Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ADAPTIVE GOP STRUCTURE TO H.264/AVC BASED ON SCENE CHANGE

This paper proposes an adaptive GOP structure with the new logic of frame comparison in H.264/AVC to achieve better quality and reduce bit rate. Initially Group of Pictures (GOP) is set to a fixed size. Frames are compared within that GOP using correlation. According to the correlation, GOP is changed within that fixed size. So, there will be no GOP size greater than that fixed size. This method does not calculate any threshold. Hence the time needed to calculate global or local threshold is eliminated. It is integrated with conventional video codec H.264/AVC. This method is compared with H.264/AVC of fixed GOP structure of sizes 4, 8, 12, 16, 32 and GOP structure with the length of entire video. The proposed method achieved gain in bit rate from 0.49% to 69.75% and PSNR gain from 2.5% to 0.3%.
La escritura de tesis de posgrado en el área de investigación educativa. El acompañamiento, una pieza clave

En este articulo se presenta un trabajo de corte cualitativo tipo estudio de caso, cuyos objetivos son: describir el proceso de escritura de tesis, la participacion de otras personas en este proceso asi como las dificultades de escritura durante esta produccion. En los resultados se identifican seis etapas en la escritura de la tesis acompanadas por el asesor; entre las dificultades estan: desconocimiento del genero tesis; falta de claridad y orden en la expresion de las ideas; posicionarse como autor, y errores gramaticales. La escritura de tesis de posgrado en este estudio es un proceso individual, guiado principalmente por el asesor, no exento de dificultades y errores al ser el inicio en la escritura cientifica, asi como un primer acercamiento para insertarse en la comunidad de investigadores. Abstract This research study was approached from a qualitative view with an instrumental and collective case study design. The objectives are to describe the process of thesis writing, the participation of others in this process and the difficulties of writing. As for the writing process of the graduates, it has been concluded that it is a recurrent and dynamic process around six core activities, through different work strategies accompanied by tutor, among the difficulties are: lack of gender theory, lack of clarity and order in the expression of ideas as the author position, and grammatical errors. Writing a thesis is an individual process, guided primarily by the tutor, not without difficulties and errors when starting with scientific writing and a first approach to attach to the research community. Recibido: 14 de junio de 2011 Aceptado: 29 de febrero de 2012
Molecular detection ( kras ) of exfoliated tumour cells in the pelvis is a prognostic factor after resection of rectal cancer ?

Background: After total mesorectal excision (TME) for rectal cancer around 10% of patients develops local recurrences within the pelvis. One reason for recurrence might be spillage of cancer cells during surgery. This pilot study was conducted to investigate the incidence of remnant cancer cells in pelvic lavage after resection of rectal cancer. DNA from cells obtained by lavage, were analysed by denaturing capillary electrophoresis with respect to mutations in hotspots of the k-ras gene, which are frequently mutated in colorectal cancer. Results: Of the 237 rectal cancer patients analyzed, 19 had positive lavage fluid. There was a significant survival difference (p = 0.006) between patients with k-ras positive and negative lavage fluid. Conclusion: Patients with k-ras mutated cells in the lavage immediately after surgery have a reduced life expectation. Detection of exfoliated cells in the abdominal cavity may be a useful diagnostic tool to improve the staging and eventually characterize patients who may benefit from aggressive multimodal treatment of rectal cancer. Background Cancer of the rectum is frequent in both genders and the incidence in Norway is still increasing, with a total of 1137 new cases in a population of 4.6 million citizens in 2004 [1]. Survival in cancer of rectum has continuously improved in the past ten year period [1,2]. The main reasons for this is the introduction of total mesorectal excision (TME) [3] and better staging with adjuvant treatment for patient in high risk groups [4]. In spite of such improvement, local recurrence after potentially curative surgery is a major problem. There are several possible causes for local recurrences including: incomplete resection of the primary carcinoma [4,5], insufficient removal of involved regional lymph nodes [6], development of a secondary tumour near the suture site and exfoliated cancer cells released at the time of surgery [7]. Dissemination of tumour cells in the presacral space, as well as in tumour lymphatic drainage and in peripheral blood vessels after resection of the tumour, might play a role in the metastasis process, thus affecting the clinical course. Previous reports have indicated that tumours can release DNA into the circulation [8-10]. Hence, recovery of mutated cell by Published: 27 July 2008 BMC Cancer 2008, 8:213 doi:10.1186/1471-2407-8-213 Received: 9 January 2008 Accepted: 27 July 2008 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral. com/1471-2407/8/213 © 2008 Kristensen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Biomimicry in climate adaptive building skins: relevance of applying principles and strategies

There is growing interest in scientific literature and in research projects on climate adaptive building skins -CABS-. A large development of this type of building skins is expected, because of the advantages they offer over other skins, such as th e improvement of environmental quality and energy efficiency, the adaptability to c limate and changing uses of buildi ngs, the ability to use low exergy sources, the potential for integrating architectural design principles with energy efficiency, the possibility of driving the research on new technologies a nd a greater efficiency in the use of materials. However, this development is not taking place in practice, since most projects either remain on experimental prototypes or are im plemented in high budget buildings. This paper examines the relevance of applying a bi omimetic approach to the design of CABS, given the adaptive behaviour of both systems. By studying the correlation between the functi onal requirements of adaptive building skins and adaptive strategies that can be found in natural organisms, we address the possible overcoming of some limits they face in their development – from design, technological, economic and social-. The aim is to further the implementation of biomim etic principles and adaptive strategies to enhance adaptive behaviour, take advantage of the evoluti onary knowledge that nature provides, derive applying principles to achieve best architectural solutions, serve as a driver of innovation in architecture and promote efficiency and sustainabilit y in building skins, using principles such as optimality in resource management, resilience behaviour , exchange of information and energy with the environment, complexity by organization of simple elements, or multifunctionality. Finally, biomimicry has shown to be a suitable approach, which, by putting systematic design processes into practice, yet to achieve, could promot e the widespread developm ent of climate adaptive building skins.
Is a night better than a day: Empirical evidence

Abstract In this study, we analyze the portfolio allocation based on time asymmetry of stock characteristics. In particular, we analyzed the empirical data of changes in financial stock prices during the day period and during the night period and have found that characteristics such as mean and variance are different for changes during the day and changes during the night. Also, the portfolio characteristics, such as covariance between stocks, differ on whether we take into account day changes or night changes in prices. That greatly affects the allocation of fund to the portfolio for an investor who trades frequently. The portfolio should be re-balanced every day in order to achieve optimality and much higher return. At the same level of risk the returns on this new portfolio may by several times larger than the returns on a portfolio without everyday re-balancing. We computed numerically the allocation of funds for the stocks from the finance industry and showed that the increase in returns is substantial.
Assessment of Microbiological Quality of Water Wells in Rural Properties of the City of West of Santa Catarina, Brazil

Due to the large consumption of water wells and springs in rural properties in the far west region of Santa Catarina and illnesses related to consumption of contaminated water, this study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of water wells in rural properties in the far west of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Thus, this study can be used as a tool to discuss the current state of the wells that supply farms in the far west of Santa Catarina, since it is necessary to introduce orientation programs for consumers of untreated , for the most part unaware of these basic methods for maintaining the quality of drinking water. The research was conducted with Company of Agricultural Research and Rural Extension of Santa Catarina SA (EPAGRI) of Sao Miguel do Oeste, SC. We collected samples from 70 wells from 07 city in the region west of Santa Catarina from May 2011 to February 2012, and collected three samples per well evaluated in different periods. Samples were collected by technical EPAGRI of each municipality participating in the study and subsequently transported and analyzed in the Research Laboratory and Diagnostic Microbiology of the University of West of Santa Catarina. Towards assess the quality of water was used for faecal technique for Multiple Tube Fermentation and heterotrophic bacterial count technique pour plate with standard agar for count established by the Normative Instruction No. 62, August 26, 2003 the Ministry of Agriculture , Livestock and Supply. In the laboratory, were applied to wells of a user questionnaire for their perception of water quality. Of the 70 wells analysed, 67 (95.71%) were considered unsuitable for human consumption, according Decree in 2914 to 12 December 2011 the ministry of health. The average amount of total coliform samples found unsuitable (199 samples from 67 wells) was 366.09 MPN / 100 ml, ranging from 265.98 to 527.1 MPN /100 mL. Since the average amount of faecal coliform found in these samples (those considered unfit) was 62. 34 MPN /100 mL ranging from 12.73 to 105.5 MPN /100 mL. For the average score heterotrophic microorganisms in the samples was unsuitable 1386 CFU / ml, ranging from 836 to 2234 CFU / ml. Although the data found in laboratory tests, the questionnaires showed that 82.88% of owners who use water classified as good or excellent quality, and less than half (42.84%) filter or boil water before consuming it . Thus, we can see that it is extremely important that preventive measures are taken for the preservation of the sources and improving water quality in the region, since most water wells are unfit for human consumption and which further aggravates these results is the users' perception about the quality, which contributes to the lack of concern with basic care to avoid such a problem.
Eye-movements in real curve driving: pursuit-like optokinesis in vehicle frame of reference, stability in an allocentric reference coordinate system

Looking at the future path and/or the tangent point (TP) have been identified as car drivers’ gaze targets in many studies on curve driving. Yet little is known in detail about these "fixations to the road". We quantitatively analyse gaze behavior at the level of individual fixations in real on-road data. We find that while gaze tracks the TP area, this pattern consists of fast optokinetic movements (smooth pursuit and fast resetting saccadic movements). Gaze is not “fixed” to the TP. We also relate eye-movements to a reference direction fixed to a point on the trajectory of the vehicle (curve exit), showing that fixations lose their pursuit-like character in this rotating system. The findings are discussed in terms of steering models and neural levels of oculomotor control.
Neuromuscular effects of plyometric exercise

While plyometric training is widely used by sports coaches as a method of improving explosive power in athletes, many prescribe volumes in excess of the NSCA recommendations. The purpose of this study was to assess voluntary and evoked muscle characteristics to assess the neuromuscular impact of a high volume bout of plyometric exercise that was non-exhaustive. Ten athletes who did not have plyometric training experience and were in their competitive season for club-level sport volunteered for the study. After at least two days without high-intensity activity, subjects were assessed on maximal twitch torque, time to peak torque, rate of twitch torque development, twitch half relaxation time, rate of twitch relaxation, and voluntary activation by the interpolated twitch technique before, immediately after, and 2 hours after a high volume plyometric training program (212 ground contacts). Data were analysed by repeated measures ANOVA and described as mean ± SD and Cohen’s d. Statistically significant decrements appeared immediately after the training protocol in the total torque generated by MVC (p<0.05, d=-0.51) and twitch (p< 0.01, d=-0.92), rate of twitch torque development (p<0.01, d=-0.77), and rate of relaxation (p<0.01, d=0.73). However, we did not observe any differences that remained statistically different after two hours. There were no significant differences observed at any time point in time to peak twitch, half relaxation time, or voluntary activation. We conclude that high volume plyometric training results primarily in peripheral fatigue that substantially impairs force and rate of force development. We recommend that coaches carefully monitor the volume of plyometric training sessions to avoid neuromuscular impairments that can result in sub-optimal training. Neuromuscular effects of plyometric exercise 3
The male sexual deficit: A social fact of the 21st century

Nationally representative interview surveys of sexual behaviour and attitudes proliferated around the globe from 1990 onwards as a result of the AIDS scare, yet are overlooked by sociologists. This article reviews findings from some 30 sex surveys around the world showing that large and substantively important differences between men and women in the centrality of sexuality, sexual desire, sexual behaviour and attitudes persist in the 21st century, long after the contraceptive and sexual revolutions of the 1960s. Women’s lesser sexual motivation and interest means that many heterosexual men experience a shortfall in desired sexual activity. A reversal of the sex ratio to a male surplus among prime-age adults and other trends suggest that the sexual deficit among men may increase. The male sexual deficit (or surplus male sexuality) helps to explain sexual harassment, sexual violence, rape, rising demand for commercial sexual services and other behaviours that are almost exclusively male.
Induced polarization response of microbial induced sulfide precipitation

A laboratory scale experiment was conducted to examine the use of induced polarization and electrical conductivity to monitor microbial induced sulfide precipitation under anaerobic conditions in sand filled columns. Three columns were fabricated; one for electrical measurements, one for geochemical sampling and a third non-inoculated column was used as a control. A continual upward flow of nutrients and metals in solution was established in each column. Desulfovibrio vulgaris microbes were injected into the middle of the geochemical and electrical columns. Iron and zinc sulfides precipitated along a microbial action front as a result of sulfate reduction due by Desulfovibrio vulgaris. The precipitation front initially developed near the microbial injection location, and subsequently migrated towards the nutrient inlet, as a result of chemotaxis by Desulfovibrio vulgaris. Sampling during and subsequent to the experiment revealed spatiotemporal changes in the biogeochemical measurements associated with microbial sulfate reduction. Conductivity measurements were insensitive to all biogeochemical changes occurred within the column. Changes in the IP response (of up to 14 mrad) were observed to coincide in place and in time with the active microbe respiration/sulfide precipitation front as determined from geochemical sampling. The IP response is correlated with the lactate concentration gradient, an indirect measurement of microbial metabolism, suggesting the potential of IP as a method for monitoring microbial respiration/activity. Post experimental destructive sample analysis and SEM imaging verified the geochemical results and supported our hypothesis that microbe induced sulfide precipitation is directly detectable using electrical methods. Although the processes not fully understood, the IP response appears to be sensitive to this anaerobic microbial precipitation, suggesting a possible novel application for the IP method.
Educational pathways and dropout from higher education in Germany

Extending access to higher education has led to a growing heterogeneity in the social origins and previous educational biographies of first-year students. They differ in their socialization, their preparedness for tertiary studies, and the salience of alternative options. How do these differences relate to social inequality in dropout from higher education? Drawing on theories and concepts of rational choice, differential learning environments, and selection, we argue that social origins and pre-tertiary educational pathways have at least an initial impact on dropout risks. We draw on retrospective life course data from the “Adult Education and Life-Long Learning” stage of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) to use pre-tertiary pathways to reconstruct educational careers and perform an event history analysis on dropping out of higher education. Results suggest that these pathways substantially influence dropout rates in Germany. Students taking the direct pathway via the Gymnasium (i.e. the school type representing the highest school track) have significantly lower dropout rates than students with an upwardly mobile educational biography or students who obtained a vocational qualification before starting higher education. Whereas students from a higher social background are less prone to drop out than students from a lower social background at universities, social origins do not have any significant direct influence on dropout rates at universities of applied sciences and influence only the likelihood of entering these institutions.
Application of Artificial Neural Network in Assessing Fill Slope Stability

Abstract—This paper details the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of slope stability whereby quick and convenient solutions can be obtained using the developed tool. The AI tool used in this study is the artificial neural network (ANN), while the slope stability analysis methods are the finite element limit analysis methods. The developed tool allows for the prompt prediction of the safety factors of fill slopes and their corresponding probability of failure (depending on the degree of variation of the soil parameters), which can give the practicing engineer a reasonable basis in their decision making. In fact, the successful use of the Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) algorithm shows that slope stability analysis is no longer confined to the conventional methods of modeling, which at times may be tedious and repetitive during the preliminary design stage where the focus is more on cost saving options rather than detailed design. Therefore, similar ANN-based tools can be further developed to assist engineers in this aspect.
Does Knowledge-Based Economy Speaks to Consumers? A French Case Study with Respect to Food Products

The paradigm of knowledge-based economy states that information asymmetry between consumers and producers will be reduced thanks to information availability and dissemination through the Internet or other media channels. Conversely to this statement, some published articles shown that knowledge-based economy reinforces the information asymmetry between experts and novices among the consumers (Hogg et al., 2007; Gregan-Paxton & Roedder-John, 1997; Alba & Hutchinson, 1987). Accordingly, we will consider the non homogeneity of consumers and will try to identify and qualify the differences between several groups of respondents regarding two food items by means of a k-means clustering applied to a knowledge-oriented questionnaire.
Implications of Crop Yield and Revenue Insurance for Producer Hedging

New types of crop insurance have expanded the tools from which crop producers may choose to manage risk. Little is known regarding how these products interact with futures and options. This analysis examines optimal futures and put ratios in the presence of four alternative insurance coverages. An analytical model investigates the comparative statics of the relationship between hedging and insurance. Additional numerical analysis is conducted which incorporates futures price, basis, and yield variability. Yield insurance is found to have a positive effect on hedging levels. Revenue insurance tends to result in slightly lower hedging demand than would occur given the same level of yield insurance coverage.
Content of heavy metals in maize cultivated in soil amended with sewage sludge and its mixtures with peat

A b s t r a c t. The experiment was aimed at an assessment of the effect of sewage sludge and its mixtures with peat on the content and uptake of chromium, copper, lead and nickel by maize cultivated in soils of different grain size composition. The concentrations of studied elements were assessed after plant material mineralization using the ICP-AES method. Fertilization with the sewage sludge, its mixtures with peat and with farmyard manure allowed to obtain significantly larger yields than on treatments fertilized exclusively with mineral salts. The experiment results indicate that the soil had a greater effect on trace element concentrations than the applied fertilization. Mean weighted average content of the analyzed elements in maize aboveground parts from the treatments where sewage sludge mixtures with peat were applied was generally smaller in comparison with the content determined in biomass from the treatments where only the sludge was used. K e y w o r d s: maize, heavy metals, accumulation, sewage sludge
Global Markets and National Politics: Collision Course or Virtuous Circle?

Increasing exposure to trade, foreign direct investment, and liquid capital mobility have not prompted a pervasive policy race to the neoliberal bottom among the OECD countries. One reason is that there are strong political incentives for governments to cushion the dislocations and risk generated by openness. Moreover, countries with large and expanding public economies (when balanced with increased revenues, even from capital taxes) have not suffered from capital flight or higher interest rates. This is because the modern welfare state, comprising income transfer programs and publicly provided social services, generates economically important collective goods that are undersupplied by markets and that actors are interested in productivity value. These range from the accumulation of human and physical capital to social stability under conditions of high market uncertainty to popular support for the market economy itself. As a result, arguments about the demise of national autonomy in the global economy are considerably overdrawn.