Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new algorithmic framework for robot dynamics analysis with application to space robots dynamics simulation

An algorithm for fast serial and parallel dynamics simulation of space robots as characterized by serial chain systems with a floating base is presented. This algorithm is derived by using an algorithmic framework based on a new Schur complement factorization of the inverse of mass matrix, M/sup -1/. The algorithm leads to optimal serial and parallel computation for the problem, that is, an O(N) serial computation and an O(Log N) parallel computation by using O(N) processors.
A multiobjective evolutionary algorithm approach for the optimum economic and environmental performance of an off-grid power system containing renewable energy sources

The optimum performance of an off-grid power system depends on economic and environmental criteria, and it belongs to the field of non-linear combinatorial multiobjective optimization. In this paper, the economic objective refers to the minimization of the total net present cost, while the environmental objective refers to the minimization of the total CO 2 equivalent emissions during the life cycle of system's components, which can be wind turbines, photovoltaics, diesel generator and batteries. A binary evolutionary algorithm is proposed for the solution of the problem. The results show that in order to satisfy constraints related with system's initial cost and reliability performance, the energy supply has to be provided mainly by the diesel generator and secondarily by the wind turbines. The contribution of photovoltaics is negligible, but it can be improved significantly in the future through the evolution of their manufacturing procedure, which is expected to cause reduction in their cost and their total CO 2 emissions.
Lateral Behaviour of Concrete-Filled FRP Tube Piles

Applications of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite piles are rapidly gaining traction in Canada and around the world. FRP piles offer several advantages compared to traditional piles, the most important of which is the corrosion resistivity and its applicability to marine applications or in any other corrosive environments. Concrete-filled FRP tube piles are the most commonly used type of these composite piles. In this system, there are two main structural components: an FRP shell or tube, and a concrete infill without steel reinforcement. The relative stiffness of these two components controls the piles performance to vertical and lateral loads. This paper investigates the effect of the relative stiffness of the individual pile’s components on its structural and geotechnical performance utilizing 3D finite element models of a full-scale field tests conducted during the construction of route 40 Highway Bridge in Virginia. Based on the curves of deflection along the length of the pile, the modeling results were in good accordance with the experimental data, which means that the proposed model can be used in a parametric study to optimize the design of composite piles.
Factors Influencing Continuous Quality Improvement Programme In Government Hospitals Of Sri Lanka

Health care systems are accountable to their patients and society to provide quality cost effective care and to seek ways to improve that care. By doing this, positive patient outcomes are ensured. Those factors, which affect the delivery of a good service have to be identified. It is important to determine whether the environment of an organization (type of hospitals) plays an important role in determining the implementation of quality improvement programmes Methodology :This was a hospital-based descriptive, cross-sectional survey carried out in selected hospitals in Sri Lanka. Sixteen Line Ministry Hospitals where Quality Management Units are already in place were selected for the study. Staff working in these hospitals including doctors, nurses and allied health staff was included. The data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was repeated after three weeks. Findings: A total of 378 participants responded in the study. This study identified top management commitment, training, teamwork, physical structure and monitoring system as independent variables that influence the CQI implementation programme. All the participants rated lower for teamwork and felt that teamwork had little influence on CQI programme implementation. The type of hospital has not influenced the implementation of CQI programme.
Flexible Facets Generation for Faceted Search

Most existing faceted search systems enable filtering of information via facet and values which are derived from structured form. However, in many domains, there are interesting aspects where information can be further refined based on the contents of the domain. This contents are unstructured hence poses challenge to extract the value dynamically from them. This paper showcases a faceted search system that enables generation of facets and values dynamically from unstructured text to further improve the results filtering of retrieval process. The system is demonstrated in the context of bibliographical search.
17)AN EVALUATION OF THE RUBRIC USED IN DETERMINING STUDENTS' LEVELS OF DISCIPLINED MIND IN TERMS OF GENERALIZABILITY THEORY

Gunumuzde, bilim ve teknolojideki hizli degisim Howard Gardner'in bes zihin alanindan birisi olarak vurguladigi disiplinli zihne sahip nitelikteki insana olan ihtiyaci arttirmaktadir. Bu nedenle bireylerin disiplinli zihne sahip olup olmadigini belirlemek onemlidir. Bu baglamda, bu arastirmada yedinci sinif ogrencilerinin disiplinli zihin ozelliklerini belirlemek icin kullanilan dereceli puanlama anahtari guvenirliginin Genellenebilirlik Kurami ile kestirilmesi amaclanmistir. Genellenebilirlik kurami ile goreli kararlar (G katsayisi) ve mutlak kararlar (Φ katsayisi) icin guvenirlik katsayisinin hesaplanmasi mumkun olup; bu calismada elde edilen puanlarin G ve Φ katsayisi, alti gorev ve uc puanlayici icin sirasiyla . 86 ve . 79 olarak bulunmustur. Genellenebilirlik kuraminda ayrica, karar (K) calismalari yoluyla degiskenlik kaynaklarinin sayisinin degismesi durumunda guvenirligin tahmin edilmesi de mumkun olmaktadir. Bu arastirmadaki karar calismasi sonuclari, gelecekte yapilacak benzer nitelikteki calismalarda, puanlayici sayisini arttirmanin puanlarin guvenirligini arttirmaya katki saglamayacagini gostermektedir. Nitelikli puanlayici bulmanin kolay olmadigi durumlarda, puanlayici sayisini arttirmanin uygulanma acisindan da pratik olmayacagi dusunuldugunde; daha fazla puanlayici ile benzer calismalar yapilmasinin onerilemeyecegi sonucuna varilmistir
To Study the Association of Coronary Artery Disease and Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the most common and devastating illness. Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is well linked with metabolic syndrome and so is coronary artery disease. But CAD has been poorly linked to NAFLD in the past. Here we conducted a study to find the association of CAD and NAFLD. Risk factors of NAFLD and CAD like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and obesity were also studied. Subject and method: It was a case control study conducted in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital attached to Government Medical College, Amritsar. Subjects were 100 diagnosed cases of CAD with age and sex matched non CAD controls. Results: 42 subjects in case group were having fatty liver on ultrasound in comparison to16 in controls. The mean BMI in case group was 23.85 ± 2.11 kg/m and in control group, it was 21.78 ± 1.92 kg/m. The subjects labeled obese (BMI>25 kg/m were 39 in case group and 8 in control group (p value < 0.001). Smoking was significantly higher in case group (23%) versus control group (11%), (p value <0.001). Hypertension was higher among cases (43%) than controls (12%), (p value <0.001). Similarly diabetes mellitus was also high among cases (40%) than controls (16%), (p value <0.001). Conclusion: In this study we observed that there is association of CAD to NAFLD. It was also observed that smoking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and obesity are associated to CAD.
New and emerging treatment options for adolescent bulimia nervosa

While bulimia nervosa (BN) was first described more than 25 years ago, and a substantial body of literature has been accumulated describing both psychosocial and pharmacological treatments for adults with this disorder, little is known about effective interventions for adolescents with BN. The scope of this article is to review recent developments in the treatment of adolescent BN. We highlight our current knowledge of the epidemiology of this disorder among adolescents, emphasize the importance of early recognition of this disorder, and summarize the existing treatment literature for adolescent BN. The gaps in our knowledge regarding adolescents are accentuated by referring, in contrast, to the efficacious treatment for adults with BN. We conclude by underscoring the need to conduct large-scale randomized trials testing efficacious treatments for adolescent BN by borrowing from what is known in the treatment of adults with BN, as well as adolescents with anorexia nervosa.
Conservation Endocrinology: a Noninvasive Tool to Understand Relationships between Carnivore Colonization and Ecological Carrying Capacity

Abstract: Reproductive technology, especially the diagnosis of pregnancy by radioimmunoassay of fecal steroid metabolites, is an important component of captive propagation, but its role in our understanding of ecological interactions and in situ biological restoration has been more limited. Where large herbivores have been “released” from predation by the extirpation of carnivores, controversy often exists about possible detrimental effects at the ecosystem level. A related concern is that the reestablishment of large carnivores may decrease the availability of prey populations for human subsistence. We suggest that pregnancy assays can be a valuable tool to help distinguish between the roles of predation versus food‐imposed limitations on population size and their effects on juvenile recruitment in wild species. We explored this issue through analyses of fecal progestagen concentration ( FPC) levels to document pregnancy in moose (Alces alces) in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a site where wolves (Canis lupus) and grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos) are recolonizing former habitats after an absence of more than 60 years. Pregnancy was clearly discernible (mean FPC for pregnant and nonpregnant females, respectively: 10.60 vs. 2.57 μg/g; p < 0.0001). Among the potential confounding variables that need to be considered if FPC is applied to ecological and demographic questions are whether baseline values are affected by handling, whether neonate survival has been assessed, and whether sampling efforts are directed at both pregnant and nonpregnant animals. With these issues accounted for, the local moose population experienced juvenile survival rates among the highest in North America. Pregnancy rates, however, dropped from 90% in 1966 to about 75% today, rendering them in the lowest fifteenth percentile among moose populations in North America. Our findings suggest that a relatively low frequency of juvenile moose is not the likely result of predation, and they illustrate how endocrinology can be applied to issues involving reproductive events within an ecological context. They also affirm that noninvasive and generally inexpensive endocrinological procedures will be applicable to understanding interactions between recolonizing predators and prey, an issue that will continue to arise because of global restoration efforts, and to the study of rare ungulates in remote systems where data on reproductive events are difficult to obtain.
Strategies for the development of tourism and theatre industries in Nigeria: Rivers state perspective

Tourism and Theatre practice are compatible business. They do not only attract and appeal to people but also contribute immensely to the national economy. Although the two industries can exist and function independently, a combination of their functions does appeal more meaningfully to most people. A well-developed tourism industry can house a theatre to enhance the beauty of tourism. In like manner, theatre productions are the springboards on which effective tourism can strive. The two industries seem to be facing a common problem especially in Rivers State of Nigeria. First, is their condemnation by some members of the new generation churches who see tourism and other cultural activities including the theatre as devilish. Secondly, tourism is viewed negatively as avenues for the practices of immorality. These attitudes are seriously affecting the development of tourism and the theatre hence, the author advocates for sustenance of the two industries.
CRITICALITY-AWARE PARTITIONED TASK SCHEDULING WITH LIMITEDMIGRATORY ON MULTICORE PLATFORMS

Mixed-critical (MC) systems, in which different functionalities of varying criticality levels may consolidate on a shared embedded platform, are an active area of research in safety-related environments. With the proliferation of MC system, the multicore processor is becoming the obvious design choice in current and future safety-critical domains. The real-time scheduling of certifiable MC systems on a multicore platform has been recognized as a great challenging issue, where using conventional scheduling algorithms may cause significant under-utilization of the platform’s resources. In this work, we address this important dispute by proposing an effective optimal partitioning approach, the Criticality-aware Partitioned Algorithm (CaPA), that enables a limited number of migration of low-criticality workloads to improve the effectiveness of the schedulability by integrating the potential benefits of partitioned scheduling approaches. The results from extensive simulation under different situations demonstrate that CaPA always significantly outperforms existing MC partitioning heuristics in terms of acceptance ratios.
The physical scale of the far-infrared emission in the most luminous submillimetre galaxies – II. Evidence for merger-driven star formation

We present high-resolution 345-GHz interferometric observations of two extremely luminous (L ir ≳ 10 13 L ⊙ ), submillimetre-selected galaxies (SMGs) in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Both targets were previously detected as unresolved point sources by the SMA in its compact configuration, also at 345 GHz. These new data, which provide a factor of ≳3 improvement in resolution, allow us to measure the physical scale of the far-infrared in the submillimetre directly. The visibility functions of both targets show significant evidence for structure on ~0.5-1-arcsec scales, which at z ≳ 1.5 translates into a physical scale of ~5-8 kpc. Our results are consistent with the angular and physical scales of two comparably luminous objects with high-resolution SMA follow-up, as well as radio continuum and CO sizes of other SMGs. These relatively compact sizes (≲5-10 kpc) argue strongly for merger-driven starbursts, rather than extended gas-rich discs, as the preferred channel for forming SMGs.
A Dynamic Bayesian Approach to Simultaneous Estimation and Filtering in Grasp Acquisition

—In this work, we develop a general solution to a broad class of grasping and manipulation problems, where the robots need to accurately track the motions of the contacted bodies and the locations of contacts, while simultaneously estimating important system parameters, such as body dimensions, masses and friction coefﬁcients between contacting surfaces. We term this problem as C-SLAM for contact simultaneous localization and modeling. Our solution framework to the general C-SLAM problem is based on a dynamic Bayesian inference framework, which is referred to as Dynamic Bayesian C-SLAM (DB C-SLAM ). DB C-SLAM combines an NCP-based dynamic model with the dynamic Bayesian network, and incorporates model parameter estimation as an intrinsic part of the overall inference procedure. We show two preliminary “proof-of-concept” examples that demonstrate the use of DB C-SLAM in robotic contact tasks.
The Effect of Leisure-Based Screen Time on Physical Activity

THE EFFECT OF LEISURE-BASED SCREEN TIME ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Mary Dawn Sperry Department of Exercise Sciences Master of Science The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of leisure-based screen time on physical activity. Ninety-four families participated in this six-week study. Each family was randomly assigned to one of three screen time groups: (1) control group (2) 2-hourlimit group or (3) one-hour-limit group. Family members wore a Walk4Life LS 2505 pedometer to measure steps. Daily screen time logs were filled out each night and leisurebased screen time and steps were recorded. Analysis of variance (steps x group) was used to determine differences among the groups. Univariate tests showed there were no significant differences among any of the adult groups (F (2,101) = 1.02, p = . 361). Similar to the adults, univariate tests in the 13 to 18-year-olds indicated there were no significant differences among any of the groups (F (2 ,62) = 368, p = . 694). In the 5 to 12-year-olds, univariate tests determined significant group differences (F (2,164) = 3.35, p = . 037). Estimated marginal mean differences indicated a significant difference between the control and 2-hour-limit groups (p = .011). In looking at all the children, males averaged more steps per day than females, and all groups in the 5 to 12-year-olds averaged more steps compared to the 13 to 18year-olds (10,828 vs. 9,875 steps each day). The 5 to 12-year-olds in the 2-hour-limit and control groups viewed 72 minutes and 114 minutes of screen time each day, respectively. In conclusion, getting about 42 minutes less of screen time each day may increase physical activity to ~1,300 more steps each day.
Post-translational regulation of Myc oncoprotein function

The c-Myc proto-oncogene encodes a transcription factor that controls genes involved in cell cycle regulation, cell growth, apoptosis and other cellular processes together with its partner Max. c-Myc has been shown to be altered in a wide variety of human tumors. This thesis focuses on post-translational regulation of Myc function. The aims was firstly to elucidate mechanisms of regulation of Myc degradation and components involved, and secondly to understand the mechanism(s) behind IFN-γ-induced inactivation of Myc. The c-Myc oncoprotein is short–lived phosphoprotein. We have found that Myc is tightly regulated via ubiquitin/proteasome-mediated turnover and that mutation of the Thr-58 phosphorylation site, which is frequently mutated in both in Burkitt’s lymphoma leads to stabilization of c-Myc. We have further established that the E3-ubiquitin ligase SCFSkp2 associates with c-Myc in late G1 and S-phase of the cell cycle, inducing not only ubiquitin-mediated degradation of c-Myc but surprisingly transcriptional activation of c-Myc target genes. Skp2 as well as proteasomal subunits were shown to be recruited to a Myc target promoter in vivo in a Myc-dependent manner. The second part of the thesis shows that the cytokine IFN-γ restore differentiation and cell cycle arrest in v-Myc expressing monocytic cells through inhibition of Myc-induced transcription, Myc DNA-binding and destabilization of Myc:Max heterodimers, correlating with dephosphorylation of Myc. We further found that IFN-γ reduces phosphorylation of Ser-62 and increases ubiquitin/proteasome-mediated degradation of Myc in a Ser-62 dependent manner.CycE/CDK2 was identified as a Ser-62 kinase in vivo and in vitro. IFN-γ-induced degradation and Ser-62 dephosphorylation correlated with inactivation of CDK2 through p27Kip1, which was shown to be required for this process. In conclusion, the thesis suggests that ubiquitin/proteasome-mediated turnover is an essential level of regulation of Myc function that may have important future implications for treatment of tumors with deregulated Myc expression.
An Adaptive News Video Retrieval Framework

The increasing popularity of video sharing platforms such as YouTube and Google Video increase the need to further study how users can be assisted in their search for videos they are interested in. In this demo, we present a video retrieval system which guarantees the user easy and effective access to a large news video collection. This system can be used to further study interaction methodologies, aiming for a personalised video retrieval model which adapts retrieval results to the user's interests.
On the spin-temperature evolution during the epoch of reionization

Simulations estimating the brightness temperature (delta T-b) of the redshifted 21 cm from the epoch of reionization (EoR) often assume that the spin temperature (T-s) is decoupled from the background cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and is much larger than it, i.e. T-s T-CMB. Although a valid assumption towards the later stages of the reionization process, it does not necessarily hold at the earlier epochs. Violation of this assumption will lead to fluctuations in delta T-b that are driven neither by density fluctuations nor by H ii regions. Therefore, it is vital to calculate the spin temperature self-consistently by treating the Ly alpha and collisional coupling of T-s to the kinetic temperature, T-k. In this paper we develop an extension to the bears algorithm, originally developed to model reionization history, to include these coupling effects. Here, we simulate the effect in ionization and heating for three models in which the reionization is driven by stars, mini-QSOs or a mixture of both. We also perform a number of statistical tests to quantify the imprint of the self-consistent inclusion of the spin-temperature decoupling from the CMB. We find that the evolution of the spin temperature has an impact on the measured signal especially at redshifts higher than 10 and such evolution should be taken into account when one attempts to interpret the observational data.
IMF shape constraints from stellar populations and dynamics from CALIFA

In this Paper, we describe how we use stellar dynamics information to constrain the shape of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in a sample of 27 early-type galaxies from the CALIFA survey. We obtain dynamical and stellar mass-to-light ratios, Υdyn and Υ*, over a homogenous aperture of 0.5 Re. We use the constraint Υdyn≥Υ* to test two IMF shapes within the framework of the extended MILES stellar population models. We rule out a single power-law IMF shape for 75 per cent of the galaxies in our sample. Conversely, we find that a double power-law IMF shape with a varying high-mass end slope is compatible (within 1σ) with 95 per cent of the galaxies. We also show that dynamical and stellar IMF mismatch factors give consistent results for the systematic variation of the IMF in these galaxies.