Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Segmentübergreifende Bahnplanung mittels eines analytischen Optimierungsverfahrens für die autonome Fahrzeugführung auf dem Braunschweiger Stadtring

Mit dem Projekt Stadtpilot stellt sich die TU Braunschweig der Herausforderung, autonom in der komplexen Umgebung des Braunschweiger Stadtrings zu fahren. Die besonderen Umgebungsbedingungen stellen hochste Anforderungen an die einzelnen Teilmodule und damit auch an die Bahnplanung. Im Rahmen des Projekts ist ein neuartiges analytisches Optimierungsverfahren entwickelt worden, das segmentubergreifend krummungs- und krummungsanderungsoptimierte Trajektorien mit dem Ziel berechnet, eine fur die Gesamtstrecke fahrdynamisch optimierte Sollbahn zu ermitteln. Damit werden gleichzeitig die Spurtreue und der Fahrkomfort erhoht. In dieser Arbeit wird der Algorithmus vorgestellt und die Wirksamkeit anhand eines typischen Fahrmanovers prasentiert.
Risk Assessment of Triclosan Using Animal Cell Lines

Triclosan is an antimicrobial ingredient used in many health-care products and household items including plastics, textiles and food packaging materials. However, the safety of triclosan has been questioned recently. In this study, cytotoxicity of triclosan to BHK-21, Vero and KB cells were performed by incubating these cells in culture medium containing various concentrations of triclosan for 3 days. Vero and KB cells were more sensitive and suitable as models to evaluate triclosan toxicity. The 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) of triclosan to Vero and KB were at 0.036 and 0.034 mM, respectively, while that of BHK-21 was at higher concentration (0.26 mM). Analyzing for triclosan content in popular use of personal health-care products revealed the maximum triclosan content at 0.27 % (w/w) or 0.023 mM in liquid facial soap. Genotoxicity analysis based on comet assay demonstrated the DNA breakage by triclosan. Its genotoxic potency was significantly increased as the triclosan concentration and the exposure time increased. Exclusion of cell death or cytotoxicity, the genotoxic effect of triclosan in this study could be observed noticeably at the IC20-30 of triclosan after 5 days treatment. Therefore, animal cell lines could be used for primary evaluation on the risk assessment of
Object Detection by Gaussian Mixture Model and Shape Adaptive Bidirectional Block Matching Algorithm

We proposed a method to improve moving object detection capability of Gaussian Mixture Model by suggesting shape adaptive bidirectional block matching algorithm. This method achieves more accurate detection and tracking performance at various motion types such as slow, fast, and bimodal motions than that of Gaussian Mixture Model. Experimental results showed that the proposed method outperformed the conventional methods.
HOUSEHOLD USAGE OF AND RECIPE CREATION WITH CONDIMENT SAUCES BASED ON RED PALM OIL: EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL FOR TARGETED MICRONUTRIENT DELIVERY TO DIFFERENT FAMILY MEMBERS

Combining foods that are naturally rich in essential micronutrients with other foods commonly used in the diets of low income households (food-to-food fortification) can be a sustainable way to deliver micronutrients. Properly conceived, the nutrients can be selectively targeted to different generations within the family. In a convenience sample of Guatemalan women, the feasibility of this approach using red palm oil (RPO, Carotino ® ), a food with extraordinary high pro-vitamin A carotenoids of up to 0.08% (w/w) of the crude oil, tocopherols and tocotrienols, was explored. Dishes were prepared with RPO as both red tomato and hot green sauces. Both had high acceptability to rural and urban low income women. Two hundred forty-five grammes of red tomato sauce and hot green sauce were distributed free. The women prepared many dishes with the red tomato sauce, but only five with the hot green sauce, which was instead mostly used as a garnish. We concluded that oils added to condiment sauces can enhance the nutrient contents in foods on the family table, and selective direction to adult members is feasible. More nutrient-rich oil will deliver more nutrients in this food-to-food fortification with RPO.
Microeconomic models of family transfers

Standard homo economicus lives in a world of complete markets and maximizes utility which is a function of his personal consumption. This approximation cannot account for parents making transfers to adult children, children taking care of old parents, nor for gifts, inheritance and many other services exchanged within families. Such behavior can be derived from three main mechanisms. Firstly, in the so-called pure altruism model, the parent's utility is augmented by the utility of his child. This leads to transfers from the parent to his child. An important feature of this model is the strong property of redistributive neutrality: since parents and child pool their income, any government transfer to one will be undone by the other adjusting his transfer. In a second model, altruism is impure as the parents want the child to behave in a certain way: exchange and strategic considerations enter the picture, as both parents' and child's income become endogenous. Thirdly, in a non-altruistic setting, with imperfect credit market, transfers to children and to old parents correspond to a reciprocity contract and are an investment for old age. Families embody long term and widespread commitments: born as a needy child, one becomes a parent and ultimately a (perhaps) needy grandparent. Moreover for much of what is exchanged within families, there is no market substitute. These features explain why the network of reciprocities can be large both in time and space, why those transfers change but do not disappear as market or public insurance develop, and why displacing them can have perverse side effects. Family transfers influence intra- and inter-generational inequality, hence the importance to assess their motivation. Tests usually conclude that the income pooling predicted by pure altruism is not observed, but family transfers are also far from being entirely motivated by direct exchange considerations.
Towards the integrated measurement of hand and object interaction

This paper describes the first stages towards an integrated package of quantitative methods for the measurement of hand-object interaction. To date, quantitative data concerning a product's ease of use has not been adequately defined to assist product developers and legislators in their evaluation. A better understanding is needed of the complex interaction between the hand and an object during task performance A model of the physical interaction between hand and object is described that emphasises the role of the biomaterials of the hand rather than focusing on the conscious implementation of muscle involvement. The model subdivides hand-object interaction during grip into three levels: Gross interaction where the skeletal structure and muscles influence the grip pattern providing a mechanical structure to clamp the object; Intermediate interaction, where the soft tissues of the palm of the hand provide a mechanical interlock with the surface features of an object; and Micro interaction, which involves adhesion between the sebum, epidermis and surface material of the object. This model of hand-object interaction provides a contextual framework for the measurement of levels of hand-object interaction. A battery of methods, which includes consideration of anthropometry, joint range of movement, grip strength, finger compliance, finger friction and the measurement of dynamic task performance, is described. A case study is used to illustrate the potential application of such data for the design/redesign of a product.
A Graph Based Framework for Route Optimization in Sea-Trade Logistics

How to find the optimal transportation route in sea-trade is very important for the logistics industry. The traditional routing problem is solved by performing the combinatorial optimization over a specified transportation network. Facing the huge network extracted from the foreign trading industry as well as the complex constraints, it is impossible for the traditional optimization methods to find the solution in a short time, which motivates our work. In this paper, we first carefully study the property of foreign trade network, and then convert the transportation network into a hierarchical one and propose a novel framework based on graphical model to solve this large scale network optimization problem. The experimental results demonstrate that our approach is superior to the famous ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) in terms of accuracy and the time spent.
The Occurrence and Context of S-Posture Display by Captive Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas

The “S-posture” is described in the cetacean literature as a radical flexure of the body which presents an atypically vertical visual signal. It has most commonly been associated with agonistic high arousal contexts, and often includes simultaneous acoustic outbursts. Its dynamic qualities – an abrupt retardation of forward motion, sweeping flexure of the flukes, and sustained arch – suggest its saliency to the cetacean’s motion-sensitive visual system. This study reports on the occurrence of S-postures in four captive beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) held at SeaWorld San Diego. During approximately 27 hours of video data, a total of 174 S-postures were displayed by three out of four belugas. None of the S-postures observed co-occurred with another visual display (i.e., bubble clouds, open mouth, jaw clap), while only 8% were observed to have co-occurred with an acoustic production by
Quantification of Carbon Stocks With The Common Tree Genus In Dryland Forest In Taita Ranch, South Eastern Kenya

Mapping of carbon stock in Kenya is central in establishing what potential the country has as far as carbon emission and concentration reduction through forest carbon sequestration effort is concern. This will ultimately define and position the country in carbon “business” if need be and display efforts employed in combating global warming and climate change by protecting and enhancing forest cover. There are some studies that have been conducted outside Africa continent majorly wet climate forest on biomass estimation. However, little has been done to quantify biomass in dry land ecosystem which is about 70% of Kenya land. This study therefore aimed at establishing the level of carbon capture and storage by the common tree genus and their respective species in dry land ecosystem, and estimate the amount of co2 capture and storage potential of these species in South East Kenya. Twenty five tree species from fourteen genus and a total of 2060 individual trees were sampled. Wildlife Work regression model was used to do biomass estimation and the computation done estimated the total tree biomass in the study area as 262 Mg, approximated to 26.2 Mg/ha. Biomass estimates varied significantly with genus Commiphora recording the highest biomass of 241 Mg followed by Vachenia and Acacia which recorded 30 Mg. Boswellia, Lannae, and Boscia recorded 22Mg, 18Mg and 11 Mg respectively. In terms of dominance genus Commiphora dominated at 46% followed by Lannea with 19% and Boswellia at 13% and Vachelia and Boscia recorded 9% each while the other pooled genus contributed 2%. The age of forest in the study area ranged between 30yrs to 40 years and based on the average biomass estimates then genus Commiphora is able to capture about 5.5 Mg of CO2 per year, Acacia and Vachenia is able to capture 5.4 Kgs while Boswellia, Lannae and Boscia are able capture 2.6kgs, 2.1kgs and 1.8kgs respectively and other genus pooled together capture 3.2kgs on average. Given the above biomass estimates therefore, genus Commiphora and Acacia and Vachenia lead in terms of carbon capture, storage and release of carbon if harvested for charcoal production.
Imaging of star clusters in unperturbed spiral galaxies with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. II. A comparison of star cluster systems in five late type spirals

Aims. Our goal is to investigate the formation of star clusters in relatively unperturbed environments. To do this, we studied the five nearby spiral galaxies: NGC 45, NGC 1313, NGC 4395, NGC 5236, and NGC 7793. Methods. We obtained images of the galaxies and their star cluster systems in using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. From a comparison of the broad-band colours with simple stellar population (SSP) models, we derived individual properties for each galaxy for the clusters such as masses, ages, and sizes, as well as global star cluster system properties such as the age distribution, luminosity function, and disruption time for clusters. Results. We identified about 600 star cluster candidates in the five galaxies, typically spanning ages from 3.9 Myr up to 1 Gyr and masses from 10 [square] 2 up to 10 [square] 5 M . We used the cluster age distribution to reconstruct the recent star formation history of each galaxy and observed significant variations from galaxy to galaxy. We went on to derive the luminosity function of the young star clusters and found slopes around [alpha] ~ -2 (similar to the ones found in previous studies) and the brightest star cluster magnitudes consistent with a random sampling of the luminosity function without involving an upper luminosity cut off. Finally, the sample includes only a handful of old globular clusters in each galaxy from which we derive low globular cluster specific frequencies.
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ACOUSTICS MADRID , 2-7 SEPTEMBER 2007 IN-SITU EVALUATION OF SOUND INSULATION USING TRANSFER FUNCTION MEASUREMENTS

The standard method to evaluate sound insulation in situ, concerned on the Standard ISO 140, is based on random excitation signal; such measurements have a limited signal to noise ratio and it is necessary a great number of measurement positions in order to diminish their standard deviation. A new standard, ISO 18233, standardize the reverberation time and sound insulation measurements obtained from deterministic signals such as sine swept or MLS. Due to the nature of these signals, the limitations of the classical method are avoided. This work presents the in-situ evaluation of sound insulation by using transfer function measurements, an auralisation process and the calculation of the speech privacy index. The estimation of the wall’s acoustic transfer function is addressed also.
Decline in Arctic sea ice thickness from submarine and ICESat records: 1958–2008

The decline of sea ice thickness in the Arctic Ocean from ICESat (2003–2008) is placed in the context of estimates from 42 years of submarine records (1958–2000) described by Rothrock et al. (1999, 2008). While the earlier 1999 work provides a longer historical record of the regional changes, the latter offers a more refined analysis, over a sizable portion of the Arctic Ocean supported by a much stronger and richer data set. Within the data release area (DRA) of declassified submarine sonar measurements (covering ∼38% of the Arctic Ocean), the overall mean winter thickness of 3.64 m in 1980 can be compared to a 1.89 m mean during the last winter of the ICESat record—an astonishing decrease of 1.75 m in thickness. Between 1975 and 2000, the steepest rate of decrease is −0.08 m/yr in 1990 compared to a slightly higher winter/summer rate of −0.10/−0.20 m/yr in the five‐year ICESat record (2003–2008). Prior to 1997, ice extent in the DRA was >90% during the summer minimum. This can be contrasted to the gradual decrease in the early 2000s followed by an abrupt drop to <55% during the record setting minimum in 2007. This combined analysis shows a long‐term trend of sea ice thinning over submarine and ICESat records that span five decades.
Purification of New β-Galactosidase from Enterococcus faecium MTCC 5153 with Transgalactosylation Activity

A new β-galactosidase (β-gal) was purified from a lactic acid bacterial strain of Enterococcus faecium MTCC5153 by chromatographic techniques. The purified enzyme had a specific activity of 24.06 U/mg of protein with k m and Vmax values of 2 mM and 18.2 mM/min/mg of protein, respectively. The yield of purified β-gal was 10.65% and estimated molecular weight found to be ∼90 kDa, consisting of two homodimeric subunits of 43kDa. The enzyme was stable in pH range of 8.0–9.0 with an optimum pH of 8 and the optimum temperature of 40°C. The enzyme was activated in the presence of metal ions such as Mg+2, Mn+2, Ca+2, K+ and Na+ and was inhibited by Zn+2, Co+2 and Cu+2. Chemical modifiers (N-bromosuccinamide and Diethylpyro carbonate) inactivated the enzyme indicating the role of tryptophan and histidine moieties for activity. The purified β-gal was able to synthesize oligosaccharides from lactose. This study suggests that the β-gal of Enterococcus faecium MTCC5153 could be applied in dairy industry for hydrolysis of lactose and to improve its digestibility. β-gal of probiotic cultures are of particular interest due to their transgalactosylation properties.
In silico analysis, structural modeling and phylogenetic analysis of EPSP synthase of Phaseolus vulgaris

The 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase is one of the essential enzymes of shikimate pathway and is verified as a specific target of broad-spectrum herbicide glyphosate. It is important to get insights into three-dimensional (3D) structure of this enzyme for engineering new herbicides as well as herbicide resistant crops. The information about 3D structure of EPSP synthase enzyme is not yet available in protein database for any of the plant species. Therefore, we revealed the homology model of Phaseolus vulgaris EPSP synthase protein using the structure of EPSP synthase from E. coli as template. The resulting model structure was refined by RAMPAGE server, ERRAT and Verify3D. Ramachandran plot analysis showed that conformations for 95.6% of amino acid residues are within the most favoured region. The phylogenetic tree (constructed using MAFFT) separated EPSP synthases of bacteria, monocot and dicot plants into distinct clusters. Our study generated reliable 3D model structure of EPSP synthase in P. vulgaris, which can be used for future studies.
RADIOACTIVE BEAM PROJECT AT HIMAC

Heavy-ion radiotherapy gives a good localized dose distribution just on a cancer tumor. In order to emphasize this advantage, the verification system of a particle range and an irradiated area in a human body has been developed for the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) at National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS). The idea comes from the fact that the stopping position of a short-lived positron emitting nuclei, such as 11 C, 15 O or 19 Ne, can be precisely detected by measuring annihilation gamma-rays.
A New Approximation Scheme for Digital Objects and Curve Length Estimations

The paper introduces a new approximation scheme for planar digital curves. This scheme defines an approximating sausage ‘around’ the given digital curve, and calculates a minimum-length polygon in this approximating sausage. The length of this polygon is taken as an estimator for the length of the curve being the (unknown) preimage of the given digital curve. Assuming finer and finer grid resolution it is shown that this estimator converges to the true perimeter of an r-compact polygonal convex bounded set. This theorem provides theoretical evidence for practical convergence of the proposed method towards a ‘correct’ estimation of the length of a curve. 1 School of Information Science, JAIST Asahidai, Tatsunokuchi, 923-1292 Japan 2 Centre for Image Technology and Robotics, The University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus, Auckland, New Zealand A New Approximation Scheme for Digital Objects and Curve Length Estimations T. Asano, Y. Kawamura, R. Klette, and K. Obokata School of Information Science, JAIST Asahidai, Tatsunokuchi, 923-1292 Japan ft-asano, kawamura, obokatag@jaist.ac. jp CITR, University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus, Building 731 Auckland, New Zealand r.klette@auckland.ac. nz
Evaluating Farmland Investments Considering Dynamic Stochastic Returns and Farmland Prices

This paper examines farmland investment decisions using a stochastic dynamic programming framework. Consideration is given to the dynamic, stochastic nature of farmland returns, linkages between farmland returns and farmland prices, and the effects of the above dynamic factors on a farmÂ’s financial structure. Optimal decisions to purchase or sell farmland are found for a central Illinois farm with high quality farmland. Sizes and debt distributions are then determined, given that the optimal decision rule is followed. Decisions from the dynamic programming model also are compared to a capital budgeting model.
Single-particle characterization of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA): evidence for non-uniform mixing of high molecular weight organics and potassium

Abstract. Biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) can be emitted from natural forest fires and human activities such as agricultural burning and domestic energy generation. BBOA is strongly associated with atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) that absorbs near-ultraviolet and visible light, resulting in significant impacts on regional visibility degradation and radiative forcing. The mixing state of BBOA can play a critical role in the prediction of aerosol optical properties. In this work, single-particle measurements from a Soot-Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer coupled with a light scattering module (LS-SP-AMS) were performed to examine the mixing state of BBOA, refractory black carbon (rBC), and potassium (K, a tracer for biomass burning aerosol) in an air mass influenced by wildfire emissions transported from northern Quebec to Toronto, representing aged biomass burning plumes. Cluster analysis of single-particle measurements identified five BBOA-related particle types. rBC accounted for 3–14 wt % of these particle types on average. Only one particle type exhibited a strong ion signal for K+, with mass spectra characterized by low molecular weight organic species. The remaining four particle types were classified based on the apparent molecular weight of the BBOA constituents. Two particle types were associated with low potassium content and significant amounts of high molecular weight (HMW) organic compounds. Our observations indicate non-uniform mixing of particles within a biomass burning plume in terms of molecular weight and illustrate that HMW BBOA can be a key contributor to low-volatility BrC observed in BBOA particles. The average mass absorption efficiency of low-volatility BBOA is about 0.8–1.1 m2 g−1 based on a theoretical closure calculation. Our estimates indicate that low-volatility BBOA contributes ∼ 33–44 % of thermo-processed particle absorption at 405 nm; and almost all of the BBOA absorption was associated with low-volatility organics.
A Swedish Intermodal Transport Service Based on Line-Trains Serving Freight Forwarders

This article starts out from the characteristics of FlexCombi, a proposed small-scale fine-meshed intermodal transport system based upon transhipment of swap bodies and 20’ ISO-containers by standard forklift trucks, at rail sidings and under the overhead contact wire. It has pronounced similarities to the Light-combi system commercially tested in Sweden by Green Cargo. The technical and operational characteristics are matched against the network operation principles and freight flows of Sweden’s largest forwarder, Schenker, which currently bases its operations mainly on all-road transport. The study indicates that rail can take a significant share of the long-distance haulage between Schenker’s terminals, fulfilling demands regarding transport time. The study also shows that the transhipment time is crucial for both the productivity and the average speed. The speed of trains, 100-160 km/h, is important for keeping the schedule, for mixing with fast passenger trains during daytime and for covering long distances overnight. An average distance run by the train equipment of 220-300 000 km per year should be achievable, which is about twice as much compared to conventional intermodal systems. Development and investment costs are kept low due to the use of standard equipment.