Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Gaussian process-based RRT planner for the exploration of an unknown and cluttered environment with a UAV

A new framework which adopts a rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) path planner with a Gaussian process (GP) occupancy map is developed for the navigation and exploration of an unknown but cluttered environment. The GP map outputs the probability of occupancy given any selected query point in the continuous space and thus makes it possible to explore the full space when used in conjunction with a continuous path planner. Furthermore, the GP map-generated path is embedded with the probability of collision along the path which lends itself to obstacle avoidance. Finally, the GP map-building algorithm is extended to include an exploration mission considering the differential constraints of a rotary unmanned aerial vehicle and the limitation arising from the environment. Using mutual information as an information-theoretic measure, an informative path which reduces the uncertainty of the environment is generated. Simulation results show that GP map combined with RRT planner can achieve the 3D navigation and exploration task successfully in unknown and complex environments.
EFFECT OF VARYING PROTEIN LEVELS AND PRESERVATION METHODS ON EGG PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE AND INTERNAL EGG QUALITIES OF JAPANESE QUAILS IN A SEMI-ARID ENVIRONMENT

The study was conducted to determine the effect of varying protein levels and preservation method on internal egg qualities of Japanese quails. A total of 180 birds were randomly allotted into three dietary treatments in a completely randomized design (CRD) replicated six times. A factorial arrangement of 3x4x4 which involves 3 protein levels, 4 storage method and 4 time intervals was designed to determine the effect of storage methods on internal egg quality characteristics The birds were fed diets containing 15, 20 and 25% crude protein respectively. The trial lasted for 10 weeks during which egg production, egg weight and egg quality characteristics were monitored. Results indicated that egg weight, hen day egg production and hen house egg production were significantly higher (P<0.05) for quails fed diet containing 25% CP. Internal egg quality characteristics were significant (P<0.05) between treatment means except for albumin weight, yolk weight, yolk height, yolk width, yolk colour and yolk index. The effects of storage method was found to be significant (P<0.05) for all traits except for albumen weight, yolk weight, yolk index and yolk colour. Storage time was found to be significant (P<0.05) for all the traits observed. However, lower egg quality was recorded with increased storage time (P<0.05). Refrigeration and immersion in oil and stored at room temperature provide significant (P<0.05) value for Haugh unit, indicating a minimal loss in quality. It was concluded that increasing dietary protein level of 25% will increase the production performance and internal egg quality of Japanese quails. Refrigeration and immersion in oil were best rated for preserving internal egg qualities of the Japanese quails.
POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR) AND HEALTH STATE OF THE CAMEROON POPULATION

Since independence (1960s), African countries are regularly animated by crisis (political alternation, ethnic conflicts, tribalism, wars, coup d’etats). These plagues that consume African society have serious impact on the economic growth of these countries, and diversely affect neighboring countries known for their relative stability. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of political crises in Central African Republic (CAR) on the Cameroon health performances. We used Nafziger crude mortality model based on famine, conflict and population displacement. The econometric analysis of the model shows a strong contribution of the critical political situation in CAR on the degradation of the health state of people living in Cameroon. Several reasons justify this argument: the influx of refugees from one country to another and the dissemination of diseases amplified by the precariousness of their living condition on the Cameroon territory. This proofs that political instability in Central African Republic (CAR) negatively affects the health state of the Cameroonian population.
Oportunidades de preparación para enseñar matemáticas de futuros profesores de educación general básica en Chile

This article shows preliminary results from a study aimed to recognize the opportunities future primary school teachers face in order to get prepared to teach mathematics. The study considered curricula for 36 careers and programs on mathematics and mathematics instruction for 12 careers. Moreover, it used tests and surveys to students at two levels in four careers (studied in further details), including a survey applied to their teachers. The study revealed that the number of courses on mathematics and mathematics instruction is not enough to meet the needs, a lack of important issues in school curricula (weak and confusing), a poor performance of these students in regard of elementary mathematics questions and a wider majority of advanced students who consider they receive inefficient information about mathematics and mathematics instruction.
[Effect of ma-xin-shi-gan tang on the immune function in children with acute lower respiratory tract infection].

This paper reported the effect of Ma-Xin-Shi-Gan tang (Decoction of Herba Ephedrae, Semen Armeniacae Amarum, Radix Glycyrrhizae and Gypsum Fibrosum) on the immune function of the children with acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRTI). 64 cases of ALRTI children were chosen for clinical observation. Laboratory researches including 7 immune indexes: blood OKT3+ cell, OKT4+ cell, OKT8+ cell and OKT4+/OKT8+ cell ratio, serum IgG, IgA, IgM. Some tests in experimental mice were also made. The results showed: (1) Before treatment, the blood OKT3+ cell, OKT4+ cell and OKT4+/OKT8+ cell ratio of the ALRTI children were lower, OKT8+ cell was higher than that of the normal group, which indicated lowered function of cell mediated immunity (CMI) in ALRTI children. Furthermore, IgM content in serum of the ALRTI children was significantly higher than that of the normal group, which indicated a hyperhumoral immunity (HI). (2) Blood OKT4+ cell and OKT4+/OKT8+ cell ratio in children after treatment with the Decoction were higher than those before treatment, which suggested the Decoction can regulate the cell ratio of OKT4+ and OKT8+, and relieve the functional inhibition of CMI in ALRTI children, while comparing with the western medicine (WM) group, the blood OKT3+ cell, OKT4+ cell and serum IgG content in the Decoction group after treatment were higher. In the WM group, the serum IgG and IgA contents were lower than those of the normal group, which indicated inhibited function of HI after treatment. (3) In experimental mice, the Decoction can increase the phagocytic index of the macrophage, the spleen index and the level of serum hemolysin. It can also enhance the skin delayed allergic reaction of the mice. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Intersection of Quality and Excellence: Characteristics of Redesignated National League for Nursing Centers of Excellence

Abstract The purpose of this research was to identify characteristics of redesignated National League for Nursing Centers of Excellence in Nursing Education that represent the intersection between quality and excellence. A qualitative content analysis of six final applications submitted for redesignation disclosed essential resources that supported students, faculty, and staff and identified six characteristics: connections through relationships, communities of learning and service, support for students and faculty, connections through technology, use of innovation, and a systems focus. The systematic focus on excellence in teaching and learning identified in this research represents best practices from exemplary schools worthy of emulation by other nursing education programs.
Optimal human-inspired ankle stiffness regulation for humanoid balancing control

In this work, a novel optimal human-inspired balancing control for the compliant humanoid, CoMAN, is introduced. The presented technique was motivated by the results of a human balance analysis. In particular, a human balancing experiment was carried out to investigate the torque-to-angular displacement profiles about the ankle joint. Experimental results obtained from this study, indicated that both the dorsiflexion and plantarflexion torques present an approximately exponential behavior. These findings served as an inspiration for the development of an optimal, nonlinear stiffness stabilizer, based on an ankle strategy. The balance stabilizer was experimentally validated on the compliant humanoid, CoMAN, demonstrating its balance inducing ability.
Reduction of Norwalk Virus, Poliovirus 1, and Bacteriophage MS2 by Ozone Disinfection of Water

ABSTRACT Norwalk virus and other human caliciviruses (noroviruses) are major agents of gastroenteritis, and water is a major route of their transmission. In an effort to control Norwalk virus in drinking water, Norwalk virus reduction by bench-scale ozone disinfection was determined using quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for virus assays. Two other enteric viruses, poliovirus 1 and coliphage MS2, were included for comparison, and their reductions were assayed by infectivity assays as well as by RT-PCR. Virus reductions by ozone were determined using a dose of 0.37 mg of ozone/liter at pH 7 and 5°C for up to 5 min. Based on two RT-PCR assays, the reductions of Norwalk virus were >3 log10 within a contact time of 10 s, and these were similar to the reductions of the other two viruses determined by the same assay methods. Also, the virus reductions detected by RT-PCR assays were similar to those detected by infectivity assays, indicating that the RT-PCR assay is a reliable surrogate assay for both culturable and nonculturable viruses disinfected with ozone. Overall, the results of this study indicate that Norwalk virus as well as other enteric viruses can be reduced rapidly and extensively by ozone disinfection and that RT-PCR is a useful surrogate assay for both culturable and nonculturable viruses disinfected with ozone.
Making innovation systems work in practice: experiences in integrating innovation, social learning and knowledge in innovation platforms

This article presents a different dimension of the innovation systems approach, going beyond analysis and shedding light on how these processes can be facilitated in practice. This is based on 20 years' experience with innovations systems. The focus is on the role of facilitation in triggering the changes, as well as in integrating learning and knowledge management (KM) in the innovation process.
EVALUATION OF NONLINEAR STATIC PROCEDURES USING STRONG-MOTION RECORDS OF BUILDINGS

The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the FEMA-356 Nonlinear Static Procedure (NSP) and a recently developed Modal Pushover Analysis (MPA) procedure using recorded motions of four buildings that were damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. For this purpose, the motions at non-instrumented floors are “derived” from the motions at instrumented floors by using cubic spline interpolation procedure. Analytical models of the four buildings are developed using the computer program D2DX and calibrated by matching the computed vibration periods and the “elastic” periods identified form the recorded motions. Accuracy of the computer model is evaluated by comparing the computed displacement histories with the recorded motions. Finally, the displacement and drifts from the FEMA-356 NSP and the MPA procedures are compared with the values “derived” from the recorded motions. It is found that the FEMA-356 NSP typically underestimates the drifts in upper stories and overestimates them in lower stories when compared to the recorded motions. Among the four FEMA-356 distributions considered, the “Uniform” distribution led to the most excessive underestimation or overestimation indicating that this distribution may be unnecessary. Furthermore, FEMA-356 distributions failed to provide accurate estimates of story drifts for buildings that satisfied the FEME-356 criterion for detecting the presence of higher mode effects indicating the need to carefully re-examine this criterion. The MPA procedure, in general, provides much-improved estimates of the response compared to the FEMA-356 NSP. In particular, the MPA procedure, unlike the FEMA-356 NSP, is able to capture the effects of higher modes. The error noted in few responses from the MPA procedure appears to be due to limitations associated with application of the modal combination rule, which is developed for response spectrum type applications, to peak responses from a single ground motion. For a building that exhibits dominant effects of “soft” first story, such as the Sherman Oaks 13-story building, however, neither the MPA procedure nor the FEMA-356 NSP led to reasonable estimate of the response; the MPA procedure provided reasonable estimates for the Los Angeles 19-story building that exhibited “soft” first story but this effect did not dominate the overall behavior of the building.
Free amino acids in germinated wheat.

Wheat was germinated at three different temperatures (10, 16.5 and 25°C) to examine the changes in free amino acid levels. The free amino acid content after 122 h of germination was respectively 4 x, 10x and 7x that of the sound wheat at ‘0 h ’Glutamine and proline showed the largest increases. Proline increased 100-fold during 122 h of germination at 16.5°C.
Generalized Discriminant Analysis: A Matrix Exponential Approach

Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is well known as a powerful tool for discriminant analysis. In the case of a small training data set, however, it cannot directly be applied to high-dimensional data. This case is the so-called small-sample-size or undersampled problem. In this paper, we propose an exponential discriminant analysis (EDA) technique to overcome the undersampled problem. The advantages of EDA are that, compared with principal component analysis (PCA) + LDA, the EDA method can extract the most discriminant information that was contained in the null space of a within-class scatter matrix, and compared with another LDA extension, i.e., null-space LDA (NLDA), the discriminant information that was contained in the non-null space of the within-class scatter matrix is not discarded. Furthermore, EDA is equivalent to transforming original data into a new space by distance diffusion mapping, and then, LDA is applied in such a new space. As a result of diffusion mapping, the margin between different classes is enlarged, which is helpful in improving classification accuracy. Comparisons of experimental results on different data sets are given with respect to existing LDA extensions, including PCA + LDA, LDA via generalized singular value decomposition, regularized LDA, NLDA, and LDA via QR decomposition, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed EDA method.
Evaluation of antifungal activity of Meliaceae family against Macrophomina phaseolina

Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid is a soil-borne fungal pathogen that causes root rot disease in more than 500 plant species but no registered fungicide is available for its control. The present study was carried out to investigate the antifungal activity of aqueous leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. , Melia azedarach L. and Toona ciliata Roxb. (Meliaceae) against M. phaseolina. Aqueous extracts of 5-20% concentrations of both A. indica and M. azedarach significantly reduced biomass of M. phaseolina by 34 – 85% and 43 – 78%, respectively. By contrast, aqueous extracts of T. ciliata stimulated the growth of the fungus at all the tested concentrations.
Review on lumped parameter method for modeling the blood flow in systemic arteries

The cardiovascular system is characterized by complex interactions between various control mechanisms and physiological processes. Different approaches are used to provide better diagnostics and physiological understanding, cardiac prosthesis and medical planning. The mathematical description and modelling of the human cardiovascular system plays nowadays an important role in the comprehension of the genesis and development of cardiovascular disorders by providing computer based simulation of dynamic processes in this system. This paper aims to give an overview on lumped parameter models that have been developed by many researchers all over the world, to simulate the blood flow in systemic arteries. Surveying various references we make a review of different approaches to arterial tree modelling and discuss on the applications of such models.
Postnatal malnutrition and growth retardation: an inevitable consequence of current recommendations in preterm infants?

BACKGROUND Nutrient intakes meeting recommended dietary intakes (RDIs) take time to establish and once established are rarely maintained throughout hospital stay in preterm infants. A nutrient deficit, therefore, accrues. RDI are based on needs for maintenance and growth, with no provision to replace this deficit. We, therefore, hypothesized that postnatal malnutrition and growth retardation were inevitable in infants fed current RDI. METHODOLOGY Dietary intakes were prospectively collected, by a single observer (N.P.), on a daily basis in a group of preterm infants (n = 105; birth weight </=1750 g; gestational age </=34 weeks) admitted to neonatal intensive care unit over a 6-month period. Actual was subtracted from recommended energy (120 kcal/kg/day) and protein (3 g/kg/day) intakes and nutritional deficits calculated. Infants were weighed on admission and throughout hospital stay. The data were analyzed using a combination of repeated measures analysis of variance and stepwise regression analysis. RESULTS Nutrient intakes meeting current RDIs were rarely achieved during early life. By the end of the first week, cumulative energy and protein deficits were 406 +/- 92 and 335 +/- 86 kcal/kg and 14 +/- 3 and 12 +/- 4 g/kg in infants </=30 and those at >/=31 weeks. By the end of the fifth week, cumulative energy and protein deficits were 813 +/- 542 and 382 +/- 263 kcal/kg and 23 +/- 12 and 13 +/- 15 g/kg and the z scores were -1.14 +/-. 6 and -. 82 +/-. 5 for infants at </=30 and >/=31 weeks. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that variation in dietary intake accounted for 45% of the variation in changes in z score. CONCLUSIONS Preterm infants inevitably accumulate a significant nutrient deficit in the first few weeks of life that will not be replaced when current RDIs are fed. This deficit can be directly related to subsequent postnatal growth retardation.postnatal growth retardation, preterm infants.
Cochlear implants for pre-lingually profoundly deaf adults

Introduction: Increasing numbers of pre-lingually profoundly deaf adults are seeking a cochlear implant (CI). Pre- and post-operative outcomes are presented on 20 of these patients. Results: An Adult Pre-Lingually Profoundly Deaf Implant Profile (APDIP) weighted the pre-operative level of concern about potential CI benefit. Results indicated no group mean post-operative open-set improvement. However CUNY sentence testing (auditory plus lip-reading cues) revealed improved performance with a CI. Twelve out of 20 patients used their CIs for more than 10 hours per day, suggesting good usage. Moreover, hours of usage were positively associated with measured benefit on CUNY sentences in the lip-reading plus sound via CI condition. There was no apparent relationship between pre-operative level of concern and post-operative CI performance or hours of processor use. Conclusion: Results suggest implantation is beneficial and effective in this group.
The Effect of Psyllium Fibre supplement on Lipid Profile In Patients with Non-Insulin-Dependant Diabetes Mellitus ( NIDDM ) *

Dietary fibre is widely recognized to have beneficial effect in-patients with NIDDM. In particular, water-soluble fibre has been associated with improved glycaemic control and lowering of blood lipid (1). These effects are not due to increased insulin secretion but probably due to increased secretion of VIP and GIP, increased cholesterol binding in the gut and increased intestinal transit time (2). The American Diabetes Association has currently recommended a daily intake of 40g of soluble fibre (3).
Chromosome instability, chromosome transcriptome, and clonal evolution of tumor cell populations

Chromosome instability and aneuploidy are hallmarks of cancer, but it is not clear how changes in the chromosomal content of a cell contribute to the malignant phenotype. Previously we have shown that we can readily isolate highly proliferative tumor cells and their revertants from highly invasive tumor cell populations, indicating how phenotypic shifting can contribute to malignant progression. Here we show that chromosome instability and changes in chromosome content occur with phenotypic switching. Further, we show that changes in the copy number of each chromosome quantitatively impose a proportional change in the chromosome transcriptome ratio. This correlation also applies to subchromosomal regions of derivative chromosomes. Importantly, we show that the changes in chromosome content and the transcriptome favor the expression of a large number of genes appropriate for the specific tumor phenotype. We conclude that chromosome instability generates the necessary chromosome diversity in the tumor cell populations and, therefore, the transcriptome diversity to allow for environment-facilitated clonal expansion and clonal evolution of tumor cell populations.
Research Commentary - Information Technology-Enabled Business Models: A Conceptual Framework and a Coevolution Perspective for Future Research

There is growing recognition that firms' information technology IT-enabled business models i.e., how interfirm transactions with suppliers, customers, and partners are structured and executed are a distinctive source of value creation and appropriation. However, the concept of business models' BMs “IT enablement” remains coarse in the information systems and strategic management literatures. Our objectives are to introduce a framework to elaborate the concept of IT-enabled BMs and to identify areas for future research that will enhance our understanding of the subject. We introduce the idea that two business-to-business B2B IT capabilities---dyadic IT customization and network IT standardization---are the mediating execution mechanisms between the strategic intent of interfirm collaboration and the reconfiguration of BMs to both create and appropriate value. We develop the logic that B2B IT capabilities for BM reconfiguration operate at two levels---IT customization at the dyadic relationship level and IT standardization at the interfirm network level---that together provide the complementary IT capabilities for firms to exchange content, govern relationships, and structure interconnections between products and processes with a diverse set of customers, suppliers, and partners. We discuss how these two complementary B2B IT capabilities are pivotal for firms to pursue different sources of value creation and appropriation. We identify how a firm's governance choices to engage in interfirm collaboration and its interfirm networks coevolve with its B2B IT capabilities as fruitful areas for future research.