Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incorporating Sports and Play into Exertion Games

While exertion games digital games where the outcome is determined by physical exertion are of growing interest in HCI, we believe the current health and fitness focus in the research of exertion games limits the opportunities this field has to offer. In order to broaden the agenda on exertion games, we link the existing fields of sports and interactive entertainment (arguing these fields have much to offer) by presenting four of our own designs as case studies. Using our experiences with these designs we highlight three key strategies to guide designers in the creation of richer exertion game experiences: designing a temporal trajectory through games with reference to the way exertion changes over time, designing for the inevitable and not necessarily negative effects of pain in exertion games, and designing for the highly socially situated nature of exertion gaming.
In vitro Analysis Comparing Efficacy of Lasers and Desensitizing Agents on Dentin Tubule Occlusion: A Scanning Electron Microscope Study

Dentinal hypersensitivity (DH), one of the commonest causes of dental pain, arises from exposure of dentinal tubules most commonly in the cervical region of the buccal and facial surfaces of the tooth in response to typically thermal, evaporative, tactile, osmotic or chemical stimulus. This study aims at evaluating the efficacy of Er,Cr:YSGG (dual lasers — hard and soft tissue) and diode lasers (soft tissue lasers) against clinically proven dentifrices prescribed by dentists, easily available over the counter, in treating DH. In 60 recently extracted human teeth, cervical cavities were prepared and etched with 17% EDTA to expose the tubules and eliminate smear layer. The teeth were further divided into groups: Er,Cr:YSGG laser, diode laser and commonly used dentifrices chosen on the basis of previous studies. After treatment, the teeth were subjected for scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis on the same day for quantitative and qualitative analysis of the specimens. Quantitative analysis of the SEM images was done using image analysis software. Er,Cr:YSGG showed superior results in terms of number of tubules per millimeter square, tubule diameter and tubular area. Laser treatment of exposed dentinal tubules with Er,Cr:YSGG promises a noninvasive, pain free and relatively safe treatment option.
Water quality monitoring: A comparative case study of municipal and Curtin Sarawak's lake samples

In this study, particle size distribution and zeta potential of the suspended particles in municipal water and lake surface water of Curtin Sarawak's lake were compared and the samples were analysed using dynamic light scattering method. High concentration of suspended particles affects the water quality as well as suppresses the aquatic photosynthetic systems. A new approach has been carried out in the current work to determine the particle size distribution and zeta potential of the suspended particles present in the water samples. The results for the lake samples showed that the particle size ranges from 180nm to 1345nm and the zeta potential values ranges from -8.58 mV to -26.1 mV. High zeta potential value was observed in the surface water samples of Curtin Sarawak's lake compared to the municipal water. The zeta potential values represent that the suspended particles are stable and chances of agglomeration is lower in lake water samples. Moreover, the effects of physico-chemical parameters on zeta potential of the water samples were also discussed.
Microbial Population Dynamics and the Role of Sulfur Reducing Bacteria Genes in Stabilizing Pb, Zn and Cd in the Terrestrial Subsurface

Milling and mining metal ores are major sources of heavy metal contamination. The Spring River and its tributaries in southeast Kansas are contaminated with Pb, Zn, and Cd as a result of 120 years of mining activities. Trace metal transformations and cycling in mine waste materials greatly influence their mobility and toxicity and affect plant productivity and human health. It has been hypothesized that under reduced conditions in sulfate-rich environments, these metals can be transformed into their sulfide forms, thus limiting mobility and toxicity. We studied biogeochemical transformations of Pb, Zn and Cd in flooded subsurface mine waste materials, natural or treated with organic carbon (OC) and/or sulfur (S), by combining advanced microbiological and X-ray spectroscopic techniques to determine the effects of treatments on the microbial community structure and identify the dominant functional genes involved in the biogeochemical transformations, especially metal sulfide formation over time. Samples collected from medium-, and long-term submerged columns were used for microarray analysis via functional gene array (GeoChip 4.2). The total number of detected gene abundance decreased under long-term submergence, but major functional genes abundance was enhanced with OC plus S treatment. The microbial community exhibited a substantial change in structure in response to OC and S addition. Sulfur-reducing bacteria genes dsrA/B were identified as key players in metal sulfide formation via dissimilatory sulfate reduction. Uniqueness of this study is that microbial analyses presented here in details are in agreements with molecular-scale synchrotron-based X-ray data supporting that OC-plus-S treatment would be a promising strategy for reducing metal toxicity in mine waste materials.
C C ] 2 2 M ar 2 01 7 Nonnegative Matrix Factorization Requires Irrationality

Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is the problem of decomposing a given nonnegative n×m matrix M into a product of a nonnegative n× d matrix W and a nonnegative d ×m matrix H . A longstanding open question, posed by Cohen and Rothblum in 1993, is whether a rational matrix M always has an NMF of minimal inner dimension d whose factors W and H are also rational. We answer this question negatively, by exhibiting a matrix for which W and H require irrational entries.
Package ‘ mritc ’ May 27 , 2018

May 27, 2018 Title MRI Tissue Classification Version 0.5-1 Author Dai Feng and Luke Tierney Description Various methods for MRI tissue classification. Maintainer Dai Feng <dai_feng@merck.com> Depends R (>= 2.14.0), lattice (>= 0.18-8), misc3d (>= 0.8-1), oro.nifti(>= 0.4.0) Imports methods Suggests tkrplot (>= 0.0-23) License GPL NeedsCompilation yes Repository CRAN Date/Publication 2018-05-27 13:56:15 UTC
In vitro propagation of several Betula species representing various ploidy levels

One of the most important applications of in vitro culture is micropropagation, which enables vegetative propagation of adult trees, not usually achieved with traditional methods. Genotypic variability in response to successful in vitro propagation within a species has been a difficulty in finding universal propagation methods for some species. This paper introduces the establishment of sterile shoot culture and
ATINER's Conference Paper Series EDU2012-0041

Technology Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model comprises of three epistemic frameworks: technology embedded scientific conceptualization, technology embedded scientific investigation, and technology embedded scientific communication. It is hypothesized that students’ understanding of scientific processes is improved if these epistemic frameworks are developed in relevant physical, intellectual, and social contexts. In the project entitled ‘Technology Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI): Modeling and Measuring Pre-Service Teacher Knowledge and Practice’, the senior science student teachers (SSSTs) were educated and trained within three hallmarks of the TESI model by using ‘environmental chemistry’ elective course as a vehicle for these aims. However, the present study initially concentrates on the first hallmark of the TESI model and assesses their conceptions of ‘environmental chemistry’ issues. The sample consisted of 70 SSSTs enrolled in ‘Environmental Chemistry’ elective course. To collect data, a questionnaire with eight open-ended items was administered as a final exam of the course. In analyzing data, the authors and graduate students employed in this project scored the data separately to confirm inter-rater consistency. Cronbach alpha co-efficient for this rubric was found to be 0.65. Mean scores of the items showed that the SSSTs’ responses fell into ‘Sound Understanding’ for Items 1, 4-7 whilst their responses for Items 2, 3 and 8 were classified under ‘Partial Understanding’. Finally, this preliminary study revealed that the TESI model enabled the SSSTs to improve their scientific understanding of ‘environmental chemistry’ issues. It is suggested that real study should try to convert their responses labeled under ‘partial understanding’ to those in ‘sound understanding’ by increasing their engagement with the project and the course.
Quality of Antenatal Care Services at Family Health Units in Alexandria

Background: Quality care encourages health seeking behaviors of clients, motivates health providers, safe guard's client's health and ensures sustainability of the programs, however no adequate data is available on quality of antenatal care in Alexandria. Objective: To assess quality of antenatal care through client satisfaction, provider's performance and availability of basic and necessary equipment in seven selected family health units in Alexandria. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in seven family health units. One health unit was selected randomly from each of the seven administrative zones in Alexandria. Data were collected from clients of the antenatal care service, health providers and the seven health units. For the exit interview, a total of 427 women were selected by proportion to size of clients in each health unit and a structured pre-tested questionnaire was used. All the seven physicians working in the antenatal clinics were observed using observation check list while examining sampled pregnant women . An Observational checklist was used to assess the availability of instruments and medical equipments necessary for antenatal care. Results: Findings indicated poor structure in all the family health units. By observation, 91.3% of pregnant women received poor care while 8.7% received fair care. With concern to interpersonal and technical aspects of antenatal care received, 93.9% and 59.7% respectively had good level of satisfaction. Regarding constellation of services and continuity of care mechanisms, 90.4% and 50.1% of women respectively had fair level of satisfaction, while 54.8% had poor level of satisfaction with information and counseling. Conclusion: Overall satisfaction of antenatal care is high, although health providers did not follow proper management of the antenatal care service. Recommendations: Family health units should be equipped with essential medical equipments. Regular in-service training of health professionals on use of guidelines for examination and management of women attending antenatal care services is essential.
SWAT-An N = 1 duality cascade from a deformation of N = 4 SUSY Yang-Mills theory

We study relevant deformations of an N = 1 superconformal theory which is an exactly marginal deformation of U(N) N = 4 SUSY Yang-Mills. The resulting theory has a classical Higgs branch that is a complex deformation of the orbifold C/Zn × Zn that is a non-compact Calabi-Yau space with isolated conifold singularities. At these singular points in moduli space the theory exhibits a duality cascade and flows to a confining theory with a mass gap. By exactly solving the corresponding holomorphic matrix model we compute the exact quantum superpotential generated at the end of the duality cascade and calculate precisely how quantum effects deform the classical moduli space by replacing the conifold singularities with three-cycles of finite size. Locally the structure is that of the deformed conifold, but the global geometry is different. This desingularized quantum deformed geometry is the moduli space of probe D3-branes at the end of a duality cascade realized on the worldvolume of (fractional) D3-branes placed at the isolated conifold singularities in the deformation of the orbifold C/Zn × Zn with discrete torsion.
EXPLORATORY X-RAY MONITORING OF LUMINOUS RADIO-QUIET QUASARS AT HIGH REDSHIFT: INITIAL RESULTS

We present initial results from an exploratory X-ray monitoring project of two groups of comparably luminous radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). The first consists of four sources at 4.10 ⩽ z ⩽ 4.35, monitored by Chandra, and the second is a comparison sample of three sources at 1.33 ⩽ z ⩽ 2.74, monitored by Swift. Together with archival X-ray data, the total rest-frame temporal baseline spans ∼2–4 yr and ∼5–13 yr for the first and second group, respectively. Six of these sources show significant X-ray variability over rest-frame timescales of ∼102–103 days; three of these also show significant X-ray variability on rest-frame timescales of ∼1–10 days. The X-ray variability properties of our variable sources are similar to those exhibited by nearby and far less luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs). While we do not directly detect a trend of increasing X-ray variability with redshift, we do confirm previous reports of luminous AGNs exhibiting X-ray variability above that expected from their luminosities, based on simplistic extrapolation from lower luminosity sources. This result may be attributed to luminous sources at the highest redshifts having relatively high accretion rates. Complementary UV–optical monitoring of our sources shows that variations in their optical–X-ray spectral energy distribution are dominated by the X-ray variations. We confirm previous reports of X-ray spectral variations in one of our sources, HS 1700+6416, but do not detect such variations in any of our other sources in spite of X-ray flux variations of up to a factor of ∼4. This project is designed to provide a basic assessment of the X-ray variability properties of RQQs at the highest accessible redshifts that will serve as a benchmark for more systematic monitoring of such sources with future X-ray missions.
Estimating Marginal External Environmental Costs of Road Transportation in Iran Case Study Tehran-Qom Free Way

Environmental External costs of road transportation sector are costs which are imposed on environment by users of road transportation and are not compensated for by perpetrators causing it. The most important external costs are the costs of global warming, the costs of air pollution, the costs of noise. These costs and benefits are very important in long-term planning in transportation sector. The main purpose of this article is offering models of quantitative estimation of introduced costs. Accordingly, first, external costs were identified and introduced. Then, measurable costs on the country roads and models of external costs estimation for TehranQom freeway in the year 1389 were offered and the required data for various external costs estimation were identified. The costs were estimated not only in terms of per vehicle km, but also in terms of the whole length of the desired road and also in terms of the total desired cost for the total desired road traffic along entire road length. This estimation has been done per vehicle km for 5 groups of vehicles: cars and vans, minibuses and light duty trucks, buses, heavy duty trucks (16-32t), and heavy duty trucks (> 32t). Results show that, 3-up axle trucks (with 937.2 Rials) have had the highest share in the environmental marginal external costs per vehicle km. Computation of total external costs showed that, this freeway incurred environmental external costs equal to 820 billion Rials which entirely clarifies the necessity of authorities’ serious attention to the issue of external costs.
The sand tampan, Ornithodoros savignyi , as a model for tick-host interactions : review article

Ornithodoros savignyi , commonly known as the sand tampan, is of economic importance in southern Africa. Tampans kill lifestock, especially young calves and lambs, through secretion of toxic agents during feeding. The sand tampan has been used in our laboratory as a model to understand tick-host interactions, both at the level of haemostatic control by the tick and as regards pathogenic mechanisms.We review the important contribution that research on the sand tampan has made to recent developments in the understanding of tampan toxicoses, tick evolution and tick-host interactions. The pathogenic mechanisms of tampan toxicoses seem to be related to cardiac failure. This form of pathogenesis is distinct from other forms of toxicoses such as spring lamb paralysis. Furthermore, the absence of toxins in closely related tick species indicates that tampan toxicoses might be associated with only O. savignyi . The toxins form part of a group of tick proteins from the lipocalin family. The study of anti-haemostatic components secreted by the tampan indicates a close evolutionary relationship between different anti-haemostatic mechanisms. This has several implications for general tick biology, the most important being that the main tick families adapted independently to a blood-feeding lifestyle and that the different forms of tick toxicoses have distinct origins.
Distant plasma sheet ion distributions during reconnection

Previous models of the plasma sheet following reconnection and current sheet acceleration predict ‧lima‐bean‧ ion distributions. These are inconsistent with observational constraints. We postulate that following initial interaction with the current sheet, a fraction of outflow ions are backscattered and re‐encounter the current sheet. Fermi acceleration processes then generate an additional high‐energy outflow population. In the backscatter region these ions form a complete shell in velocity space, providing sufficient pressure to support weak fields. Further from the current sheet, where backscatter is less efficient, a hemispherical shell of ions moves away from the current sheet, and field strengths are nearer the external lobe value. The fastest ions stream ahead of the bulk population to form the plasma sheet boundary layer. This model predicts a multi‐layered plasma sheet structure, consistent with recent GEOTAIL observations.
The interaction between viscous fingering and wrinkling in elastic-walled Hele-Shaw cells

The development of viscous fingers in circular Hele-Shaw cells is a classical and widely studied fluid mechanical problem. The introduction of wall elasticity (via the replacement of one of the bounding plates by an elastic membrane) can weaken or even suppress the fingering instability, but it also makes the system susceptible to additional solid-mechanical instabilities. We show that in elastic-walled Hele-Shaw cells that are bounded by sufficiently thin elastic sheets the (fluid-based) viscous fingering instability can arise concurrently with a (solid-based) wrinkling instability. We study the interaction between these distinct instabilities, using a theoretical model that couples the depth-averaged lubrication equations for the fluid flow to the Foppl-von Karman equations, which describe the deformation of the thin elastic sheet. We employ a linear stability analysis to determine the growth rate of non-axisymmetric perturbations to the axisymmetrically expanding bubble, and perform direct numerical si.
Searching oligo sets of human chromosome 12 using evolutionary strategies

DNA microarray is a powerful tool to measure the level of a mixed population of nucleic acids at one time, which has great impact in many aspects of life sciences research. In order to distinguish nucleic acids with very similar composition by hybridization, it is necessary to design probes with high specificities, i.e. uniqueness, and also sensitivities, i.e., suitable melting temperature and no secondary structure. We make use of available biology tools to gain necessary sequence information of human chromosome 12, and combined with evolutionary strategy (ES) to find unique subsequences representing all predicted exons. The results are presented and discussed.
Plant Anaerobic Stress I . Metabolic Adaptation to Oxygen Deficiency

The establishment and further development of a novel branch of science in the field of ecological physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, dedicated to plant life under hypoxic and anoxic stresses, is considered in the present review focusing upon strategies of adaptation and injury exhibited by plants under hypoxia and anoxia. Taking into account that the results of investigations over the last few decades confirmed the conclusions about the existence of two general strategies for plant adaptation to hypoxic and anoxic stresses: (a) true tolerance realized at the molecular level due to cardinal rearrangement of cellular metabolism under conditions of oxygen deficiency or complete absence of oxygen, and (b) apparent tolerance that is brought about by avoidance of anaerobiosis thanks to long-distance oxygen translocation, the accumulated experimental information is considered and discussed mainly with respect to basic strategies. The physiological role of anaerobic proteins synthesized under conditions of hypoxia and anoxia as well as advances in molecular biology and molecular genetics in the study of regulation of synthesis of these proteins at the level of transcription, translation and post-translation are discussed. The key significance of energy (glycolysis and fermentation) and related processes of carbohydrate (mobilization and utilization of reserved carbohydrate) metabolism in plant metabolic adaptation to oxygen deficiency is stressed. Special attention is given to an earlier period of active investigations in this field that played a substantial role in the establishment and international recognition of this new biological discipline. The strategy of avoidance of anaerobiosis by long-distance oxygen translocation and some other aspects of plant life under hypoxia and anoxia will be considered in the following publication (Vartapetian, Sachs, Fagerstedt 2008). _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Exact solution of the p x + i p y pairing Hamiltonian by deforming the pairing algebra

Recently, interest has increased in the hyperbolic family of integrable Richardson-Gaudin (RG) models. It was pointed out that a particular linear combination of the integrals of motion of the hyperbolic RG model leads to a Hamiltonian that describes $p$-wave pairing in a two-dimensional system. Such an interaction is found to be present in fermionic superfluids (${}^{3}\text{He}$), ultracold atomic gases, and $p$-wave superconductivity. Furthermore the phase diagram is intriguing, with the presence of the Moore-Read and Read-Green lines. At the Read-Green line a rare third-order quantum phase transition occurs. The present paper makes a connection between collective bosonic states and the exact solutions of the ${p}_{x}+i{p}_{y}$ pairing Hamiltonian. This makes it possible to investigate the effects of the Pauli principle on the energy spectrum, by gradually reintroducing the Pauli principle. It also introduces an efficient and stable numerical method to probe all the eigenstates of this class of Hamiltonians. We extend the phase diagram to repulsive interactions, an area that was not previously explored due to the lack of a proper mean-field solution in this region. We found a connection between the point in the phase diagram where the ground state connects to the bosonic state with the highest collectivity, and the Moore-Read line where all the Richardson-Gaudin (RG) variables collapse to zero. In contrast with the reduced BCS case, the overlap between the ground state and the highest collective state at the Moore-Read line is not the largest. In fact it shows a minimum when most other bosonic states show a maximum of the overlap. We found remnants of the Read-Green line for finite systems, by investigating the total spectrum. A symmetry was found between the Hamiltonian with and without single-particle part. When the interaction was repulsive we found four different classes of trajectories of the RG variables.