Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protective effects of tomato paste and Vitamin E on Atrazine-Induced Hematological and biochemical characteristics of Clarias gariepinus ( Burchell , 1822 )

The pesticides have different adverse impacts on different life stages of fish species with attempts to use dietary antioxidants to counteract their effects. So, the present study investigated the potential protective effects of vitamin E (50 mg/kg BW), tomato paste (in terms of 9 mg lycopene/kg BW) and their combination versus atrazine-induced changes in Clarias gariepinus. This species were exposed to sublethal doses of atrazine of 1.7 and 3.4 mg/L for 15 and 30 days. Atrazine significantly (P<0.05) induced free radicals in serum constituents. It caused a significant (P<0.05) increase in serum glucose, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and lipid peroxidation in liver. Addition of vitamin E and/or tomato paste to the diet of atrazine-treated fish improved the serum glucose, MCV, MCH and LPO levels in comparison to control fish. On the other hand, atrazine significantly (P<0.05) led to decline in serum total protein, total lipid, blood hemoglobin, total erythrocytes count, packed cell volume, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration.These atrazine-induced parameters were improved with the dietary supplemented tomato paste and/or vitamin E.
3 The Maximum Bichromatic Plane Spanning Tree Problem r

A geometric graph is a graph whose vertices are points in the plane and whose edges are straight-line segments between the points. A plane spanning tree in a geometric graph is a spanning tree that is non-crossing. Let R and B be two disjoint sets of points in the plane such that R ∪ B is in general position, and let n = |R ∪ B|. Assume that the points of R are colored red and the points of B are colored blue. A bichromatic plane spanning tree is a plane spanning tree in the complete bipartite geometric graph with bipartition (R,B). In this paper we consider the maximum bichromatic plane spanning tree problem, which is the problem of computing a bichromatic plane spanning tree of maximum total edge length. 1. For the maximum bichromatic plane spanning tree problem, we present an approximation algorithm with ratio 1/4 that runs in O(n log n) time. 2. We also consider the multicolored version of this problem where the input points are colored with k > 2 colors. We present an approximation algorithm that computes a plane spanning tree in a complete k-partite geometric graph, and whose ratio is 1/6 if k = 3, and 1/8 if k > 4. 3. We also revisit the special case of the problem where k = n, i.e., the problem of computing a maximum plane spanning tree in a complete geometric graph. For this problem, we present an approximation algorithm with ratio 0.503; this is an extension of the algorithm presented by Dumitrescu and Tóth (2010) whose ratio is 0.502. 4. For points that are in convex position, the maximum bichromatic plane spanning tree problem can be solved in O(n) time. We present an O(n)-time algorithm that solves this problem for the case where the red points lie on a line and the blue points lie on one side of the line.
Information System Using Active Database- a Novel Approach

-Active Database Management Systems (ADBMSs) have been developed to supportapplications with sensing changes in databases. Database driven Information Systems are divided into two integrity concerns: staticand dynamic integrity. Static integrity is one that is based on the situations within a particular databasestate and dynamic integrity addresses situations with state sequences.Dynamic integrity issues come to the bow whenservices are intended over the database. Information systems are collection of services and dynamic integrity is then an indispensable part of IS design. Therefore, designers of information systems have been regularlyconcerned with dynamic integrity.An active DBMS is one whichautomatically executes specified actions when specified conditions rise. Active Databases (ADBs) that enhance an element of dynamics into database systems, have mainly addressed static integrity concerns. Though there have been some attempts to join dynamic integrity concerns inside the agenda of active databases. This paper speeches dynamic integrity concerns in active databases by changing the perception of an active database from a database system enlarged with rules to a database driven information system that offers rule-based services. This change in perspective offers anauspicious approach for addressing active databasesinadequacies, and discloses a roadmap of directions for future active database research.
Evaluación Objetiva y Subjetiva de Entonací on Sintética

En esta comunicaci ́ on se presentan una serie de tests de evaluación de entonaci ́ on sintética. Los tests han sido aplicados sobre los resultados obtenidos empleando una metodolog ́ ıa de modelado de entonaci ́ on basada en funciones de B ́ zier y modelado estad ́ ıstico con aplicaciones en conversi ́ on texto voz. Primero se describen una serie de generalidades sobre tests objetivos y subjetivos, apuntando las ventajas e inconvenientes de unos frente a otros. Despu ́ es se define un test objetivo y se hace una valoraci ón de los resultados obtenidos. El test objetivo se completa con un test percetual poniendo de manifiesto la calidad de la entonaci ́ on sintética generada 1 .
Plasma visfatin concentrations in hypothyroid patients and its relationship with thyroid autoimmunity and atherosclerosis

Aim: Visfatin/pre-B cell enhancement factor stimulates the production of inflammatory cytokines released from adipose tissue such as TNF-α and IL-6, which are shown to be related to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and atherosclerosis. Our aim was to evaluate plasma visfatin concentrations in patients with autoimmune hypothyroidism and its relationship with thyroid autoimmunity and atherosclerosis. Material and Method: Thirty-five patients with newly diagnosed Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (32 women/3 men, mean age 43.8±9.6 years) and 18 healthy controls (17 women/1 men, mean age 43.3±5.2 years) were enrolled in the study. Anthropometric measurements, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), serum anti-Tg, anti-TPO, hsCRP, homocysteine, lipo(a), ApoA, ApoB1, β-2 microglobulin, insulin, glucose, visfatin, IL6, TNF-α, oxidized-LDL concentrations, lymphocyte subgroups and lipid profile were investigated both before and after thyroid hormone replacement therapy. Serum visfatin concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Mean serum visfatin concentrations were similar between autoimmune hypothyroidism group and control group (6.29 ± 1.63 ng/ml to 6.36 ± 1.51 ng/ml, p>0.05) and it was not correlated with thyroid autoimmunity and atherosclerosis markers. Plasma visfatin, oxidized LDL, IL-6, and TNF-α concentrations did not differ statistically between the control group and hypothyroid patients both before and after the therapy. The cardiovascular risk factors for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, HOMA-IR index, triglyceride, Apo B and ApoB/ApoA, homocysteine, β-2 microglobulin, and CIMT were found to be elevated in patients. Ox-LDL, cholesterol, homocysteine, and proteinuria concentrations were positively correlated with anti-Tg concentrations. Conclusion: Serum visfatin concentrations were not associated with thyroid autoimmunity and atherosclerosis.
Synergy between adaptive channel coding and media access control for wireless ATM

We propose mechanisms to exploit the synergy between the media access control (MAC) layer and the physical layer for wireless ATM applications. For simplicity, the system considered consists of a single server and a single wireless ATM terminal. A number of virtual circuit connections (VC), with varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, are supported. We focus on two components of the wireless ATM system, namely the channel encoder and the ATM scheduler in the MAC layer. The channel encoder is responsible for protecting the ATM cells over the hostile radio channel while the ATM scheduler is responsible for allocating limited resources to the ATM cells for each virtual connection so as to meet the specified QoS requirements. We consider two configurations, namely System-I with isolated adaptive channel encoder and ATM scheduler, and System-II with bi-directional information exchange. It is found that significant performance improvement on the cell loss rate (CLR) and the mean cell delay (MCD) could be achieved for systems exploiting the synergy.
2 D Markov-Chain Simulation and Prediction of Shallow Subsurface Alluvial Soil Textural Layers

Characterization of shallow subsurface sedimentary architecture, such as alluvial soil layers, is essential in hydrogeology. Elfeki and Dekking (2001) presented a highly efficient coupled Markov chain model for subsurface characterization with conditioning on well logs. The model is capable of reproducing some major subsurface features at their approximate locations. However, the model shows some obvious limitations, such as layer inclination and underestimation of minor states, when applied to simulating the structures of alluvial soil textural layers with sparse borehole data. This study presents an idea to mitigate these deficiencies by conditioning two-dimensional simulations of vertical transects on simulated lines generated by one-dimensional Markov chain methods. This method is proven to be effective with some tradeoffs by rigorous testing using different borehole schemes and comparison with simulated realizations from the coupled Markov chain model. Since datasets of densely distributed boreholes are often not available in most real-world applications, the method may enlarge the application scope of the coupled Markov chain methodology in shallow subsurface characterization with sparse borehole data.
BUNDLE ADJUSTEMENT AND POSE ESTIMATION OF IMAGES OF A MULTIFRAME PANORAMIC CAMERA

The STEREOPOLIS mobile mapping system, developed in the MATIS laboratory of IGN for city modelling and multimedia applicatio ns, integrates a panoramic head composed of 10 full HD cameras very accurately sync hronised. For each pose, a panoramic image is generated from the set of corresponding bu t poorly overlapping images. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of a thr ee-step method developed in Craciun [1] that computes the relative pose between the differe nt f ame camera images composing the panoramic frame. A phototheodolite, i.e. a theodoli te coupled with a digital camera, is used to construct a reference data set with a ground truth which is sufficiently accurate (to some extent) to evaluate by comparison the results of ou r pose estimation process. We present the different steps to compute, then we present the algorithm which is used as well as mathematic concept and finally results are commented the results of our pose estimation process will als o be compared with an off-the-shelf high quality software using SIFT-based corresponding poi nts and bundle adjustment, i.e. Autopano[2].
The Identification of Multivariable Radial Magnetic Bearing System Based on RLS-DE Algorithm

System model of magnetic bearing is the basis for improving control precision, stability and reliability. To achieve the exact model of multivariable radial magnetic bearing system, a method based on recursive least squares differential evolution (RLS-DE) algorithm is proposed. Based on eliminating the synchronous periodic vibration with rotary speed of rotor, recursive least squares (RLS) meheod is applied into elementarily identifying system model of radial magnetic bearing. Furthermore, initialized population of the differential evolution (DE) algorithm on a small scale of model parameters of elementary identification, and the optimal parameters of system model are achieved by repetitive mutation, crossover and selection of the DE algorithm. Based on identifying of RLS algorithm, the simulation indicates the variance of output error of identification model achieved by searching on a small scale is reduced by 92.86%, and the experiment indicates the variance of output is reduced by 80.13%. Results of simulation and experiment show the validity of proposed algorithm in identifying accurately system model of radial magnetic bearing.
Stage I Breast Cancer

Objetivo: determinar a eficácia da linfadenectomia axilar conservadora (esvaziamento dos níveis I e II) no tratamento cirúrgico do câncer da mama estádio I. Métodos: foram avaliados os resultados de 142 cirurgias realizadas em pacientes portadoras de câncer mamário estádio I (T1NO) entre janeiro/93 e dezembro/98. Removidos os linfonodos axilares presentes nos níveis I e II com preservação dos músculos peitorais, os mesmos foram dissecados pelo próprio autor (LAGB), sendo posteriormente examinados histopatologicamente com a realização de apenas 1 corte por linfonodo. A quadrantectomia foi realizada em 138 casos e a mastectomia modificada segundo Patey em 4 casos. Houve predomínio dos casos T1c (130 casos). Resultados: foram removidos 3.282 linfonodos (2.456 presentes no nível I e 826 no nível II) com um número médio de 23,1 linfonodos por axila. Desse total, apenas 68 estavam comprometidos (2,1%). Skip metastasis estava presente em apenas um caso (0,7%). Foram observados 35 casos de falso-negativos clínicos (24,6%), estando o nível I comprometido em 34 casos (97,1%) e o nível II em apenas 2 casos (5,7%). A axila estava negativa nos 107 casos restantes (75,4%). Conclusão: a dissecção axilar dos níveis I e II é suficiente para tratar a axila no estádio I do câncer de mama. Se linfonodos suspeitos são identificados durante a cirurgia, os gânglios do nível III e o grupo interpeitoral de Rotter deverão ser retirados.
The Signaling Value of College Grades ∗

We exploit a grading reform to estimate the effect of grades on student behavior and labor market outcomes. We link detailed university records with administrative register data to assess how a reform-induced change in students’ signal of educational achievement in terms of their grade point average (GPA) affect their subsequent exam performance, course selection, and time to graduation. Moreover we test how the change in GPA affected the students’ labor market success in terms of time to first employment, and earnings in the short run. We find no evidence for a relationship between reform-induced variation in GPA and subsequent student behavior for graduate students. Consequently, the reform-induced GPA change caused a higher signaled GPA (but not actual GPA). We find that the signaled GPA is also related to higher earnings in the first year after university. These results suggest that employers reward a (fake) signal of ability. ∗We thank participants the 2017 annual meeting of the European Society for Population Economics (ESPE) in Glasgow for valuable comments. Sievertsen acknowledges financial support from the Danish Council for Independent Research through grant DFF: 4182-00200. †The Danish Centre for Applied Social Science & Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen. E-mail: ath@sfi.dk. ‡Department of Political Science, Aarhus University. E-mail: uhvidman@ps.au. dk. §University of Bristol & The Danish Centre for Applied Social Science. Corresponding author, e-mail: h.h. sievertsen@bristol.ac. uk.
Symbol error rate evaluation of satellite mobile communication channels

Next generation communication will provide ubiquitous seamless services to mobile users. Satellites will play an important role in such global access. In satellite mobile communications, TWT (traveling wave tube) amplifiers are used to increase power efficiency. Unfortunately, power-efficient amplifiers cause nonlinear distortions to the transmitted signal. These distortions make the received symbols no longer on the original regular lattice but on a warped one. This paper studies the theoretical error probability of nonlinear fading channels (Rayleigh, Rice, and Loo fading models). By using Craig's method, we derive new expressions for the exact error probability of nonlinear fading channels. Monte Carlo simulations show good agreement with our theoretical analysis. Thanks to such analysis, this is the first time we can compare the performance of fading channel with and without nonlinearity theoretically; and see the degradation due to nonlinear amplifier in satellite systems. We also show the performance improvement by maximum ratio combining (MRC) diversity for nonlinear fading channel. What's more, we can compare different constellations performance in nonlinear fading channel by using this theoretical method, and choose the best one for satellite communication.
Ball-handling motion control for soccer playing mini-robots

This thesis describes improvements with respect to motion planning and control in the MI20 robot soccer system. Technologies from the fields of artificial intelligence, control theory, embedded systems and motion planning are used. To compete in the MiroSot category with mini-sized mobile robots requires playing skills for ball handling control. The existing implementations of these playing skills were unsatisfactorily in prediction, preplanning and control. Therefore the planned paths in motion planning are extended with the more flexible Bézier splines. By adding time or distance as parameter to such splines, trajectories results, that completely specifies the desired motion. To keep a mobile robot on a trajectory a timed controller is used. This control system uses a velocity profile and a trajectory as feed-forward control and uses feed-backward control based on measurements to correct the robot due to the uncontrolled dynamics. The results show a more flexible planning when spline curves as trajectories are used. It requires less computation time due to the ease of differentiating and integrating by numerical methods. The new control system shows an accurate trajectory tracking when using feed-forward as well as feed-backward control at low speeds. A disadvantage of trajectory tracking is the dependency on accurate position data. Without accurate measurements, tracking robots with high velocities is limited. High velocities of the robots are also limited by the uncontrollable robot dynamics.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Indicators of implicit and explicit social anxiety influence threat-related interpretive bias as a function of working memory capacity

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A Review of Wireless Sensor Technologies (Communication) and Applications in Agriculture: Trends with Focus on Zigbee Technology

-Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is to monitor the environment via devices called sensor nodes or motes for parameters such as temperature, light, humidity, moisture and improve agricultural techniques like water management. It helps to improve crop productivity, reduce production cost and make use of real time values for decision not prediction. The paper is to review precision agriculture and standards for wireless communications (IEEE for LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/GPRS) and using ZigBee in the Agri-Food sector.
The evaluation of quality of organizational communications: a quantitative model

The great majority of scientific publications regarding organizational communications give considerable importance to qualitative analyses while paying scant regard to objective and quantitative approaches. Indeed, very few research projects are dedicated to modeling and measuring the variables upon which good quality communications depend. The aim of this paper is to create and test a model which is able to express the quality of organizational communications as measurable, quantitative values. Thus, corporate managements will be able to use the model to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organizational communications generated within their companies (operative use of the model) and create the conditions necessary to achieve good organizational communications right from the planning stage (strategic use of the model). Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Laboratory Investigations of Weather Resistive Barriers Used with Cedar Siding

Several questions have been raised lately within the building industry about the selection and use of weather resistive barriers behind cedar siding and shingles. This paper describes how the weather resistive barrier functions in conjunction with cedar siding. In particular, experimental results on system water intrusion management (wetting and drying) are discussed. Environmental chamber testing of mock-up walls were used to understand moisture transport within the system, to compare housewrap and building felt performance, and to determine the value of incorporating an air space behind the siding. The study was limited to one set of laboratory-simulated weather conditions and shows only the relative behavior of the wall systems tested. Observations confirmed that capillary action, at the siding overlap, is a significant source of bulk water entry into the wall structure when the siding is not back-primed. Water that entered the wall at the siding overlap can move inward by vapor diffusion. Although this inward vapor diffusion was measurable, it did not appear to be large enough to cause wall damage under the conditions tested. With regard to inward vapor drive, the wall performance was not greatly affected by the type of weather barrier, but walls using a housewrap as a weather resistive barrier were observed to dry slightly faster than those using felt. Incorporating an airspace between the siding and the weather resistive barrier reduced the overall moisture level of the wall. Durability considerations in the selection of weather resistive barriers—specifically, potential for mold growth, and the effects of chemicals that may leach out of cedar—are also discussed. Based on the experimental results and analysis, the desired attributes for weather barriers in these systems and installation practices for them are proposed.
Education as a Tool of the Formation and Transmission of Political Values

The political culture of any society is supported and determined by the spiritual and moral values adopted by this particular society over the course of its historical development. We can say that general cultural values of the metaphysical order eventually transformed into socio-political values that formed the modern heterogeneous political space. The transmission of values, including political ones, takes place by means of exploiting different mechanisms by society and using different tools. Nevertheless, one of the most effective mechanisms at this time is education, which is more and more often considered by developed countries as a means of achieving their economic and political dominance in the international arena. In this aspect, education serves as a tool of “soft power” policy. It is through the expansion and spread of their education model that many countries promote their political values in economically and geopolitically important regions.