Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SOCIO-CULTURAL BASIS OF LONGEVITY BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN IN BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA

There are differences in health status between women and men. This has been attributed to gender-specific health and longevity-related behaviours. Hence, society and culture influence men to certain lifestyles that are increasingly detrimental to their health and life. The aim of this study is to investigate socio-cultural factors responsible for longevity among older men and women. The lifestyle theory formed the theoretical base for this study. The study generally is a quantitative cross-sectional study conducted among 344 older adults aged 50 years and above in Yenagoa city of Bayelsa state, Nigeria. Data for the study was gathered through the use of the structured questionnaire, while data analysis was done using, univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistics at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study showed that there is 0.52 variation of the independent variables on longevity for female respondents with F (15, 155) = 11.25, p<0.000; while that of their male counterparts is 0.34 variation of the independent variables on longevity with F (14, 158) = 5.75, p<0.000. It was thus concluded that most socialfactors that determine longevity differentials by gender are more favourable to men.Hence, the need for socialization and re-socialization of individuals based on their gender to shape and re-shape the biological factors for more favourable living conditions and healthy lifestyles is essential for promoting healthy well-being and further enhance longevity free from diseases or morbidity.
FINANCIAL DEEPENING AND INTEREST RATE RELATIONSHIP IN FACING THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY 2015: VECM AND PANEL DATA APPROACH

The relationship of the financial deepening to the interest rate has become an important study for the Southeast Asia countries, especially preparation for entering the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. This study will explore the effect of interest rates on deposits and credit to the financial deepening in ASEAN 5. By using VECM showed that Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore possessed a similar pattern where lending rates negatively affect financial deepening, while the deposit rate positive effect. In contrast to Malaysia and Thailand, deposit rates had a negative impact on financial depth, while the loan interest rate was positive. Meanwhile, using panel data for the ASEAN 5 showed that the effect of interest rates on loans to the depth of the financial sector is negative, whereas the effect of deposit rate was positive
Proteomic analysis of human pancreas cancers for the identification of targetable biomarkers

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is characterized with poorest prognoses among all major human cancers. Hence novel diagnostic and treatment modalities, such as targeted antibody based therapy, are required. The purpose of this study is therefore to identify tumor associated antigens in human pancreatic cancer specimens. These should preferentially be abundant in the tumor and accessible via bloodstream deliverable agents. Here, pancreatic tissues obtained from surgical resections of 4 individuals were soaked in EZ‐link Sulfo NHS‐SS‐biotin solution. The biotinylated proteins were captured by streptavidin affinity chromatography and the peptides derived from tryptic digestion were analyzed using the 2D‐HPLC‐MS/MS technique. Twenty four proteins were identified as accessible and differentially expressed in cancer as compared to normal pancreas. Of these, six proteins have been found in previous studies to be associated with pancreatic cancer whereas 14 have been known to be differentially expressed in other types of tumor. The remaining proteins were novel in the context of the pancreas tumor pathology. The differential expression pattern of potential antigens was validated by immunohistochemistry. In conclusion, the present study identified a set of accessible proteins that may be used as antigens for the antibody‐based therapy of pancreatic cancer. Our data have shown the feasibility of using a biotinylated strategy to generate protein expression profiles and identify accessible proteins as potentially therapeutic targets.
CITY-SCALE HUMAN MOBILITY PREDICTION MODEL BY INTEGRATING GNSS TRAJECTORIES AND SNS DATA USING LONG SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Abstract. Human mobility analysis on large-scale mobility data has contributed to multiple applications such as urban and transportation planning, disaster preparation and response, tourism, and public health. However, when some unusual events happen, every individual behaves differently depending on their personal routine and background information. To improve the accuracy of the crowd behavior prediction model, understanding supplemental spatiotemporal topics, such as when, where and what people observe and are interested in, is important. In this research, we develop a model integrating social network service (SNS) data into the human mobility prediction model as background information of the mobility. We employ multi-modal deep learning models using Long short-term memory (LSTM) architecture to incorporate SNS data to a human mobility prediction model based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data. We process anonymized interpolated GNSS trajectories from mobile phones into mobility sequence with discretized grid IDs, and apply several topic modeling methods on geo-tagged data to extract spatiotemporal topic features in each spatiotemporal unit similar to the mobility data. Thereafter, we integrate the two datasets in the multi-modal deep learning prediction models to predict city-scale mobility. The experiment proves that the models with SNS topics performed better than baseline models.
GENETIC AND MOLECULAR DISSECTION OF THE DROUGHT ESCAPE RESPONSE IN A. THALIANA

pp 7 Introduction 1 Life cycle of Arabidopsis thaliana pp 11 2 The regulation of the floral transition pp 12 2.1 The Photoperiodic pathway pp 12 2.2 The Vernalization pathway: the repressive role of FLC pp 15 2.3 The Autonomous pathway pp 16 2.4 The Gibberellins pathway pp 17 2.9 Emerging pathways fine-tuning the floral transition pp 18 3 Water scarcity pp 19 3.1 ABA biosynthesis pp 20 3.2 Mechanisms of ABA signalling pp 21 Aim of the project pp 23 Main Results – Discussion 4 The role of photoperiodic pathway in mediating the DE response in Arabidopsis thaliana pp 27 5 The role of ABA in the floral transition pp 30
Age structure and possible origins of old Pinus taeda stands in a floodplain forest

PEDERSON, N. A. (School of Forestry, Auburn University, AL 36849), R. H. JONES (Department of Biology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061), AND R. R. SHARITZ (Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, SC 19802 and Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens GA 30602). J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 124:111-123. 1997. -Stand structure and ages were measured in six old stands of Pinus taeda L. (loblolly pine) and one younger stand within Congaree Swamp National Monument, South Carolina. Dominant overstory species included loblolly pine, shade intolerant hardwoods and tolerant hardwoods. All overstory species except pine also occurred in the sapling layer. Five of the six old stands had two or more pine age classes. All but one individual pine was less than 200 years old. According to estimates of future survival, current loblolly pine seedling densities in recently hurricane-disturbed and clearcut areas are inadequate to reproduce tree densities measured in extant old stands. Spatial distributions of mature trees suggest that pines have established in gaps as large as 0.3 ha and as small as a single overstory tree. No evidence of fire (scars on existing trees or charcoal in the upper 10 cm of soil) was found in any old stand. From these results, we speculate that the old loblolly pine stands in Congaree Swamp resulted from small-scale agricultural activities, although wind storms, fires, or combinations of these may have played contributing roles. Because of its apparent ability to regenerate in gaps, loblolly pine will probably remain in Congaree Swamp for several centuries as small clumps and scattered individuals.
Uncertainty Quantification of Density Reconstruction in High-Energy X-ray Radiography

High-energy X-ray radiography is a measuring technique for quantitative diagnosis of the object and its internal structure. Tomographic reconstruction determines the geometric and physical properties of the object according to the energy distribution on the imaging plane. Considering the noise and blur in the process of radiographing, we construct a general reconstruction model for the axisymmetric single image photographic system. This inverse problem is then cast within a statistical framework in order to compute volumetric object densities from X-ray radiographs and to quantify uncertainties in the reconstruction. A hierarchical Bayesian model is developed with a likelihood based on a Gaussian noise model and with priors placed on the unknown nonnegative density profile, the precision matrix, and two scale parameters. This results in a joint posterior distribution, which can be readily sampled using the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. To study the role of hyperparameters and their sensitivity analysis, a wide variety of tests were conducted which led to a number of definitive conclusions. Results of the density reconstructions and pointwise uncertainty estimates are presented for simulated signals with various physical factors in the imaging process included. Keywords–inverse problem; density reconstruction; uncertainty quantification; Bayesian inference; MCMC method.
Field evaluation of three biopesticides for integrated management of major pests of tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. in Sudan

Two field experiments were conducted at two different locations in Khartoum State, Sudan during the cropping season 2007/2008 to evaluate the efficacy of three biopesticides on the major insects of tomato, (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Treatments applied were NeemAzal ® -T/S (2L/ha), XenTari ® (1kg/ha), Spinosad ® (2L/ha). Sumicidin ® 20% EC was applied at a rate of 0.7L/ha for comparison. Major insect pests studied were whitefly, Bemisia tabaci; aphids, Aphis gossypii and African bollworm (ABW), Helicoverpa armigera. All treatments significantly reduced the populations of the test insect pests. NeemAzal proved to be nearly as effective as Sumicidin. Higher numbers of the green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.) were found in biopesticidestreated and control plots compared with fewer numbers in Sumicidintreated plots. The per cent increase in yield was 32%, 31.2%, 25.3% and 20% in plots treated with NeemAzal, Sumicidin, Xen Tari and Spionsad respectively.
Shaping Circularly Symmetric ADC Antennas by Combining Conic Sections for Amplitude and Phase Control at the Aperture

This paper presents a shaping technique for circularly symmetric ADC antennas for phase and amplitude control at the aperture. The method is iterative, using conic sections at each step to model the reflecting surfaces of the antenna. The system of equations is simple, using sine and cosine laws and conic equations. The solution at each step is obtained numerically, optimizing only a single variable. The technique is applied in two examples, one with uniform phase and amplitude aperture distribution, and the other with modeled phase and amplitude aperture distribution for a flat topped radiation pattern.
Multimethod U–Pb baddeleyite dating: insights from the Spread Eagle Intrusive Complex and Cape St. Mary's sills, Newfoundland, Canada

Abstract. Baddeleyite ( ZrO2 ) is widely used in U–Pb geochronology but analysis and age interpretation are often difficult, especially for samples which have experienced post-intrusive alteration and/or metamorphism. Here, we combine high spatial resolution (secondary ionization mass spectrometry, SIMS) and high-precision (isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry, ID-TIMS) analyses of baddeleyite from the Spread Eagle Intrusive Complex (SEIC) and Cape St. Mary's sills (CSMS) from Newfoundland. Literature data and our own detailed microtextural analysis suggest that at least seven different types of baddeleyite–zircon intergrowths can be distinguished in nature. These include secondary baddeleyite inclusions in altered zircon, previously unreported from low-grade rocks, and likely the first discovery of xenocrystic zircon inclusions mantled by baddeleyite. 207Pb∕206Pb baddeleyite dates from SIMS and ID-TIMS mostly overlap within uncertainties. However, some SIMS sessions of grain mounts show reverse discordance, suggesting that bias in the U ∕ Pb relative sensitivity calibration affected 206Pb∕238U dates, possibly due to crystal orientation effects, and/or alteration of baddeleyite crystals, which is indicated by unusually high common-Pb contents. ID-TIMS data for SEIC and CSMS single baddeleyite crystals reveal normal discordance as linear arrays with decreasing 206Pb∕238U dates, indicating that their discordance is dominated by recent Pb loss due to fast pathway diffusion or volume diffusion. Hence, 207Pb∕206Pb dates are more reliable than 206Pb∕238U dates even for Phanerozoic baddeleyite. Negative lower intercepts of baddeleyite discordia trends for ID-TIMS dates for SEIC and CSMS and direct correlations between ID-TIMS 207Pb∕206Pb dates and the degree of discordance may indicate preferential 206Pb loss, possibly due to 222Rn mobilization. In such cases, the most reliable crystallization ages are concordia upper intercept dates or weighted means of the least discordant 207Pb∕206Pb dates. We regard the best estimates of the intrusion ages to be 498.7±4.5 Ma (2 σ ; ID-TIMS upper intercept date for one SEIC dike) and 439.4±0.8 Ma (ID-TIMS weighted mean 207Pb∕206Pb date for one sill of CSMS). This first radiometric age for the SEIC is consistent with stratigraphic constraints and indicates a magmatic episode prior to opening of the Rheic Ocean. Sample SL18 of the Freetown Layered Complex (FLC), Sierra Leone, was investigated as an additional reference. For SL18, we report a revised 201.07±0.64 Ma intrusion age, based on a weighted mean 207Pb∕206Pb date of previous and new baddeleyite ID-TIMS data, agreeing well with corresponding SIMS data. Increasing discordance with decreasing crystal size in SL18 indicates that Pb loss affected baddeleyite rims more strongly than cores. Our SL18 results validate that the SIMS in situ approach, previously used for Precambrian and Paleozoic samples, is also suitable for Mesozoic baddeleyite.
Prelocalization and Leak detection in water drinking distribution network using modeling-based algorithms: Case study: The city of Casablanca (Morocco)

Abstract. The role of a water drinking distribution network (WDDN) is to supply high-quality water at the necessary pressure at various times of the day for several consumption scenarios. Locating and identifying priorities of water leakage areas becomes major preoccupation for manager of the water supply, to optimize and improve constancy of supply. In this paper, we present the results obtained on the field from a research conducted in order to identify and to locate leaks in (WDDN) focused on the resolution of the Fixed And Variable Area Discharge (FAVAD) equation by use of the prediction algorithms in conjunction with hydraulic modeling and the Geographical Information System (GIS). The leak localization method is applied in the oldest part of Casablanca. We have used, in this research, two methodologies in different leak episodes: (i) The first episode is based on a simulation of artificial leaks on the MATLAB platform using the EPANET code to establish a database of pressures that describe the network's behaviour in the presence of leaks. The data thus established has fed into a machine learning algorithm called Random Forest, which will forecast the leakage rate and its location in the network; (ii) The second was field-testing a real simulation of artificial leaks by opening and closing of hydrants, on different locations with a leak size of 6 l/s and 17 l/s. Results are similar for both methods, the location of leaks is found within 100 meters from the actual leaks.
Challenges and adaptive strategies in pig breeding from the aspect of heat stress and heat tolerance

Authors summarized the results of the last three decades’ relevant literature examining the temperature effects on the various growth, reproductive and carcass traits in pigs. The ideal period of temperature measurement and the different methodologies characterizing temperature effects were summarized. The aspects of genotype environment interaction for the measured traits under hot and temperate conditions were also presented. Finally the possibilities of direct genetic selection for heat tolerance and its possible selection criteria traits were also discussed.
Predicting fruit maturation in kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa)

SummaryIn New Zealand, 6.2% soluble solids concentration (SSC) is the minimum maturity at which kiwifruit destined for export can be harvested. Ambient temperature during the fruit maturation period has been shown to affect the soluble solids accumulation rate. The purpose of the present study was to describe variation in the rate of fruit soluble solids accumulation in different regions and seasons and to develop a means of quantifying the effects of temperature on the rate of fruit maturation. Measurements of fruit SCC were made over a three year period on one orchard in each of six principal kiwifruit-growing regions across New Zealand. The date at which fruit reached 6.2% SSC varied by 34 d across all sites and years. There was an 18 d range in the average date across all sites, with Riwaka, the coolest site being the earliest, and Kerikeri, the warmest site, being the latest. The variation from year to year across all sites was 12 d. We formulated a non-linear, time-dependent model to predict the rat.
Performance and Power Optimizations for Highly Reliable Caches by Seyedmostafa Azizabadifarahani

Supervisory Committee Dr. Amiarali Baniasadi (Department of Electrical and Computer engineering) Supervisor Dr. Mihai Sima (Department of Electrical and Computer engineering) Departmental Member This thesis introduces performance and power optimization techniques for caches. Our optimization techniques target both conventional caches, which are implemented using six-transistor (6T) cells, and highly reliable caches implemented using eight-transistor (8T) cells. In 6T cell caches, we enhance leakage power dissipation by adapting a previous proposed technique, Drowsy Cache, according to the application behavior. We show that spatial locality in embedded applications is low and Drowsy Cache misses a significant leakage power saving opportunities. By taking a finer granularity approach, we achieve a significant leakage power reduction with minimal performance overhead. Although 6T cell caches are commonly used, we show that they are not proper choice for future designs due to poor stability. We investigate 8T cells as alternative reliable designs for implementing caches. However, Column Selection Issue limits efficiency of 8T cells during write operations. Previous solution, Read-Modify-Write (RMW), addressed column selection issue by requiring a read operation before each write operation, imposing significant overhead on performance, cache traffic, and power. We observe that a significant share of cache accesses in RMW is either redundant or unnecessary, consequently can be avoided without compromising program execution consistency. Based on our observations, we propose two techniques which exploit a iv buffering mechanism to detect and filter out unnecessary and redundant cache accesses. Our simulation results show that our techniques improve performance and cache traffic effectively in 8T cell caches. Furthermore, we propose a novel dual threshold 8T cell which reduces leakage power significantly with negligible impact on performance. Our proposed cell also improves stability and robustness to process variations compared to the conventional 8T cells.
Zero-Sum Flow Number of Categorical and Strong Product of Graphs

A zero-sum flow is an assignment of nonzero integers to the edges such that the sum of the values of all edges incident with each vertex is zero, and we call it a zero-sum $k$-flow if the absolute values of edges are less than $k$. We define the zero-sum flow number of $G$ as the least integer $k$ for which $G$ admitting a zero sum $k$-flow. In this paper we gave complete zero-sum flow and zero sum numbers for categorical and strong product of two graphs namely cycle and paths.
Facial features detection using Eyes Facial features detection using Eyes Facial features detection using Eyes Facial features detection using Eyes----Nose template Nose template Nose template Nose template

Summary The researches on human face detection are playing an important role in the world of biometrics and several studies have been going on over the last decades. Face detection for human is very easy concept and with a glance, human can differentiate faces and non-faces, nevertheless face detection is very challenging when it comes to computers and digital world. The reason is faces have wide range of variability in size, texture, color and structure. There are numerous researches have been done in the field of face detection and some of them have been analyzed for functioning under dissimilar conditions such as facial expression, occlusion, illumination and head rotation. In this paper, a new proposed method has been implemented, the method use an unique template of eyes and nose for detection which makes our system fast, simple and suitable for real time face detection. The experiments conducted indicate that the proposed technique has inspiring performance compared to benchmark methods.
Speech Perception under Spectral Shift and Compression-Expansion Conditions: A Cochlear Implant Simulation Study

The effects of spectral shift and spectral distortions (individual and combined) on speech recognition were measured using acoustic simulations.The present study included 30 participants with normal-hearing (NH), listening to acoustic cochlear implant (CI) simulations to measure speech recognition under spectrally matched, shifted, compression and expansion conditions for Kannada Quick Sin sentences, generated by 16-channel, noise-band vocoder. In the shift-only condition, the frequency ranges of the carrier bands were shifted up or down relative to the analysis bands. In the compressionand expansion-only conditions, the analysis bandrange was made larger or smaller, compared to the carrier band range. Measurements were made in noise (with four talker babble at 0 dB SNR). A statistically significant difference was present for both, compression and expansion conditions when compared to the perfect frequency and place matched condition. Scores were significantly poorer in the expansion compared to compression condition. Information from the present study will help in understanding the effect of spectral manipulations on speech recognition ability in noise.
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT MODELS OF MATHEMATICS TEACHER COLLABORATION AND LEARNING

In this paper, we employ an analytical framework to examine the design features, teachers’ learning processes, and outcomes expected in three selected models of teachers collaboration and learning, namely the Action-Education model, the Learning Study model, and a Community-Centered model for teacher learning. Based on our analysis, we outline the affordances and limitations of the selected models from the three perspectives: analytical vs. holistic ways of thinking of the relationship between research and practice in teacher’s collaboration and learning; cooperation vs. collaboration in interactions between researchers, knowledgeable others and teachers; and the tacit nature of knowledge for teaching mathematics. Through our analysis we suggest a flexible approach to the use of such models, reconsidering them as tools for which it is essential to propose sets of practical principles that can inform teachers of the choice of models as tools for particular purposes, as well as more generally informing the design, evaluation and research of professional learning.