Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FINGER VEIN IDENTIFICATION BASED ON CORNER DETECTION 1

Finger vein is a physiological biometric technology used in the identification systems for personal authentication based on the physical features of the vein patterns in the finger. In this paper, computer vision algorithms (FAST and Harris) were used to extract features (corner points) from the finger vein image, while the matching of patterns was based on the differences between corners represented in the form of points using the Manhattan distance. The False Matching Rate (FMR) and False Non-Matching Rate (FNMR) were minimized to obtain the optimum threshold value. This threshold were used to make the final decision. The proposed system proved that use of two algorithms together reduces the error rate and aids to produce a reliable system of finger vein identification.
What friends tell you about justice: The influence of peer communication on applicant reactions

This study examined the influence of peer communication concerning a selection procedure on the levels of anxiety among applicants taking a test and test motivation regarding a similar selection procedure, through the formation of interpersonal and distributive justice expectations. The hypotheses were addressed in a randomized four-group experiment. The results of the mediated hierarchical regression analyses showed significant mediating effects. Specifically, peer communication about interpersonal justice shaped applicants’ interpersonal justice expectations, which in turn related negatively to applicants’ levels of test anxiety. Peer communication about distributive justice shaped applicants’ distributive justice expectations, which in turn related positively to applicants’ test motivation.
Hyperelliptic continued fractions and generalized Jacobians

Abstract:For a complex polynomial $D(t)$ of even degree, one may define the continued fraction of $\sqrt{D(t)}$. This was found relevant already by Abel in 1826, and then by Chebyshev, concerning integration of (hyperelliptic) differentials; they realized that, contrary to the classical case of square roots of positive integers treated by Lagrange and Galois, we do not always have pre-periodicity of the partial quotients.In this paper we shall prove that, however, a correct analogue of Lagrange's theorem still exists in full generality: pre-periodicity of the {\it degrees} of the partial quotients always holds. Apparently, this fact was never noted before.This also yields a corresponding formula for the degrees of the convergents, for which we shall prove new bounds which are generally best possible (halving the known ones). We shall further study other aspects of the continued fraction, like the growth of the heights of partial quotients. Throughout, some striking phenomena appear, related to the geometry of (generalized) Hyperelliptic Jacobians. Another conclusion central in this paper concerns the poles of the convergents: there can be only finitely many rational ones which occur infinitely many times. (This is crucial for certain applications to a function field version of a question of McMullen.)Our methods rely, among other things, on linking Pad\'e approximants and convergents with divisor relations in generalized Jacobians; this shall allow an application of a version for algebraic groups, proved in this paper, of the Skolem-Mahler-Lech theorem.
The Effects of Acute Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise on Blood Parameters

Abstract The study attempts to investigate the effect of acute aerobic and anaerobic exercise on blood parameters and to determine whether blood parameters change between aerobic and anaerobic exercise. To achieve the objectives of this study, 25 male athletes participated in the research. Aerobic (Shuttle run test) and anaerobic (Running aerobic) Sprint test (RAST) exercise test were applied to the test subjects with a one-week interval. Before the exercise (resting), 1 minute and 60 minutes after both exercises’ protocol, subjects’ blood samples were taken to determine the blood hematologic values. A rise in the values was observed in 1 minute after the exercise, but 60 minutes after the exercise it was observed that most of the hematologic parameters returned to the resting levels. It was found out that the effect of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on hematologic blood parameters was mostly similar.
A Mechanism for Detecting and Identifying DoS attack in VANET

VANET (Vehicular Ad-hoc Network) which is a hy- brid network (combination of infrastructure and infra- structure-less networks) is an emergent technology with promising future as well as great challenges especially in security. By the other hand this type of network is very sensible to safety problem. This paper focuses on a new mechanism for DoS (denial of service) attacks on the physical and MAC layers in IEEE standard 802.11p. In this proposed solution, DoS attack is detected and iden- tified by using the values of packet delivery ratio (PDR) metric. Simulation results show the acceptable perfor- mance
Strategies for In Situ Home Improvement in Romanian Large Housing Estates

Socio-economic and physical change have visibly affected post-socialist cities, yet the state of decay of their inherited large housing estates has only deepened throughout the 1990s, despite the change in tenure through policies of large-scale privatisation. Housing disrepair has now reached a critical stage that requires rapid private and public intervention. This paper examines the extent to which Romanian block residents have been able to improve in situ their housing conditions since 2000, the strategies they employed and the challenges they faced. It focuses on the often ignored private domain of housing, flats and blocks, where changes are also likely to be less visible. By analysing the process of individual utility metering and the practice of collective block management, I argue that besides economics, the unregulated housing context and a relaxed legal culture have challenged individual and collective action and have generated a framework of housing privatism.
On the application of ICT in learning English as a second language: IWiLL

In today’s information era, using ICT to enhance teaching and learning is an active field of research. However, the implementation of ICT in teaching and learning is very challenging. In order to build effective teaching and/or learning models, which will be used nationally in Taiwan, the Ministry of Education has initiated a project known as Computer Assisted English Learning: Using ICT in High Schools and Vocational Schools. The IWiLL (Intelligent Web-based interactive Language Learning) system is chosen as the platform to accomplish the above objectives. Two main vehicles were designed, namely, web-based learning activity design and multimedia lecture design, to facilitate the delivery and transaction. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of these services.
Alcohol and Its Effect on Adolescent Brain Development and Executive Functioning: Some Results from Neuroimaging

There exists considerable evidence from both human and experimental animals indicating the central nervous systems’ vulnerability to the effects of alcohol exposure. Specifically, alcohol is a known neuroteratogen with especially harmful effect on developing brains. Given many adolescents abuse alcohol and their brains are still developing, this population may be vulnerable to alcohol’s neurotoxic effects. In particular, executive functions may be especially vulnerable. The objective of this paper is to summarize what neuroimaging techniques reveal about alcohol’s effect on executive functions in adolescence. This review synthesizes structural and functional neuroimaging studies on alcohol and executive functions. Results suggest that alcohol is associated with both acute and longterm impairment in executive functions. Finally, this review suggests that neuroimaging techniques reveal that alcohol is an especially harmful neuroteratogen which compromises executive functions in adolescence.
Use of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine the health-promoting index (HPI) of cow's milk

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy steadily has been gaining popularity for the analysis of milk components including total fat, protein, lactose, and ketones. To date, there have been few descriptions of the use of FTIR spectroscopy for the determination of milk fatty acid composition. The first objective of this thesis was to develop a method utilizing FTIR spectroscopy for prediction of the health-promoting index (HPI) of milk. The HPI is known to affect the relative softness of butter (Bobe et al., 2003); so, this model could be used to predict which cows’ milk could be designated for generation of niche products. To accomplish this objective, milk was collected from 281 cows for analysis. One set of samples was esterified into butyl esters for analysis via gas chromatography (GC), and the lipid was extracted from another set to analyze via FTIR spectroscopy. The GC-derived values and FTIR spectra were used to make predictive models by using the partial least squares (PLS) procedure of SAS. The models subsequently were used to generate predictions of milk composition by using FTIR spectra from three additional sets of 135 cows. The predictive model generated for HPI did not generate values for data not included in the predictive model satisfactorily (mean = 0.266, root mean-squared error of prediction (RMSEP) = 0.122); so, predictive models were created for additional milk fatty acid combinations. The predictive models generated estimates for several milk composition parameters relatively well. For example, the model generated to determine the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids is able to predict with a mean = 0.347 and RMSEP = 0.096. With further development, the use of FTIR
Footstep Planning in Rough Terrain for Bipedal Robots Using Curved Contact Patches

Bipedal robots have gained a lot of locomotion capabilities the past few years, especially in the control level. Navigation over complex and unstructured environments using exteroceptive perception, is still an active research topic. In this paper, we present a footstep planning system to produce foothold placements, using visual perception and proper environment modeling, given a black box walking controller. In particular, we extend a state-of-the-art search-based planning approach (ARA*) that produces 6DoF footstep sequences in 3D space for flat uneven terrain, to also handle rough curved surfaces, e.g. rocks. This is achieved by integrating both a curved patch modeling system for rough local terrain surfaces and a flat foothold contact analysis based on visual range input data, into the existing planning framework. The system is experimentally validated using real-world point clouds, while rough terrain stepping demonstrations are presented on the WALK-MAN humanoid robot, in simulation.
User Roles in Online Political Discussions: a Typology based on Twitter Data from the German Federal Election 2017

Twitter is well recognized as a microblogging site, an online social network (OSN), and increasingly as a digital news platform. With the changing media usage behavior over the past decade, political actors have now recognized the need to enrich their election campaign efforts by including social media strategies. However, previous research has shown that users behave heterogeneously in online political discussions. To better understand how users behave and interact in such debates, we conduct an exploratory study to identify emergent user roles from Twitter data. We develop a dynamic selection query to collect a representative data set on the German federal election of 2017. We define features of structure, function, and time for Twitter discussions and conduct a cluster analysis to derive eleven emergent roles from the 30,553 most active users. We then refine those roles by further data-driven analyses to enhance and deepen their understanding. Our results indicate dominance of the online discussion by the populist party Alternative für Deutschland. We also find that media outlets and political parties show somewhat similar behavior, and that the offline popularity of prestigious actors is extended into the online world.
Visualizing Communities in Dynamic Mouse Brain Networks

Community structure analysis reveals the properties of social networks. The application of this analysis to evolving communities in dynamic networks can help understand how social interactions between individuals dynamically change and how the brain networks grow. Visualizing these communities becomes challenging since the time dimension is an important component in dynamic networks. The problem is still more complex as the biological neural networks have physical structures, and communities are used to explore functional groupings. Our interactive visualization technique is used for exploring the community structure of dynamic mouse brain correlation networks and behaviors of individual nodes in the networks through time.
Physicochemical, antioxidant and cooking quality properties of long-term stored black beans: effects of moisture content and storage temperature

The objective of this study was to evaluate the main physicochemical and cooking quality changes in black beans stored at 14% and 17% moisture contents and at different temperatures (11, 18, 25 and 32oC) during 12 months. The proximate composition, the fat acidity, the electric conductivity, the leaching of solutes, the total phenolics and proanthocyanidins, the cooking time and the hardness of freshly harvested and stored black beans were determined. The protein, fat and ash contents remained unchanged (p ≤ 0.05) during storage, regardless of the moisture content and storage temperature. The fat acidity was greatly impacted by the moisture content. Electric conductivity, the leaching of solutes, the cooking time and hardness presented higher increases at 17% moisture content and temperatures of 25 and 32oC. The extractability of the total phenolics and proanthocyanidins decreased during storage impacted by both high moisture content and high storage temperatures. A similar reduction trend was determined in the antioxidant capacity of black bean extracts.
Fluoride sorption using Cynodon dactylon based activated carbon

This study deals the application of Cynodon dactylon based thermally activated carbon for fluoride toxicity. The batch adsorption techniques was followed at neutral pH as the functions of contact time, adsorbent dose, adsorbate concentration, temperature and the effect of co-anions. The data indicate that the prepared adsorbent surface sites are heterogeneous in nature and that fits into a heterogeneous site-binding model. The present system followed the Redlich-Peterson isotherm as well as Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. Lagergren pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, intra particle diffusion and Elovich kinetics were modeled to describe the adsorption rate of fluoride and determined as this scheme followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The calculated enthalpy change, ΔH°, and entropy change, ΔS°, for the adsorption process are +8.725 kJ/mol and +0.033 J/mol K respectively and shows endothermic experience. Instrumental analysis of XRD, FTIR and SEM gives the idea about the fluoride binding ability of adsorbent.
Acute Pain and Opioids : Through the Ages

Dr Macintyre is the Director of the Acute Pain Service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, a position she has held since establishing the service at the start of 1989. She is a Foundation Fellow of the Faculty if Pain Medicine (FPM), a past FPM Board Member, and a past examiner for both ANZCA and the FPM. She chaired the working party responsible for the production of the acute pain guidelines, Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence, published in 2005; the 3 rd edition will be published in 2010. Her recent publications include the 3 rd edition of Acute Pain Management: a Practical Guide (with Prof Stephan Schug) in 2007 and she is currently working on the 2 nd edition of a coedited book, Clinical Pain Management: Acute Pain. Her interests include acute pain management in more complex patients (eg. opioid-tolerant patients, the elderly patient), acute non-surgical and acute neuropathic pain, and persistent postsurgical pain.
Pac-Man Conquers Academia: Two Decades of Research Using a Classic Arcade Game

Pac-Man and its equally popular successor Ms. Pac-Man are often attributed to being the frontrunners of the golden age of arcade video games. Their impact goes well beyond the commercial world of video games and both games have featured in numerous academic research projects over the last two decades. In fact, scientific interest is on the rise and many avenues of research have been pursued, including studies in robotics, biology, sociology, and psychology. The most active field of research is computational intelligence, not least because of popular academic gaming competitions that feature Ms. Pac-Man. This paper summarizes the peer-reviewed research that focuses on either game (or close variants thereof) with particular emphasis on the field of computational intelligence. The potential usefulness of games like Pac-Man for higher education is also discussed and the paper concludes with a discussion of prospects for future work.
Experimental Investigation of Mode-I Fracture Properties of Parallel Strand Bamboo Composite

Parallel stand bamboo (PSB) is a high-quality wood-like bamboo composite. Failure due to cracking is a major concern in the design of PSB components for building structures. The mode-I fracture properties of PSB composite were studied. The wedge splitting method was employed as the test approach. Numerical analyses were conducted to determine the appropriate test specimen dimensions so that valid fracture toughness could be obtained. An R-curve was evaluated in accordance with the equivalent linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) theory. It was found that the initial crack depth ratio should be less than 0.4 for the fracture toughness test. The fracture toughness of PSB is higher than that of commonly used woods, and their fracture behavior is similar, exhibiting quasi-brittle behavior. The R-curve of the PSB exhibits rising behavior until the critical crack length is reached. However, the post-peak R-curve exhibits a descending behavior, contrary to that of quasi-brittle materials, which present a plateau in post-peak crack extension.
MAJID ALI KHAN SIMULTANEOUS USE OF PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCER AS ACTUATOR AND SENSOR IN REALTIME APPLICATIONS

MAJID ALI KHAN: Simultaneous Use of Piezoelectric Transducer as Actuator and Sensor in Real-time Applications Tampere University of technology Master of Science Thesis, 60 pages May 2016 Master’s Degree Programme in Machine Automation Major: Mechatronic and Micro-machines Examiner: Professor Pasi Kallio
Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Control of Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics with Actuator Failures

Spacecraft play an increasingly important role in various areas of modern society, such as telecommunication, earth observation, and space exploration. It is estimated that there have been more than 7000 spacecrafts launched all over the world. Despite rigorous testing many of these spacecraft fail on orbit due to various reasons [1], which consequently often lead to the failure of the whole mission. According to [2], over 30% of spacecraft failures occur at the subsystem level of the Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS). Moreover about 50% of the AOCS failures are attributed to actuator errors. The purpose of this paper is to present an actuator fault-tolerant attitude control.
Fisheries assessment: what can be learned from interviewing resource users?

Fishers have detailed knowledge of their resources, their environment, and their fishing practices that is rarely systematically collected. We conducted three types of interviews with coastal Newfoundland fishers to identify the range of information available, to see if it could be quantified, and to explore its potential for reconstructing trends within fisheries. These fishers have many terms for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), each associated with characteristic patterns of seasonal movement and availability to gear and indicating the location of several coastal spawning areas. They described a variety of changes in fishing practice. Of the four changes that could be quantified, all contributed to decadal-scale increases in catch efficiency prior to 1992, while change in catch per unit of effort for cod was consistently negative at decadal scales. For these fishers' lumpfish ( Cyclopterus lumpus) roe fishery, catch per unit of effort was consistently negative in the 1990s. We describe ways to access the large reservoir of information held by fishers, the use of several cross-checks to identify consistent patterns, and the use of trends and patterns to broaden the basis for interpreting quantitative surveys used in fisheries assessment. Local information from resource users can be assembled in forms usable in quantitative stock assessments. Resume : Les pecheurs possedent au sujet de leurs ressources, de leur milieu et de leurs pratiques de peche des connaissances detaillees qui sont rarement recueillies de facon systematique. Nous avons mene aupres de pecheurs cotiers de Terre-Neuve trois types d'entrevues pour determiner l'etendue de l'information disponible, voir s'il etait possible de la quantifier et explorer son potentiel pour tenter de reconstituer les tendances presentes dans les peches. Ces pecheurs possedent plusieurs termes pour decrire la morue Gadus morhua, dont chacun est associe a des caracteristiques particulieres des deplacements saisonniers et de la vulnerabilite aux engins de peche, et ils ont indique l'emplacement de plusieurs frayeres cotieres. Ils ont decrit un grand nombre de changements dans les pratiques de peche. Les quatre changements qui ont pu etre quantifies ont tous contribue a des augmentations d'echelle decennale dans l'efficacite de capture avant 1992, tandis que le changement dans les captures par unite d'effort (CPUE) pour la morue etait regulierement negatif a l'echelle decennale. Dans la peche de la lompe Cyclopterus lumpus pour les oeufs, pratiquee par ces pecheurs, le CPUE etait regulierement negatif dans les annees 90. Nous decrivons des facons d'acceder au vaste reservoir d'information detenu par les pecheurs, l'emploi de plusieurs recoupements pour reperer les patrons reguliers, et le recours aux tendances et aux patrons pour elargir la base d'interpretation des releves quantitatifs employes dans les evaluations. L'information locale fournie par les utilisateurs de la ressource peut etre rassemblee sous une forme utilisable pour les evaluations quantitatives des stocks. (Traduit par la Redaction) Perspectives 1963
Solution of Stochastic Quadratic Programming with Imperfect Probability Distribution Using Nelder-Mead Simplex Method

Stochastic quadratic programming with recourse is one of the most important topics in the field of optimization. It is usually assumed that the probability distribution of random variables has complete information, but only part of the information can be obtained in practical situation. In this paper, we propose a stochastic quadratic programming with imperfect probability distribution based on the linear partial information (LPI) theory. A direct optimizing algorithm based on Nelder-Mead simplex method is proposed for solving the problem. Finally, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the efficiency of the algorithm.