Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Genetic-Algorithm-Based Fusion System Optimization for 3 D Image Interpretation

Information fusion systems are complex systems with many parameters that must be adjusted to obtain interesting results. Generally applied in specialized domains such as military, medical and industrial areas, these systems must work in collaboration with the experts of the domains. As these end-users are not specialists in information fusion, the parameters adjustment becomes a difficult task. In addition, to find a good set of those parameters is a hard and time consuming process as the search space is very large. In order to overcome this issue a genetic algorithm is applied to automatically search the best parameter set. The results show that the proposed approach produces accurate levels of the global performance of the fusion system.
Participatory technology development in Cameroon: The route and milestone in the process of its institutionalisation

Summary The four-year Phase II of the action-research programme "Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation in Africa (ISWC II) started in December 1996 and operates in the French-speaking countries Tunisia, Burkina Faso and Cameroon and in the English-speaking countries Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. It had received a budget-neutral extension from the funders (Netherlands Development Aid, DGIS) for the entire 2001. This paper is based on the Participatory Technology Development (PTD) experiences with the ISWC II project in Cameroon. The ISWC II project aimed to improve the effectiveness of both indigenous and modern Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) practices through a process of joint experimentation involving farmers, scientists and development agents. The authors have developed the informal and formal strategies used and their impacts in the process of the institutionalisation of the PTD approach in Cameroon.
AN INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEM IN REAL TIME FOR WIRELESS 802.11 ABSTRACT

A wireless local area network is subject to attacks due to its means of transmission. The WEP is defined as the security mechanism in wireless network, but it is not sufficiently secure. Intrusion detection systems have been used to mitigate the weaknesses of the WEP. Nowadays, the existing intrusion detection systems of open source code are either static in terms of signature or limited in terms of types of attack detection. In this article we propose a real time intrusion detection system that logs event and it is configurable in terms of signature. The attacks that the system detects include: presence of non authorized element such as users, access points and tools of War Driving, and denial of service.
DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF SPIRULINA ( Arthrospira platensis ) AND THYME ( Thymus vulgaris L . ) . PART 3 : EFFECT ON CAECAL BACTERIAL COMMUNITY IN GROWING RABBITS

Two groups of 42 rabbits were fed either a diet supplemented or not with Spirulina Duration, from weaned (35d old) to 11 weeks of age. Samples of caecal content were collected at the 14, 28 and 48 day of the supplementation, to evaluate the effect on the bacterial diversity of microbiota using molecular tools. After bacterial DNA extraction, the quantity of bacteria, belonging to phylum Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were determined by qPCR reactions. The copy number of the two phyla did not significantly evolved from 49 to 83d of age, and ranged between 87000 and 118000. The amount of Bacteroidetes and Clostridium group (Clostridium leptum and Clostridium coccoides), belonging to the Firmicutes phylum, were not significantly modified by Spirulina dietary supplementation.
Impact of Students ’ Parental Background on Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Obio / Akpor LGA , Rivers State , Nigeria

This study examined the impact of parental background on the academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The population consisted of 4,752 respondents. A sample size of 1,426 senior secondary school (SSS) 2 and 3 students was randomly selected. A structured questionnaire titled: Students Parental Background Variable Inventory (SPBVI) was used to collect data from respondents. Four research questions and four hypotheses were adopted and tested for the study. To determine the extent of significant relationship that existed between the independent and dependent variables at 0.05 alpha levels, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) was employed to analyze the data and reliability of the instrument. The result showed positive relationship between parent socioeconomic status, educational status, parents’ level of income, family size and students’ academic achievement. Based on this finding, it was recommended that parents’ should improve on their level of socio-economic status and endeavor to control their family size among others. Students should not allow their parents’ position to negatively influence their academic pursuits.
Activation of Rh , Pd / CeO 2 nano-catalyst

ion and a more stable M-Ce interface. Rhodium has more oxygen neighbours in its Rh2O3 form than PdO and Rh3+ ‘dissolves’ in the oxygen rich support which at the surface is reduced to the structurally analogous Ce 2O3. Cationic rhodium exhibits solubility in the reduced ceria surface at elevated temperature[14] and finds stability once it has migrated to its periodic neighbour Palladium. This is theorised to be due to the extra stability of the greater d band occupancy of the Pd clusters and low energy mixing of Rh and Pd. Reduced Rh metal forms a shell on the Pd clusters[1] and the greater d character of Pd influences the action of Rh at the peripheral boundary. DFT + U calculations[13] have shown Rh doping of the ceria lattice lowers the reduction energy by up to 1.62 eV with the Metal Induced Gap States falling below the Fermi energy. For Pt the reduction energy falls by 2.03 eV and the MIGS are pinned above the Fermi energy directly facilitating electron transfer to the metal. The MIGS are reported to be formed from M4d – O2p hybridisation and in the reduced surface are occupied by electrons present in the oxygen vacancy. It is postulated the difference in Pd and Rh metal-support interaction at 273-573 K is due to RhCeO3-x compound formation that displays degeneracy in the Fermi level of Rh due to contribution from the f states of Cerium thus lowering oxygen abstraction capacity. At 673 K the bimetallic clusters are formed[1]. Acknowledgements The authors are indebted to the Australian Synchrotron.
Lecture 17: Video streaming

2. We’ll then spend one lecture talking about datacenter networks. A datacenter network consists of tens of thousands of server machines interconnected by a low-latency and high-capacity network at a single geographic site that spans a few football fields. These networks are owned and operated by companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook, which use these large networks to offer services to millions of users over the Web.
A noise generation and propagation model for large wind farms

A wind turbine noise calculation model is combined with a ray tracing method in order to estimate wind farm noise in its surrounding assuming an arbitrary topography. The wind turbine noise model is used to generate noise spectra for which each turbine is approximated as a point source. However, the detailed three-dimensional directivity features are taken into account for the further calculation of noise propagation over the surrounding terrain. An arbitrary number of turbines constituting a wind farm can be spatially distributed. The noise from each individual turbine is propagated into the far-field using the ray tracing method. These results are added up assuming the noise from each turbine is uncorrelated. The methodology permits to estimate a wind farm noise map over the surrounding terrain in a reasonable amount of computational time on a personal computer.
Fe b 20 07 Model Reduction Applied to Square to Rectangular Martensitic Transformations Using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition

Model reduction using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method is applied to the dynamics of ferroelastic patches to study the first order square to rectangular phase transformations. Governing equations for the system dynamics are constructed by using the Landau-Ginzburg theory and are solved numerically. By using the POD method, a set of empirical orthogonal basis functions is first constructed, then the system is projected onto the subspace spanned by a small set of basis functions determined by the associated singular values. The performance of the low dimensional model is verified by simulating nonlinear thermo-mechanical waves and square to rectangular transformations in a ferroelastic patch. Comparison between numerical results obtained from the original PDE model and the low dimensional one is carried out.
Optimal error estimates of the semidiscrete discontinuous Galerkin methods for two dimensional hyperbolic equations on Cartesian meshes using Pk elements

In this paper, we study the optimal error estimates of the classical discontinuous Galerkin method for time-dependent 2-D hyperbolic equations using P k elements on uniform Cartesian meshes, and prove that the error in the L 2 norm achieves optimal (k + 1)th order convergence when upwind fluxes are used. For the linear constant coefficient case, the results hold true for arbitrary piecewise polynomials of degree k ≥ 0. For variable coefficient and nonlinear cases, we give the proof for piecewise polynomials of degree k = 0, 1, 2, 3 and k = 2, 3, respectively, under the condition that the wind direction does not change. The theoretical results are verified by numerical examples.
Game-Based Learning: An Instructional Tool

Game-based learning is increasingly becoming popular in classrooms as an instructional tool. Considering the popularity of game-based learning, a large number of studies have been conducted explaining the positive effects that games have on learning. ​ This paper examines literature related to the use of game-based learning as an instructional tool, the effectiveness compared to direct instruction, its usefulness in today’s society, and the applications associated with assessment. This review seeks to examine literature that supports game-based learning and aims to find how applicable it is in the classroom for teaching both content and skills. This paper also provides insight into the expanded role of computer games in the classroom and possibly assist in further studies.
Effects of Scarification Disturbance on the Seedling and Midstory Layer in a Successional Mixed-Oak Forest

This study investigated whether soil scarification during the presence of abundant white oak (Quercus alba L.) acorns and other mast could be used to increase the density of oak reproduction and reduce competitive midstory species in a mid-successional mixed-oak upland forest. The study was conducted in a 7.3 ha forest with a mature oak overstory and a well-developed midstory of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and pawpaw (Asmina triloba Dunal.) in southern Illinois. The soil scarification was conducted in the autumn after acorn dissemination using a crawler tractor with a six-tooth brush rake. One growing season after treatment, significantly higher numbers of oak seedlings, primarily white oak, were present in the scarified plots (5,164 ha–1) compared to the control plots (1,273 ha–1). Seedling density of all other species classes did not differ between treatments. Scarification affected 61% of midstory trees and thus reduced their density and competitive position. Of these trees, 21% of stems were completely removed by the scarification treatment. Results suggest that, in the presence of abundant acorns, scarification may increase the number of new oak germinants in stands lacking advanced oak reproduction. Finally, because scarification increased the density of oak seedlings and reduced competing midstory trees, it can play a role in promoting the establishment of advanced oak reproduction. North. J. Appl. For. 20(2):85–91.
Is Indian Trade Policy Pro-Poor?

The neoclassical trade theory predicts that international trade reduces income inequality in developing countries. These countries export products that use unskilled labor more intensively, and the wages of unskilled labor increases as these sectors expand their production. Households, however, are complex establishments that contribute to the economy not only as producers, but also as consumers. The members of the households who participate in the labor market earn wages, and these wage incomes partially or fully determine the budget constraint of the households. A change in the trade policy influences household welfare through its effect on (1) wage incomes and (2) its effect on the cost of the consumption basket. While there is an extensive literature on wages, the effect on consumption is often overlooked (Han et al., 2016; Goldberg and Hellerstein, 2013). This is a crucial component, as it represents one of the two main components of household welfare. Trade policy may have pro-poor impact through consumption, pro-rich impact through wages, and the combined effect would depend on the relative magnitude of these two channels (Ural Marchand, 2012).
Meta analysis for association of TRAIL DR 4 / TRAIL-R 1 and DR 5 / TRAIL-R 2 with hepatocelluar carcinoma prognosis

TRAIL may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of human HCC by combining with its death receptors. To study the relationship between TRAIL Death Receptors and the prognosis of hepatocelluar carcinoma, we performed a meta-analysis to study the expression of TRAIL DR4/TRAIL-R1, DR5/TRAIL-R2 and various clinicopathological characteristics of HCC. Publications were searched using PubMed, Medline, Embase and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) for studying about the association between TRAIL DR4/TRAIL-R1, DR5/ TRAIL-R2 and hepatocelluar carcinoma up to October 2015. Totally, seven studies with 423 patients were included into this meta-analysis. Our results revealed that the higher expression of DRs (DR4/TRAIL-R1 and DR5/TRAILR2) in the liver tissues of HCC patients may tend to be associated with the well differentiation (pooled OR=0.15, 95% CI=0.06-0.38, Z=3.98, P<0.0001; pooled OR=0.30, 95% CI=0.13-0.70, Z=2.80, P=0.005, respectively); In addition, lower expression of DRs (DR4/TRAIL-R1 and DR5/TRAIL-R2) tended to be associated with advanced tumor TNM stage (pooled OR=4.81, 95% CI=1.68-13.80, Z=2.93, P=0.003; pooled OR=10.49, 95% CI=2.65-41.47, Z=3.35, P=0.0008, respectively); and the relationship between the DR5 and portal vein thrombus of HCC indicated higher DR5 expression was lower in patients with portal vein thrombus than in those without it (pooled OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.12-0.90, Z=2.17, P=0.03). Overall, the results of this study indicated the lower expression of TRAIL Death Receptors tended to indicate a bigger possibility of poor differentiation, advanced TNM stage, and the present of portal vein thrombus, which suggested the lower expression of TRAIL DR4/TRAIL-R1 and DR5/TRAIL-R2 may be related to malignant progression and a poorer prognosis of liver cancer.
“Elements of an Evolutionary Theory of Welfare” (Outline)

Behavioral economics has brought the conventional revealed-preference approach under attack by finding inconsistencies and context-dependencies of the preference formation process (Conlisk, 1996). From this results a vexing problem for normative economics: When preferences are no longer consistent, one has to think whether a different measuring rod for individual welfare can and should be found (Sugden, 2006). While Sugden (2004) has promoted a notion of welfare based on opportunities and on a concept of an individual’s ‘responsibility’ as an autonomous agent, a different train of thought has been suggested by authors such as Kahneman et al. (1997) and Ng (2003). They propose to go back, in a Benthamite spirit, to the hedonic foundations of utility and thus to step ‘beyond’ the level of preference to the ‘deeper’ level of objective utility (Kahneman) or happiness (Ng) as the actual factor motivating behavior and the ultimate measuring rod for welfare. This dissertation adds to the second strain of literature by exploring the normative implications of basing welfare on “experienced utility” (Kahneman et al., 1997). I thus advocate a hedonist account of welfare. In exploring the normative dimension of experienced utility, my aim is to provide welfare theory with sound naturalistic foundations. The idea is to connect the notion of experienced utility with a dynamic theory of ‘want’ learning that is based on the notions of innate (i.e., genetically anchored) and acquired (i.e., culturally transmitted) wants (Witt, 2001). Accordingly, wants can be learned in an associative or cognitively mediated way: While innate wants are associated with a basic set of reinforcers, acquired wants emerge from an elementary learning mechanism by which individuals learn to associate originally neutral stimuli with concurrent pleasant ones. When an individual satisfies such a want, it feels a conditioned rewarding experience. On this basis, the focus lies on a naturalistic concept of utility, where utility can be defined as the pleasure provided by the experience of diminishing deprivation by the satisfaction of a certain want (Witt, 2000). The following is a short overview of the chapters of my dissertation: After introducing
A dEvELopMENTAL TABLE oF EMBryogENEsIs IN Sepia officinaliS

– The development of several cephalopods among them Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) has been very carefully described by Naef in the early 20th century. Here an illustrated developmental table of Sepia officinalis is proposed with a morphological description of each stage. The 30 stages are grouped into five steps of development: cleavage (stages 1 to 9), gastrulation (stages 10 to 13), organogenesis, plane phase (stages 14 to 18), organogenesis, extension phase (stages 19 to 22) and organogenesis, growth phase (stages 23 to 30), when the embryo has acquired the general adult conformation. For each stage, morphological identification criteria are proposed in order that this table is used as a lab tool for cephalopod researchers interested in development. dEvELopMENT
Effect of human protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase gene on the apoptosis of LO 2 hepatocytes under endoplasmic reticulum stress

Background: To evaluate the effects of recombinant lentiviral particles for human lentiviral vector carrying protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) gene on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis of human LO2 hepatocytes. Methods: 293T cells were co-transfected with recombinant lentiviral vector pWPT-GFP-PERK as well as packaging plasmids pMD2G and pSPAX2, giving a PERK-expressing lentivirus (LV-PERK). The supernatant was collected 48 h after transfection to infect LO2 hepatocytes. Infection efficiency was detected by observing GFP expression. The effects of LV-PERK on the apoptosis of LO2 cells under ER stress were assessed by flow cytometry. The expressions of apoptosis-related cleaved caspase-3 and CHOP proteins were detected by Western blotting. Results: Recombinant PERK lentivirus with titer of 4.2×10 efu/mL was constructed and packaged. Proportion of G1-phase cells in the tunicamycin (TM) + LV-PERK group was 53.49%, which was lower than those of TM (78.94%) and LV-GFP (65.73%) groups. The TM + LV-PERK group (32.45%) had significantly higher proportion of S-phase cells than those of TM (13.23%) and LV-GFP (17.79%) groups (P<0.05). The apoptotic rate of the TM + LV-PERK group (26.55%) significantly exceeded those of TM (12.59%) and LV-GFP (11.43%) groups (P<0.05). Western blotting results were consistent with those of flow cytometry. Conclusion: Under ER stress, LV-PERK promoted the proliferation and apoptosis of LO2 hepatocytes.
A fast non-contact imaging photoplethysmography method using a tissue-like model

Imaging photoplethysmography (iPPG) allows non-contact, concomitant measurement and visualization of peripheral blood flow using just an RGB camera. Most iPPG methods require a window of temporal data and complex computation, this makes real-time measurement and spatial visualization impossible. We present a fast,“window-less”, non-contact imaging photoplethysmography method, based on a tissue-like model of the skin, that allows accurate measurement of heart rate and heart rate variability parameters. The error in heart rate estimates is equivalent to state-of-the-art techniques and computation is much faster.
Management of PatientsWith Fever andNeutropenia Through the Arc of Time ANarrative Review

The association between fever and neutropenia and the risk for life-threatening infections in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy has been known for 50 years. Indeed, infectious complications have been a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer. This review chronicles the progress in defining and developing approaches to the management of fever and neutropenia through observational and controlled clinical trials done by single institutions, as well as by national and international collaborative groups. The resultant data have led to recommendations and guidelines from professional societies and frame the current principles of management. Recommendations include those guiding new treatment options (from monotherapy to oral antibiotic therapy) and use of prophylactic antimicrobial regimens in high-risk patients. Of note, risk factors have changed with the advent of hematopoietic cytokines (especially granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) in shortening the duration of neutropenia, as well as with the discovery of more targeted cancer treatments that do not result in cytotoxicity, although these are still the exception. Most guiding principles that were developed decades ago—about when to begin empirical treatment after a neutropenic patient becomes febrile, whether and how to modify the initial treatment regimen (especially in patients with protracted neutropenia), and how long to continue antimicrobial therapy—are still used today. This review describes how the treatment principles related to the management of fever and neutropenia have responded to changes in the patients at risk, the microbes responsible, and the tools for their treatment, while still being sustained over the arc of time.
Androgen receptor and soy isoflavones in prostate cancer ( Review )

Androgens and androgen receptor (AR) play a critical role not only in normal prostate development, but also in prostate cancer. For that reason, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the primary treatment for prostate cancer. However, the majority of patients develop castration-resistant prostate cancer, which eventually leads to mortality. Novel therapeutic approaches, including dietary changes, have been explored. Soy isoflavones have become a focus of interest because of their positive health benefits on numerous diseases, particularly hormone-related cancers, including prostate and breast cancers. An important strategy for the prevention and/or treatment of prostate cancer might thus be the action of soy isoflavones on the AR signaling pathway. The current review article provides a detailed overview of the anticancer potential of soy isoflavones (genistein, daidzein and glycitein), as mediated by their effect on AR.
Korean Memories of the Vietnam and Korean Wars: A Counter-History A Counter-History

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is antiheroic, antimonumental, a V-shaped gash or scar, a trace of violence suffered not of violence wielded in the service of a glorious cause (as in the conventional war memorial). It achieves the universality of the public monument not by rising above its surroundings to transcend the political, but by go ing beneath the political to the shared sense of a wound that will never heal. Its legibility is not that of narrative: no heroic episode such as the planting of the flag on Iwo Jima is memorialized, only the m i n d n u m b i n g a n d undifferentiated chronology of v io lence and death catalogued by the fifty-eight thousand names inscribed on the black marble walls. [1]