste based Inoculant

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Received: 01 March, 2017 Accepted: 07 April, 2017 Online: 13 April, 2017 Pure Aluminium and its alloy are widely utilized in Engineering and Industrial applications due to certain significant properties such as softness, ductility, corrosion resistance, and high electrical conductivity which it possesses. Addition of an agro-waste based grain refiner to the melt can alter the characteristics positively or negatively. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the inoculating capability of an agro-waste based inoculant and the effect of adding varying sizes of its grains on some of the properties of pure aluminium after solidification. The beneficial outcome of this investigation would enhance the economic value of the selected agro-waste and also broaden the applications of aluminium in Engineering. The assessed properties include; microstructure, micro hardness, ductility, and tensile strength. The agro-waste used as the grain refiner is pulverised cocoa bean shells (CBS). Three sets of test samples were produced using dry sand moulding process, with each melt having a specified grain size of the inoculant added to it (150, 225 and 300microns respectively). Ladle inoculation method was adopted. The cast samples after solidification were machined to obtain various shapes/sizes for the different analysis. The microstructural examination showed that the mechanical properties are dependent on the matrix as the aluminium grains became more refined with increasing grain size of the inoculant. I.e. Due to increasing grain size of the inoculant, the micro hardness increased (56, 61, 72HB) as the aluminium crystal size became finer. Meanwhile, the tensile strength (284, 251, 223N/mm) and ductility (1.82, 0.91, 0.45%E) decreased as grain size of the inoculant increased. The overall results showed that the used agro-waste based inoculant has the capability of refining the crystal size of pure aluminium as its grain size increases. This will make the resulting aluminium alloy applicable in areas where hardness is of superior consideration relative to tensile strength.
Structural unemployment and its determinants in the EU countries

Variables commonly used, in a panel setting, to explain unemployment rate developments (e.g. Bassanini and Duval (2006a, 2006b)) provide similarly good fit for structural unemployment rate, as measured by the Commission services (i.e. the so-called NAWRU). Those variables include labour market structural indicators, thus confirming the impact of labour market structural reforms on the NAWRU. In addition, we find that persistent demand shocks also have a bearing on the NAWRU. Such shocks are related to crisis events (i.e. unwinding of unsustainable developments). In particular, housing boom-bust episodes have statistically significant impacts on the NAWRU. Real interest rate and TFP growth, which controls more generally for the presence of such shocks, also matter. Put together, the explanatory variables account for 90% of the variance of NAWRU, in a 13 EU countries panel covering the period 1985-2009. The tight fit leaves no scope for statistically significant linear trend or period-effects. The paper also presents a new measure of the degree of generosity of unemployment benefit schemes, which has superior explanatory power compared to alternative measures commonly used to account for the role of this variable in similar studies.
Predicting shear strength of reinforced concrete slender beams without shear reinforcement using artificial neural networks

Öz Design codes aim to prevent shear failure of reinforced concrete (RC) beams since it is a brittle failure. An accurate prediction of shear strength is important for a proper design of an RC beam. There exist various equations for predicting the shear strength of RC beams. With increasing computational power, it is possible to develop numerical models delivering more accurate predictions than those equations do. In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN) model developed for predicting the shear strength of RC slender beams without shear reinforcement is presented. The comparisons of the model with five design code equations and fourteen equations proposed by various researchers are given. The model has a better performance than the considered equations do in predicting the shear strength of the beams considered in this study. A parametric study conducted for investigating the effects of various parameters on the shear strength of RC slender beams without shear reinforcement by using the ANN model is also presented. A significant size effect on the shear strength of RC slender beams without shear reinforcement is observed through the results of the parametric study. Yönetmelikler, betonarme kirişlerin kesmeden kırılmasını gevrek bir kırılma olduğu için önlemeyi amaçlar. Bir betonarme kirişin tasarımı için kesme dayanımının doğru tahmini önemlidir. Betonarme kirişlerin kesme dayanımını tahmin etmek için çeşitli denklemler mevcuttur. Artan hesaplama gücü sayesinde, bu denklemlerin yapabileceğinden daha doğru tahminler verecek nümerik modeller geliştirmek mümkündür. Bu makalede, kesme donatısız betonarme narin kirişlerin kesme dayanımını tahmin etmek için geliştirilmiş bir yapay sinir ağ modeli sunulmuştur. Modelin, beş tane yönetmelik denklemiyle ve farklı araştırmacılar tarafından önerilmiş 14 denklemle karşılaştırmaları verilmiştir. Model, bu çalışmada kullanılan kirişlerin kesme dayanımını tahmin etmekte ele alınan denklemlerden daha iyi performans sergilemiştir. Geliştirilen model kullanılarak çeşitli parametrelerin kesme donatısız betonarme narin kirişlerin kesme dayanımı üzerindeki etkilerini incelemek için yapılan bir parametrik çalışma da sunulmuştur. Bu parametrik çalışma sonucunda, kesme donatısız betonarme narin kirişlerin kesme dayanımı üzerinde önemli bir boyut etkisi gözlemlenmiştir.
Result Evaluation of Coherent Target Model Product with Long-Term InSAR Data Set in Shanghai

The coherent point target analysis provides an approach to exploit the temporal and spatial characteristics of interferometric signatures of long-term InSAR data stack and derive the surface deformation map. If temporal decorrelation and atmospheric heterogeneities could be separated from the phase signal, the extended technique of Differential-InSAR may improve the accuracy in deformation detection from centimeter to millimeter. This paper concentrates on the coherent point target analysis of long-term ERS-1/2 data set in Shanghai city, which has been affected by subsidence for more than eighty years. Using the methods of stacked differential interferograms, the phase series along time series due to atmospheric differences can be decreased through iterative procedures, and the deformation velocity can be measured in coherent targets. The 24 scenes from the ERS-1/2 satellites covering the test area, shanghai between 1992 and 2000 were chosen and processed. The products based on the Coherent Point Target analysis are compared with ground leveling data. The construction of subsidence phenomena will be characterized by the InSAR result. Validation of deformation model obtained using InSAR technology with the data collected from ground leveling monitoring system is discussed.
Physical properties and radius variations in the HAT-P-5 planetary system from simultaneous four-colour photometry

The radii of giant planets, as measured from transit observations, may vary with wavelength due to Rayleigh scattering or variations in opacity. Such an effect is predicted to be large enough to detect using ground-based observations at multiple wavelengths. We present the defocused photometry of a transit in the HAT-P-5 system, obtained simultaneously through Stromgren u, Gunn g and r, and Johnson I filters. Two more transit events were observed through a Gunn r filter. We detect a substantially larger planetary radius in u, but the effect is greater than predicted using theoretical model atmospheres of gaseous planets. This phenomenon is most likely to be due to systematic errors present in the u-band photometry, stemming from variations in the transparency of Earth’s atmosphere at these short wavelengths. We use our data to calculate an improved orbital ephemeris and to refine the measured physical properties of the system. The planet HAT-P-5 b has a mass of and a radius of (statistical and systematic errors, respectively), making it slightly larger than expected according to standard models of coreless gas-giant planets. Its equilibrium temperature of 1517 ± 29 K is within 60 K of that of the extensively studied planet HD 209458 b.
Optimising pheromone lures and trapping methodology for Prostephanus truncatus ( Horn ) ( Coleoptera : Bostrichidae )

Male Prostephanus truncatus release an aggregation pheromone, attractive to both sexes, consisting of two components, Trunc-call 1 (T1) and Trunc-call 2 (T2). Synthetic T1 and T2 are used as the lure in flight traps to catch the beetle; the standard commercial lure is a polythene capsule loaded with 2mg of 1:1 mixture of the compounds. However, laboratory comparison of 1:1 and 2:1 loadings showed that capsules with the higher T1 ratio release a blend that is closer to the mean natural ratio. Field testing of alternative weights and ratios of pheromone components demonstrated that capsules with the 2:1 mixture lured more beetles, improving catch by 17–29%. This improvement is probably not great enough to justify a change in practice for routine monitoring in situations where the presence of the pest is already well known. But there may be potential for adopting the new ratio in situations where higher trap sensitivity is required. The lures were supplied in sealed foil sachets and when they were first exposed a very high ‘flash-off’ of pheromone was observed. The flash-off was largely completed within 4 h of exposure and by 24 h pheromone output was more or less steady. For experimental studies comparing different treatments over short periods of time, it may be important to avoid testing during this flash-off period. In these circumstances, pheromone capsules should be aired for at least 1 day before being placed in traps. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Blockage Detection in Circular Pipe Using Vibration Analysis

Pipe is an important medium used in most industrial and home applications for transferring liquid or gas from one end to the other. The efficiency of liquid flow is crucial to ensure proper and efficient delivering of medium carried. Liquid flow may be abrupt or ceased if blockage forms inside the circular pipe. This paper investigates the effect of blockage in circular pipe using vibration measurement. The main focus of this paper is to study the correlation of blockage levels to vibration signal. When fluid flow through an obstacle, the streamlines get closer which will increase the flow velocity and decrease the pressure. The vibration parameters are measured using accelerometer and the relationship between blockage levels to vibration signal are observed. It is found that vibration in pipe increases as the flow area gets smaller. This work expresses the potential of vibration analysis in assessing blockage inside a circular pipe with direct water flow.
List of Tables iv List of Figures v Acknowledgements ix List of Abbreviations x List of Symbols xi

by YINGKANG DU Finnish Engineer Sigurd Savonius introduced a vertical drag rotor in 1922 and named it Savonius turbine. It consists of two semi cylindrical blades in an “S” shape from the top view. Savonius turbines provide some advantages such as a simple and low-cost structure, self-starting capabilities and the ability to use wind speed from any direction. Savonius machines are widely used in many ways, including pumping and sailing. However, it has a poor power coefficient, typically in the range of 10% to 15%. In order to find new solutions to improve the aerodynamic efficiency, this project designs, manufactures and tests experimentally six Savonius prototypes. The prototypes combine different geometric characteristics. Coefficient of torque and coefficient of power for each prototype are measured. The experimental validation is conducted at the fully instrumented wind tunnel. The results give guidelines to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of the Savonius wind turbines. Maximum power point tracking for Savonius turbine is also investigated.
STUDY OF EFFECTS ALOE VERA EXTRACT SUPPLEMENTED FEED ON HEMATOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL INDICES OF RAINBOW TROUT (ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Aloe vera extract (AE) on the immunity responses and hematological parameters in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fry to develop alternative drug to chemotherapeutics and antibiotics in aquaculture. 1200 rainbow trout (Oncorynchus mykiss) fry weighing 2±0.2 gram were randomly allocated into two treatment groups including: 1) placebo-treated group (control), 2) Aloe vera extract-treated group, each of three replicates. The fishes were hand-fed once a day with diet medicated AE or placebo at a rate of 1% of feed weight in the first feeding for 8 weeks. At the end of every two weeks 24 hrs after feeding, some of hematological and immunological parameters were analyzed. The results showed that serum total protein, albumin and globulin, respiratory burst activity, phagocytic activity and serum lysozyme activity vary among the two treatment groups which were found to be higher in AE-treated group (p<0.05). However there were no significant differences in hematological parameters between two groups. It was concluded that supplementation of AE at a rate of 1% registered higher immunological responses in compared to placebo group. Therefore, supplementation of AE in fish diets would enhance the nonspecific immunity responses and would be use particularly at time of outbreaks.
Iterative map-making with two-level preconditioning for polarized cosmic microwave background data sets

Context. An estimation of the sky signal from streams of time ordered data (TOD) acquired by the cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments is one of the most important steps in the context of CMB data analysis referred to as the map-making problem. The continuously growing CMB data sets render the CMB map-making problem progressively more challenging in terms of computational cost and memory in particular in the context of ground-based experiments with their operational limitations as well as the presence of contaminants. Aims. We study a recently proposed, novel class of the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient (PCG) solvers which invoke two-level preconditioners in the context of the ground-based CMB experiments. We compare them against the PCG solvers commonly used in the map-making context considering their precision and time-to-solution. Methods. We compare these new methods on realistic, simulated data sets reflecting the characteristics of current and forthcoming CMB ground-based experiments. We develop a divide-and-conquer implementation of the approach where each processor performs a sequential map-making for a subset of the TOD. Results. We find that considering the map level residuals, the new class of solvers permits us to achieve a tolerance that is better than the standard approach by up to three orders of magnitude, where the residual level often saturates before convergence is reached. This often corresponds to an important improvement in the precision of the recovered power spectra in particular on the largest angular scales. The new method also typically requires fewer iterations to reach a required precision and therefore shorter run times are required for a single map-making solution. However, the construction of an appropriate two-level preconditioner can be as costly as a single standard map-making run. Nevertheless, if the same problem needs to be solved multiple times, for example, as in Monte Carlo simulations, this cost is incurred only once, and the method should be competitive, not only as far as its precision is concerned but also its performance.