Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
1 On Self-Organizing Systems and Their Environments *

1 I am somewhat hesitant to make the introductory remarks of my presentation, because I am afraid I may hurt the feelings of those who so generously sponsored this conference on self-organizing systems. On the other hand, I believe, I may have a suggestion on how to answer Dr. Weyl’s question which he asked in his pertinent and thought-provoking introduction:“What makes a self-organizing system? ” Thus, I hope you will forgive me if I open my paper by presenting the following thesis: “There are no such things as self-organizing systems! ” In the face of the title of this conference I have to give a rather strong proof of this thesis, a task which may not be at all too difficult, if there is not a secret purpose behind this meeting to promote a conspiracy to dispose of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. I shall now prove the non-existence of self-organizing systems by reductio ad absurdum of the assumption that there is such a thing as a self-organizing system. Assume a finite universe, U0, as small or as large as you wish (see Fig. 1a), which is enclosed in an adiabatic shell which separates this finite universe from any “meta-universe” in which it may be immersed. Assume, furthermore, that in this universe, U0, there is a closed surface which divides this universe into two mutually exclusive parts: the one part is completely occupied with a self-organizing system S0, while the other part we may call the environment E0 of this self-organizing system: S0 & E0 = U0. I may add that it is irrelevant whether we have our self-organizing system inside or outside the closed surface. However, in Fig. 1 the system is assumed to occupy the interior of the dividing surface. Undoubtedly, if this self-organizing system is permitted to do its job of organizing itself for a little while, its entropy must have decreased during this time:
Developmental Stability in Chickens Local to Warm Climatic Region 2. Variation in Blood Metabolites Due to Genetic Selection and Crossing

An experiment was conducted to assess the variation in blood metabolic constituents in a local chicken line (CE1) selected five generations for increased 6-wk body weight. Also, line CE1 was reciprocally crossed with a Slow-Growing Commercial Broiler Strain (SGB). The local genetic control line (CRB) was used for genetic comparison. No significant differences were observed in the blood levels of total proteins, albumin, globulin and Albumin/Globulin (A/G) ratio among lines CE1 and CRB in both parental (P) and progeny (F1) generations. In P generation, total protein levels of 2.22 and 2.16 g/dl were obtained for lines CE1 and CRB and were significantly higher than 1.78 g/dl for strain SGB. Line CE1 had triglyceride level of 178.76 mg/dl which was significantly higher than 122.13 mg/dl for line CRB. Similar trend for the blood lipid metabolites were obtained in F1 generation. Sex variation in body weight although was obvious, the selection pressure on sex variation in metabolic activity was not existed. Significant heterosis estimates of -22.56 and 5.0% were obtained for the levels of total lipids and cholesterol. The heterosis estimates in the levels of total proteins, albumin, globulin, A/G ratio and triglycerides were -23.71, 9.94, -33.66, 14.97 and -3.63%, but lacked significance. Although heterosis estimates were mostly insignificant, they indicated that the metabolic activity could be drastically changed by crossing. The drastic change in the metabolic activity was too early to be noticeable in a short-term selection program. Selection pressure was more obvious in lipid metabolites, particularly triglycerides, than in protein metabolites. Highly moderate negative and significant correlation coefficient was obtained between globulin level and cholesterol level. The variable correlation relationships among blood metabolites and the insignificant correlations between blood metabolites and body weights did not reflect the continuous metabolic and tissue remodeling associated with growth. This could be due to the small size that characterizes local chickens of warm regions or the shortness of selection scheme that did not result in an obvious change in the metabolic activity.
Attitudes Regarding the Teaching Profession, Professional Efficacy Beliefs and Vocational Self-esteem of Teacher Canditates Enrolled at Education Faculties and Pedagogic Formation Programmes

This study aims at investigating the attitudes regarding the teaching profession, Professional efficacy beliefs and vocational self-esteem of teacher candidates enrolled at education faculties and pedagogic formation programmes with respect to their gender and their subject area. The results suggest that while there is a meaningful difference in attitudes regarding the teaching profession and vocational self-esteem of teacher candidates in favour of female participants, no difference is observed regarding self-efficacy beliefs. Findings also reveal that academic programs do not have a significant effect on candidate teachers’ attitudes towards teaching and vocational self-esteem. In terms of teacher candidates’ self-efficacy levels, a significant difference is found in favour of candidates enrolled in the pedagogic formation programme. Meaningful positive relationships are also observed between teacher candidates’ scores on attitudes regarding the teaching profession and scores on professional efficacy beliefs; between scores on attitudes regarding the teaching profession and scores on vocational self-esteem; and between scores on self-efficacy beliefs and scores on vocational self-esteem.
EVALUATION OF GROWTH AND GAS EXCHANGE RATES OF TWO LOCAL SAUDI WHEAT CULTIVARS GROWN UNDER HEAT STRESS CONDITIONS

The present study investigated the effects of three temperature regimes, low (20oC), moderate (25oC) and high (30oC), on growth and physiological parameters of two local Saudi wheat (Triticum durum) cultivars, Hab-Ahmar and Algaimi. Plants were grown under controlled environment in growth chambers. After four weeks plants were harvested and the following growth parameters were measured; plant height, number of tillers, leaf area, root length, fresh and dry weight. Physiological traits include chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rates, stomatal conductance, dark respiration and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters; Fo, Fm and Fv/Fm. In cultivar Hab-Ahmar, moderate and high temperatures caused significant decrease in most growth and physiological parameters such as plant height, number of tillers, leaf area, fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rates, stomatal conductance, dark respiration and the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm). In contrast, cv. Algaimi was shown to be more thermotolerant to moderate and high temperatures, with the exception of some growth parameters that were decreased. Unlike cultivar Hab-Ahmar, cultivar Algaimi had an increased rate of dark respiration when temperature was high (30oC). Stomatal behavior is shown to be positively correlated with the rates of photosynthesis in both cultivars; however, in cultivar Hab-Ahmar such correlation decreased as temperature increased.
Low emission zones: the likely effects on the freight transport sector

London's air quality has improved over recent decades, but is still the worst in the UK. Road transport emissions play an important part in this pollution. A low emission zone (LEZ) would help to accelerate the introduction of cleaner vehicles, and reduce the number of older, more polluting vehicles operating in London. Survey results indicate that there is some support among goods vehicle operators for a LEZ in London, depending on the precise scheme definition. Operators would generally try to comply with LEZ regulations, with most companies either using technical approaches to ensure that their London vehicle fleet complied with the required emission standard, or redeploying vehicles with the appropriate emission standard from other locations.
The Effect of Combined Convective andMicrowave Heating on Mechanical Behaviourof Wood during Drying

A numerical study is performed in order to analyse the effect of combined microwave and convective drying on the wood rheology behaviour. The stress model takes into account the free shrinkage, elastic deformation, viscoelasticity and mechanosorptive creep. Stress equations were solved using an implicit finite differential scheme and Thomas algorithm. Results showed that, combined convective and microwave drying reduce the drying time of wood and increasing the drying efficiency. It was found that the moisture content of wood below the fiber saturation point affect the drying stress and there was a significant effect between the drying condition and the mechanical properties of wood. The variation of moisture content during drying intended to produce a mechano-sorptive creep that is able to reduce drying stress. The stress model is used to optimize drying process and to effectively relieve the residual stresses after drying.
Incidence and Consequences of Risk‐Taking Behavior in Tournaments - Evidence from the NBA

We empirically explore the relevance of risk taking behavior in tournaments. We make use of data from the NBA season 2007/2008 and measure risk taking by the fraction of three-point shots. Current heterogeneity of teams is taken into account by intermediate results. It turns out that indeed teams who are behind increase the risk in terms of more three-point attempts. We additionally analyze the consequences of this change in behavior. Enhanced risk taking is inefficient for the vast majority of cases and only beneficial in terms of a higher winning probability if a team is behind with a rather large amount of points. We discuss possible explanations for these decision errors.
Concepts and Derivatives of Web Services

Since the web services are growing rapidly in cloud, service consumers and providers are looking for a means to find better services that satisfy both parties. From both user's and developer's perspectives, disco- vering functional and non-functional characteristics of a web service is essentially considerable. Due to over- coming the above issues many research have been published to improve the usage of web services to satisfy customers. The paper reviews the literature of web services with respect to quality of service (QoS) or non- functional properties, to acquire better understanding of concepts and issues related to QoS web service select- ing and discovering processes. Keywords - web service, QoS, standards, UDDI, WSDL, SOAP, non-functional properties
Free Vibrations Analysis of Functionally Graded Rectangular Nano-plates based on Nonlocal Exponential Shear Deformation Theory

In the present study the free vibration analysis of the functionally graded rectangular nanoplates is investigated. The nonlocal elasticity theory based on the exponential shear deformation theory has been used to obtain the natural frequencies of the nanoplate. In exponential shear deformation theory an exponential functions are used in terms of thickness coordinate to include the effect of transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia. The nonlocal elasticity theory is employed to investigate the effect of the small scale on the natural frequency of the functionally graded rectangular nanoplate. The govering equations and the corresponding boundary conditions are derived by implementing Hamilton’s principle. To show the accuracy of the formulations, the present results in specific cases are compared with available results in the literature and a good agreement is seen. Finally, the effect of the various parameters such as the nonlocal parameter, the power law indexes, the aspect ratio , and the thickness to lenghth ratio on the natural frequencies of the rectangular FG nanoplates is presented and discussed in detail.
Holomorphic Blocks for 3d Non-abelian Partition Functions

The most recent studies on the supersymmetric localization reveal many non-trivial features of supersymmetric field theories in diverse dimensions, and 3d gauge theory provides a typical example. It was conjectured that the index and the partition function of a 3d N=2 theory are constructed from a single component: the holomorphic block. We prove this conjecture for non-abelian gauge theories by computing exactly the 3d partition functions and holomorphic blocks.
COMPARISON OF PROGNOSTIC MARKERS FOR CENSORED OUTCOMES: APPLICATION IN THE NSABP B-14 STUDY

Prognostic markers for risk of recurrence or mortality are becoming very popular and important in the decision making process of cancer patients and their physicians. Those with good prognostics can avoid unnecessary chemotherapies and the resulted agony. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves are often used to assess and compare prognostic markers for binary outcomes. However, they cannot be directly used in assessing prognostic markers for time-to-event outcomes, which are usually subject to censoring. Recently several statistical methods such as the C¨Cindex, time-dependent ROC curve and the predictiveness curve have been developed for this purpose. In early stage estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, the 21-gene panel Oncotype DX assay and the Adjuvant! , based on age, tumor size and grade and other clinical variables, are widely used tools for patient prognosis and provide guidance in decision making. The recurrence score (RS) from the Oncotype DX assay and a risk index (RI) summarized from Adjuvant! both provide quantitative evaluation of recurrence risk. Here we applied those recently developed statistical methods to compare the prognostic utility of RS and RI in ER+, node-negative (N0), and tamoxifen-treated breast cancer patients enrolled on the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-14 trial. We showed that the RS was a stronger prognostic marker than RI, and combining RS with clinical variables also improved the prognostic utility in the NSABP B-14 trial. The results will help to improve treatment decision for breast cancer patients in public health practice.
Towards an ecological index for tropical soil quality based on soil macrofauna

O objetivo deste trabalho foi construir um indice simples com base na presenca/ausencia de diferentes grupos da macrofauna edafica para auxiliar na determinacao da qualidade ecologica dos solos. O indice foi testado com dados de 20 locais do sul e centro do Estado de Tabasco, Mexico, e foi observada uma correlacao positiva entre o dados gerados pelo modelo e pelas observacoes de campo. O indice de qualidade de solo mostrou que diversos sistemas agroflorestais tiveram a mais alta qualidade de solo (1,0) e que os monocultivos sem arvores, como o de abacaxi, apresentaram a qualidade de solo mais baixa (0,08). Este modelo precisa ser melhor desenvolvido para ser aplicado eficientemente em sistemas que apresentam naturalmente baixas densidades de minhocas (<10 g m-2) e numero elevado de especies de minhocas (5-7), como ocorre em solos de floresta tropical, cujo indice de qualidade de solo apresentou valores medios (0,5). A aplicacao desse indice precisara de um guia ilustrado para os seus usuarios. Mais estudos sao necessarios para testar o seu emprego por fazendeiros.
Concevoir des systèmes de culture adaptés aux agricultures familiales. Le cas du semis direct dans l’État du Parana (Brésil)

Southern Brazil has a long history of research and development on direct seeding cropping systems, which gave rise to widespread adoption of no-till by farmers big and small. Two surveys conducted in 2004 and 2013 with family farms in the Irati region (Parana, Brazil) show to what extent farmers have indeed adopted these systems and the three agronomic principles that underlie them. If the use of the no-till seed drill is widespread, rotations and cover crops are less diversified than those promoted by research on agronomic criteria, due in part to the growing interest of farmers for producing forage for feeding their dairy herds. In addition, most farmers periodically plough their fields to manage a diversity of agronomic problems they may face. Farmers have therefore adapted dynamically rather than adopting the ideal no-till model proposed by research to their objectives, resources and constraints, in response to the highly variable conditions they work under. In doing so, farmers prioritize economic (sales price, profitability, input prices) or operational considerations (availability of seed, ease of intervention) in the short-term over the optimization of agronomic performance and improvement of soil fertility in the long term put forward by research. Better meeting the diversity of constraints, needs and goals of family farmers implies that research become able and willing to engage in co- designing future innovative systems in partnership with them and with other key players in agricultural development.
Linear Wavelet-Based Estimation for Derivative of a Density under Random Censorship

In this paper we consider estimation of the derivative of a density based on wavelets methods using randomly right censored data. We extend the results regarding the asymptotic convergence rates due to Prakasa Rao (1996) and Chaubey et al. (2008) under random censorship model. Our treatment is facilitated by results of Stute (1995) and Li (2003) that enable us in demonstrating that the same convergence rates are achieved as in Prakasa Rao (1996) and Chaubey et al. (2008).
Transfer hydrogenation of N-benzylideneaniline catalyzed by ruthenium complexes with pincer-type phosphorus nitrogen ligands using propan-2-ol as the hydrogen source

Ruthenium complexes containing phosphorus-nitrogen, pincer-type (NPN) ligands show high activities and selectivities in the transfer hydrogenation of N-benzylideneaniline using propan-2-ol as the hydrogen source. Such is the case of complexes RuCl2PPh3(PPh(NHPy)2) (1) and RuCl2PPh3(PPh(NHPyMe)2) (2) which also show TOFs 5989 h and 5928 h, respectively. These remarkable results were obtained after only 10 min of reaction using a 1000/1 substrate/catalyst ratio.
Comparative Effect of Mastery Learning and Mind Mapping Approaches in Improving Secondary School Students’ Learning Outcomes in Physics

This study investigated the effect of Mastery Learning Approach (MLA) and Mind Mapping Approach (MMA) in improving students’ academic performance in Physics and also determined their effect in enhancing students’ retention of Physics. These were with a view to ascertaining the best teaching method for improving students’ learning outcomes in Physics. The study adopted the non-equivalent pre-test, post-test control group experimental design. Simple random sampling technique was used to select three co-educational secondary schools in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State in Nigeria. The sample for the study was 74 senior secondary school one (SSS1) Physics students from the three selected secondary schools. Three intact classes were used for the study. The instrument used for data collection was “Physics Achievement and Retention Test” (PART). Data collected were analyzed using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that there was a significant effect of treatment on the academic performance of students taught with MLA, MMA and conventional method with students taught using MMA showing the best academic performance, followed by MLA and then Conventional. Also, no significant effect of treatment was found in the retention ability of students taught with MLA and MMA with students from both methods having nearly the same mean score. The study concludes that both MLA and MMA could improve students’ learning outcomes in Physics; however, MMA could improve students’ learning outcomes better. It therefore recommends that ministry of education should organize training for science teachers especially Physics teachers on how best they can adopt these innovative teaching strategies during instruction so that learners would be guided to learn meaningfully and be assisted to retain what is learnt in Physics.
Bluetooth channel quality simulation, estimation and adaptive packet selection strategy

A full duplex Bluetooth simulation model is presented by Simulink of MATLAB. The model includes Bluetooth physical layer and baseband layer. A short range wireless communication channel model is established. The channel model is used that takes into account positioning, propagation effects and radio characteristics. Based on those, the radio performance of Bluetooth system is investigated by simulation, including the throughput of data transmission, Frame Error Rate and Bits Error Rate of SCO link etc. Through the simulation, we can see the detail transmission performances of different packet type. Furthermore, the model can simulate more scenario of Bluetooth communication, such as coexistences with other ISM devices or interferences from other Bluetooth piconets. In conclusion, the model can be used to do a lot of research work, if only little modification is made. Testing system and device designs early in the development process in this way can substantially increase productive efficiency and reduces the risk of design flaws. The transmission performances of Bluetooth 2.0+EDR specification are analyzed, including average maximum throughput under different channel quality. A new adaptive select strategy based on the history of the packets errors is suggested. The channel quality is estimated by the packet error statistics of recent transmission packets. The type of next packet need to send is judged and can be adjusted dynamically. The simulation results show that when the number of the packets used to be decided is about 30, the throughput is greatly close to the average maximum throughput. The strategy takes little overhead of the hardware and software. The judgment procedure is simple and quick. The strategy can be used in the Bluetooth system which has any control unit.
EMCSO: An Elitist Multi-Objective Cat Swarm Optimization

This paper introduces a novel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on cat swarm optimizationalgorithm (EMCSO) and its application to solve a multi-objective knapsack problem. The multi-objective optimizers try to find the closest solutions to true Pareto front (POF) where it will be achieved by finding the less-crowded non-dominated solutions. The proposed method applies cat swarm optimization (CSO), a swarm-based algorithm with ability of exploration and exploitation, to produce offspring solutions and uses thenon-dominated sorting method to findthe solutionsas close as to POFand crowding distance technique toobtain a uniform distribution among thenon-dominated solutions. Also, the algorithm is allowedto keep the elites of population in reproduction processand use an opposition-based learning method for population initialization to enhance the convergence speed.The proposed algorithm is tested on standard test functions (zitzler’ functions: ZDT) and its performance is compared with traditional algorithms and is analyzed based onperformance measures of generational distance (GD), inverted GD, spread,and spacing. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method gets the quite satisfactory results in comparison with other optimization algorithms for functions of ZDT1 and ZDT2. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is applied to solve multi-objective knapsack problem.
RF and IF mixer optimum matching impedances extracted by large-signal vectorial measurements

This paper introduces a new technique that allows us to measure the admittance conversion matrix of a two-port device, using a Nonlinear Vector Network Analyzer. This method is applied to extract the conversion matrix of a 0.2 µ µ µ µm pHEMT, driven by a 4.8 GHz pump signal, at different power levels, using an intermediate frequency of 600 MHz. The issue on data inconsistency due to phase randomization among different measurements is discussed and a proper pre- processing algorithm is proposed to fix the problem. The output of this work consists of a comprehensive experimental evaluation of up- and down-conversion maximum gain, stability, and optimal RF and IF impedances.