Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Numerical Simulations of Potential Contribution of the Proposed Huangpu Gate to Flood Control in the Taihu Lake Basin of China

The Taihu Lake basin (36895 km), one of the most developed regions in China located in the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta, has experienced increasing flood risk. The largest flood in history occurred 15 in 1999 with a return period estimate of 200 years, much higher than the current capacity of flood defense with the design return period of 50 years. Due to its flat saucer-like terrain, the capacity of flood control system in this basin depends on flood control infrastructures and peripheral tidal conditions. The Huangpu River, an important river of the basin connecting Taihu Lake upstream and Yangtze River Estuaries downstream, drains two-fifth of the entire basin. Since the water level in Huangpu River is 20 significantly affected by the high tide conditions in estuaries, constructing an estuary gate is considered as the most effective solution for flood mitigation. The main objective of this paper is to assess the potential contribution of the proposed Huangpu gate to the flood control capacity of the basin. To achieve this goal, five different scenarios of flooding and the associated gate operations are considered by using numerical model simulations. Results of quantitative analyses show that the Huangpu gate is effective to 25 evacuate floodwaters. It can help to reduce both the peak values and the duration of high water levels in the Taihu Lake to benefit the surrounding areas along the Taipu Canal and Huangpu River for more than 100 km2. The contribution of the gate to the flood control capacity is closely associated with its operation modes and duration. For the maximum potential contribution of the gate, the net outflow at the proposed site is increased by 52%. The daily peak level is decreased by a maximum of 0.12m in the Taihu Lake, 30 by a maximum of 0.26-0.37 m and 0.46-0.60m in the Taipu Canal and Huangpu River, respectively, and by 0.05-0.39m in surrounding areas along the two rivers depending on local topography. It is concluded that the proposed Huangpu gate can reduce flood risks in the Taihu Lake basin and the surrounding areas along the Taipu Canal and Huangpu River significantly, which is of great benefits to the flood management in the basin and the Yangtze River Delta. 35
The Advantages of Nanotechnology in Medical Field

The paper evaluates the advantage of Nanotechnology in medical field. These advantages are in four points; in each point I highlighted the important applications and opportunities for these advantages in Nano medicine. This model could be used as a guideline for other researches, which is related to same topic. Also, this model can represent the effective side of Nano technology in medical field. This model highlighted the important advantages for nanotechnology in medical filed. Also; the model adds value for this area of study.
Occurrence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in bovine feces, feed, water, raw milk, pasteurized milk, Minas Frescal cheese and ground beef samples collected in Minas Gerais, Brazil

This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in feces samples, water, feed, raw milk, pasteurized milk, Minas Frescal cheese, and ground beef. Seventy samples (40 of feces, 10 of raw milk, 5 of pasteurized milk, 5 of ground beef, 4 of Minas Frescal cheese, 4 of water, and 2 of feed) were collected in two farms of dairy cattle and two farms of beef cattle and in commercial establishments. The samples were processed according to standard methodologies using biochemical methods and molecular and biological assays. Among 209 identified bacterial isolates as E. coli, 120, 70, 7, 7, 3, 2, and zero were obtained from samples of feces, water, feed, ground beef, pasteurized milk, Minas Frescal cheese, and raw milk, respectively. An isolate from water sample coming from a beef cattle farm was identified as E. coli STEC. This isolate showed cytotoxic effect in Vero cells and the EhlyA gene encoding entero-hemolysin. Therefore it is justified to develop studies to limit the spread of this pathogen.
ASSESSMENT ON STOCHASTIC ALGORITHMS FOR GLOBAL OPTIMIZATION

Este trabalho compara algoritmos estocasticos diferentes aplicados a problemas de minimizacao de funcoes teste, para as quais tecnicas matematicas tradicionais costumam falhar. Os algoritmos estocasticos avaliados neste trabalho foram Colonia Artificial de Abelhas (CAB), Evolucao Diferencial (ED), Enxame de Particulas (EP) e Recozimento Simulado (RS). Os parâmetros internos de cada algoritmo foram alterados e seus efeitos na performance do algoritmo foram avaliados e comparados na minimizacao de seis funcoes teste (Ackley, Griewank, Parabolic, Rastrigin, Rosenbrock and Scheffers). Os resultados permitiram concluir sobre a importância de uma definicao adequada dos parâmetros internos. Alem disso, a minimizacao da funcao de Rosenbrock com alta dimensao foi realizada com a melhor configuracao de cada algoritmo. Os resultados mostraram que a maioria dos algoritmos conseguiu encontrar o minimo global das funcoes multimodais. Entretanto, os algoritmos ED e CAB apresentaram os melhores resultados em termos de convergencia e qualidade de resultados.
Do EFL Learners Make Instrumental Inferences when Reading? Some Evidence from Implicit Memory Tests

Initial studies with second language learners, employing elaborative inferencing tasks, appear to contradict some ideas about the usefulness of schema theory for teaching reading to students of English as a foreign language. Learning instructions designed to activate instrumental inferencing in single sentence contexts may have a negative effect on recall, suggesting that they may disrupt processing during initial contact with the text.
The potential ecological costs and cobenefits of REDD: a critical review and case study from the Amazon region

The United Nations climate treaty may soon include a mechanism for compensating tropical nations that succeed in reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, source of nearly one fifth of global carbon emissions. We review the potential for this mechanism [reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD)] to provoke ecological damages and promote ecological cobenefits. Nations could potentially participate in REDD by slowing clear‐cutting of mature tropical forest, slowing or decreasing the impact of selective logging, promoting forest regeneration and restoration, and expanding tree plantations. REDD could also foster efforts to reduce the incidence of forest fire. Potential ecological costs include the accelerated loss (through displaced agricultural expansion) of low‐biomass, high‐conservation‐value ecosystems, and substitution of low‐biomass vegetation by monoculture tree plantations. These costs could be avoided through measures that protect low‐biomass native ecosystems. Substantial ecological cobenefits should be conferred under most circumstances, and include the maintenance or restoration of (1) watershed functions, (2) local and regional climate regimes, (3) soils and biogeochemical processes, (4) water quality and aquatic habitat, and (5) terrestrial habitat. Some tools already being developed to monitor, report and verify (MRV) carbon emissions performance can also be used to measure other elements of ecosystem function, making development of MRV systems for ecological cobenefits a concrete possibility. Analysis of possible REDD program interventions in a large‐scale Amazon landscape indicates that even modest flows of forest carbon funding can provide substantial cobenefits for aquatic ecosystems, but that the functional integrity of the landscape's myriad small watersheds would be best protected under a more even spatial distribution of forests. Because of its focus on an ecosystem service with global benefits, REDD could access a large pool of global stakeholders willing to pay to maintain carbon in forests, thereby providing a potential cascade of ecosystem services to local stakeholders who would otherwise be unable to afford them.
Direct inversion of circulation and mixing from tracer measurements – Part 1: Method

Abstract. From a series of zonal mean global stratospheric tracer measurements sampled in altitude vs. latitude, circulation and mixing patterns are inferred by the inverse solution of the continuity equation. As a first step, the continuity equation is written as a tendency equation, which is numerically integrated over time to predict a later atmospheric state, i.e., mixing ratio and air density. The integration is formally performed by the multiplication of the initially measured atmospheric state vector by a linear prediction operator. Further, the derivative of the predicted atmospheric state with respect to the wind vector components and mixing coefficients is used to find the most likely wind vector components and mixing coefficients which minimize the residual between the predicted atmospheric state and the later measurement of the atmospheric state. Unless multiple tracers are used, this inversion problem is under-determined, and dispersive behavior of the prediction further destabilizes the inversion. Both these problems are addressed by regularization. For this purpose, a first-order smoothness constraint has been chosen. The usefulness of this method is demonstrated by application to various tracer measurements recorded with the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS). This method aims at a diagnosis of the Brewer–Dobson circulation without involving the concept of the mean age of stratospheric air, and related problems like the stratospheric tape recorder, or intrusions of mesospheric air into the stratosphere.
Smart or Dumb? Asset Allocation Ability of Mutual Fund Investors and the Role of Broker Advice

In this paper, I investigate the asset allocation ability of mutual fund investors. Specifically, I examine differences among non-proprietary brokers, proprietary brokers and direct channels regarding their asset allocation ability. In aggregate, mutual fund investors do not seem to have superior asset allocation ability. However, I do find that money flows through non-proprietary brokers show significantly higher asset allocation performance than money flows through proprietary brokers. This is consistent with the view that non-proprietary agents are more likely to act on behalf of their customers as opposed to proprietary agents who represent their affiliated companies.
Gaussian Approximation of a Risk Model with Stationary Hawkes Arrivals of Claims

We consider a classical risk process with arrival of claims following a stationary Hawkes process. We study the asymptotic regime when the premium rate and the baseline intensity of the claims arrival process are large, and claim size is small. The main goal of this article is to establish a diffusion approximation by verifying a functional central limit theorem of this model and to compute both the finite-time and infinite-time horizon ruin probabilities. Numerical results will also be given. MSC2010: primary 91B30; secondary 60F17, 60G55.
Becoming a teacher: encouraging development of teacher identity through reflective practice

Models of learning to teach recognize the important relationship between university and school settings. The roles that educators in each setting play in the development of effective beginning teachers are not discrete. Rather they complement and support one another. Building upon existing literature, and utilizing recent data, this paper challenges teacher educators to consider how pre‐service teacher core beliefs and perceptions affect the dynamics of learning to teach and the establishment of a teacher identity. To facilitate these, it is argued that a consultative mentoring model that acknowledges individuality is more effective in the growth of teacher identity than the more traditional supervision model that focuses mainly on socialization. Reflective practice is promoted as crucial and its development is the responsibility of all teacher educators—both at university and in the schools.
Simplification of IMF Lending: Why Not Just One Flexible Credit Facility?

This paper proposes updating and improving the IMF's lending mechanism, by replacing all of its credit lines with a single financial facility. Under this single facility, costs would rise with the volume drawn down and the time elapsed. At the same time, arrangement and repayment periods would be more flexible. The result would be a less complicated financing mechanism, more readily adaptable to borrowers' needs, stronger incentives to avoid excessive use of IMF resources and equitable treatment for all member countries.
Hidden Curriculum Contributing to Social Production-Reproduction in a Math Classroom

Article History: Received 07.06. 2011 Received in revised form 10.01. 2012 Accepted 24.01. 2012. Available online 02.04 2012 Many proponents of current Western societies tend to act as if social reproduction was not adequately managed by families and should be taken care of by schooling. Curriculum makers ask about ‚knowledge is for whom‛ by meaning hidden curriculum. If knowledge is for some people, curricula need to educate productive people in society. This ethnographic study aims to address that in what extent social reproduction is created as an academic knowledge via hidden curriculum in math class, and what teacher does to transmit the social reproduction to the academic learning situations in classroom. The effectiveness of teacher factor on creating a productive classroom environment and social production are the lower dimensions of the problem statement. The study was conducted in the natural classroom environment of fourth-grade math in an elementary school in a small town located in the mid-west region of USA. The results of the study prove that curricular and extracurricular activities are mostly circled by the imposition of a cultural arbitrary. Besides, an elementary math classroom allows the students to be shaped by the culture and the disappearing social patterns more than expected. © 2012 IOJES. All rights reserved
Monte Carlo optimization procedure for chance constrained programming - simulation study results

In the paper a chance constrained linear programming problem is considered in the case of join chance constraints with random right hand sides. It is assumed that due to its complex stochastic nature the problem cannot be reduced to any deterministic equivalent problem. In such a case a Monte Carlo method involving evolutionary algorithms with soft selection are proposed to solve the problem. The simulation results are presented and discussed.
A new Swarm Intelligence algorithm for image alignment

Swarm Intelligence is the emergent collective intelligence of groups composed of simple and quasi-independent agents. Algorithms following this paradigm show many desirable properties: flexibility, decentralized control, robustness, fault tolerance. This paper presents a new agent coordination model loosely inspired by the way some species of ants collectively transport large preys. The model is used to build a Swarm Intelligence algorithm for the problem of image alignment. The novelty of the approach and its effectiveness are discussed.
Prey Selection by Breeding Brown Dippers Cinclus pallasii in a Taiwanese Mountain Stream

governed by tradeoffs among diverse prey types with different energy gains per unit energy expended. This is particularly so in central-place foragers such as dippers (Cinclidae), which must provision nest-bound young using prey gathered along a linear habitat. In this study, we examined changes in the dietary composition of nestling Brown Dippers Cinclus pallasii over the course of the nestling period in the mountainous Dajia River of central Taiwan. Prey preference was associated with prey morphological traits: fish and trichopterans, with relatively large body sizes, were the preferred prey items, while smaller prey such as ephemeropterans, plecopterans, and dipterans were least preferred. However, the nestling dietary composition significantly shifted over the 1st 1/2 of the nestling period, with the proportion of large prey and daily maximum prey size increasing as the nestlings grew. Our data suggest that the increasing energy demands of the nestlings are responsible for the increase in prey size, while nestling gape-size possibly limited the maximum prey size early in the nestling period. These results bear a striking similarity to data reported for other dipper species, implying identical constraints and strategies in nest provisioning. http://zoolstud.sinica. edu.tw/Journals/48.6/761.pdf
Seasonal changes in glucocorticoid and testosterone concentrations in free-living arctic ground squirrels from the boreal forest of the Yukon

We examined how glucocorticoid and testosterone concentrations changed from spring to summer by livetrapping free-living populations of arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii). The primary glucocorticoid was found to be cortisol, with corticosterone below measurable concentrations in most individuals. Livetrapping elicited a strong stress response in both sexes: breeding males and females trapped in spring had free cortisol concentrations 4 and 34 times, respectively, those of base-line animals. The maximum corticosteroid-binding capacity (MCBC) was unaffected by trapping and was about 3 times higher in breeding females than in breeding males. Over the active season, MCBC values were lowest in all male classes (juveniles, nonreproductive adults, and reproductive adults), being less than half those in all female classes; pregnant females had values approximately twice those of juvenile females. However, free cortisol concentrations were similar in all female classes and in juvenile males and about h.
A General Agent Model of Emotion and Trust using the BDI Structure

To endow virtual agents with more human-like behaviour, the current project proposes a new model for decision making based on emotions and trust. The project focuses first on the conceptual design of the model, then on the implementation of this model. To try to reproduce human decision making, the model has, mostly, been based on psychologically grounded findings. This model is based on the BDI structure, and has been extended with submodels for emotions and trust. To further prove the implementability of the model, it was implemented first - at a conceptual level - in LeadsTo, and thereafter in the RoboCup soccer environment. The implementation in LeadsTo shows exactly how the connections and information flows of the model work. The results demonstrate that agents using emotions to bias their decisions act differently than the agents that use rational thinking. To investigate these results further, and in a more dynamic environment, the model was then successfully implemented in the RoboCup soccer environment, 2D simulation. Some of the results were significant differences in actions between players with different goals, and differences in some of the performed actions between a positive versus a negative emotional team.
Broadband Circularly Polarized Antenna Based on Quarter-Mode Substrate Integrated Cylindrical Cavity Subarray

A broadband circularly polarized planar antenna based on a quarter-mode substrate integrated cylindrical cavity subarray is presented in this communication. It is composed of two layers: a quarter-mode substrate integrated cylindrical Cavity (QMSICC) subarray and the feeding network comprised of three Wilkinson power dividers. The measured 10-dB return loss and 3-dB axial ratio bandwidths at the center frequency 5.2 GHz are 40% and 25.5%, respectively. The gain measured for right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) is 4.6 dBi at 5.2 GHz. And it will be used in WLAN operating at 5.2 GHz.
Sleep Overlap Syndrome : A Narrative Review

Article type: Review Article Overlap syndrome, which is known as the coexistence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), was first defined by Flenley. Although it can refer to concomitant occurrence of any of the pulmonary diseases and OSA, overlap syndrome is commonly considered as the coexistence of OSA and COPD. This disease has unique adverse health consequences distinct from either condition alone. Given the high prevalence of each solitary disease, overlap syndrome is also likely to be common and clinically relevant. Despite the fact that overlap syndrome has been described in the literature for nearly 30 years, paucity of evaluations and studies limited the discussion on diagnosis, prevalence, pathophysiology, treatment, and outcomes of this disease. This review article addresses these issues by reviewing several recent studies conducted in Iran or other countries. This review suggests that overlap syndrome has worse outcomes than either disease alone. Our findings accentuated the urgent need for further studies on overlap syndrome and all overlaps between OSA and chronic pulmonary disease to provide a deeper insight into diagnosis and non-invasive treatments of this disease. Article history: Received: 10 Jan 2015 Revised: 24 Jan 2015 Accepted: 02 Jul 2016
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) provide a fully reconfigurable platform for soft-core processors. Such processors can be implemented using the general-purpose programmable logic of the FPGA, alleviating the need to incorporate hard-wired processors in embedded systems where high processing power is often not a primary design requirement. An example of such embedded system is the digital radio-frequency front-end of a software-defined radio. A digital front-end (DFE) can be implemented as an FPGA-based system, with an embedded microcontroller executing various control functions. This kind of microcontroller subsystem is well suited for implementation using one or more soft processor cores. The implementation part of this thesis presents a software-programmable softcore subsystem for a digital radio-frequency front-end. The subsystem was built around a MicroBlaze soft processor core, and it was implemented on a Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA. The design and implementation of the subsystem were carried out using Vivado design tools, and the associated software was developed in Xilinx SDK using the C programming language. The design was composed with the IPcentric, schematic-based design methodology in Vivado IP Integrator. To verify its functionality, the subsystem was integrated into the full DFE design and tested on an ADS7-V1 evaluation board. The tests included latency measurements for automatic gain control, which is considered a soft real-time feature. However, no explicit latency constraint was defined for this particular implementation. The measurement results were compared against requirements given in the IEEE 802.11a/g specification.
Principal components analysis: theory and application to gene expression data analysis

Advances in computational power have enabled research to generate significant amounts of data related to complex biological problems. Consequently, applying appropriate data analysis techniques has become paramount to tackle this complexity. However, theoretical understanding of statistical methods is necessary to ensure that the correct method is used and that sound inferences are made based on the analysis. In this article, we elaborate on the theory behind principal components analysis (PCA), which has become a favoured multivariate statistical tool in the field of omics-data analysis. We discuss the necessary prerequisites and steps to produce statistically valid results and provide guidelines for interpreting the output. Using PCA on gene expression data from a mouse experiment, we demonstrate that the main distinctive pattern in the data is associated with the transgenic mouse line and is not related to the mouse gender. A weaker association of the pattern with the genotype was also identified.