Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Raman spectroscopic characterization of a Martian SNC meteorite: Zagami

To demonstrate the ability of Raman spectroscopy to determine the mineralogical character of a rock that originated on Mars, we analyzed a small slab of “normal Zagami” by point analyses and multipoint scans using laboratory spectrometers. Spectra of clinopyroxenes were dominant; their compositions were estimated from a calibration of Raman peak positions with Mg/(Mg+Fe) based on lunar pyroxenes of known composition, and these agree with compositions obtained by electron microprobe. A few spectra of orthopyroxene were observed. The broad spectrum of maskelynite was observed, but not that of plagioclase feldspar. Spectra of minor phosphates, magnetite, and pyrrhotite were obtained, as were spectra of an organic contaminant and of hematite, both apparently introduced during sample handling prior to Raman analysis. The modal analysis based on the multipoint scans agrees well with published values. If the spectra had been obtained on the surface of Mars by Raman spectroscopic analysis as a stand-alone method and no other information about the sample was available (and by ignoring the spurious hematite and organic material), we could rule out sedimentary and plutonic rock types and conclude that the sample was a pyroxene-phyric basalt.
Green BICM-OFDM based cooperative communications using bargaining game algorithm

In this paper, a relay-based energy-efficient cooperative communication strategy is proposed, under the hypothesis that the relay transmits with power drawn from energy-harvesting (EH) sources. Assuming a deterministic EH model under which the harvested amount of energy is known prior to transmission, a spectrally efficient adaptive Bit-Interleaved Coded (BIC) OFDM modulation scheme has been investigated. To guarantee the successful reception of a packet, Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) protocol has been adopted. Assuming a long term static channel, the expected goodput (EGP) metric is used as cost function to be optimized. The most significant step-ahead of the proposed approach with respect to state-of-the-art is to increase the cooperation gain by using a bargaining game algorithm. Since most renewable sources are highly intermittent, they can induce significant fluctuation on the available power. The bargaining game algorithm takes into account the energy status of the relay and helps the source node to decide whether to cooperate or not with the relay. Achieved simulation results show that the bargaining game algorithm actually helps the nodes to select the right strategy, with a substantial goodput improvement, in particular when the energy availability of relay becomes intermittent due to the harvesting.
Role of resource availability on sex, caste and reproductive allocation ratios in the Argentine ant Linepithema humile

Summary 1 Resource availability has long been recognized to influence reproductive decisions in eusocial Hymenoptera. We analysed how protein availability affects the number and the weight of worker, male and queen pupae, as well as its effect on sex, caste and reproductive allocation ratios, in the Argentine ant Linepithema humile Mayr. Colonies were maintained on diets with three levels of access to proteins: no protein, intermediate and high levels of proteins. 2 There was no significant difference between the intermediate and high levels of protein in the number of queen, male and worker pupae produced. Similarly, the intermediate vs. high levels of protein treatments did not differ with regard to the weight of pupae nor the relative investments between the three castes. This suggests that, in L. humile, there could be a threshold over which additional amounts of protein have no more effect on reproductive allocation or the size of the individuals produced. 3 The main effect of protein supplementation was to increase the number of sexual pupae (queens and males) produced. By contrast, the number of workers produced remained unaffected by the level of proteins. The higher investment in sexuals in nests supplemented with proteins resulted in a significantly higher proportion of queen pupae among females, as well as higher proportion of males among all individuals produced in these nests. However, the proportion of males among sexuals (numerical sex ratio) was not significantly different between supplemented and unsupplemented nests. 4 Workers reacted to a higher protein diet not only by rearing more sexuals, but also by producing larger individuals of the three castes. 5 The proportional investment allocated to queens among females was higher in the protein-supplemented treatments. Protein-supplemented nests also invested proportionally more into sexual production than unsupplemented nests. However, whereas increased sexual production is generally associated with a more female-biased sex investment ratio in ants, sex allocation ratio was not significantly different between supplemented and unsupplemented nests. 6 Overall, our results support the view that protein availability influences the proportion of brood that is culled, with workers eliminating a significant proportion of both the male and female sexual brood in unsupplemented nests. 7 The increasing amount of experimental data showing that brood culling is an important part of the biology of ants and other social insects emphasis the need to combine kin selection and life-history approaches to study the outcome of queen–worker conflicts on the dynamics of colony growth and sex allocation.
« Republic 2.0 », de Cass Sunstein (2007), Princeton University Press. Compte-rendu d’ouvrage

Pourquoi dans un dossier consacre aux TIC et au developpement durable recenser un livre paru en 2007, en anglais, et traitant de la democratie americaine a l’ere du numerique ? Le sous-titre donne par son auteur, « La revanche des blogs », offre quelques pistes de reponse que nous allons explorer dans cette recension. Cass Sunstein est professeur de droit detache de l’Universite de Harvard afin d’exercer le poste d’administrateur de l’« Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs » aupres du.
Embedded Driver-Assistance System Using Multiple Sensors for Safe Overtaking Maneuver

Advanced driver-assistance systems have recently become one of the most active topics related to intelligent vehicles. Such assistance facilitates vehicular operation by allowing drivers increased control and an enhanced driving experience, and it even comes in the form of automated assistance for autonomous vehicle operation. This paper presents a driver-assistance system that uses a low-cost embedded digital signal processor, with the overall system installed in a commercial vehicle. Based on driving information supplied by multiple sensors, such as a real-time vision system, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system, and in-vehicle sensors, the proposed system can facilitate decision making and the performing of driving tasks while executing overtaking maneuvers. This paper developed a data fusion stage based on a collision warning algorithm in which the overtaken vehicle and other vehicles in the neighboring lane are accounted for to avoid collisions. The system employs fuzzy control in the steering and speed automation to emulate the driving tasks performed by humans. The applicability of the proposed system was examined in a real-road environment, and a set of experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of using the involved coordination strategies while conducting various driving maneuvers.
SOCIEDADE DE CONSUMO E O DESCARTE DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS URBANOS: REFLEXÕES A PARTIR DE UM ESTUDO DE CASO EM PAU DOS FERROS/RN.

O trabalho aborda a problematica dos residuos solidos urbanos na cidade de Pau dos Ferros/RN, revela aspectos espaciais, sociais e ambientais. Permite reflexoes importantes diante do grave problema ambiental agravado pelo tipo de sociedade que promove e encoraja um estilo de vida consumista. Trata-se de uma cidade que tem sido observada em crescimento, tanto populacional e do seu espaco urbano, quanto de influencia, na medida em que abrange e mobiliza uma populacao advinda de diversas cidades circunvizinhas. Ao mesmo tempo em que cresce, incorpora problematicas vivenciadas por cidades grandes, como a grande producao de residuos solidos e seu desfecho inadequado. Tal realidade interfere nas condicoes do meio ambiente e na qualidade de vida da populacao. Trata-se de um estudo de caso que requereu pesquisa bibliografica, documental e de campo. Os resultados evidenciaram que a destinacao inadequada de residuos constitui um grande desafio para os paises em desenvolvimento, bem como para os gestores municipais que precisam incrementar meios, assumir atitudes que acarretem sensibilizacao por parte da populacao a fim de extinguir esta problematica. Os desafios sao enormes e as acoes desenvolvidas estao longe do ideal, para o meio ambiente e para a populacao; muitas ainda se encontram no nivel do discurso.
Treatment of anaplastic histology Wilms' tumor: results from the fifth National Wilms' Tumor Study.

PURPOSE An objective of the fifth National Wilms' Tumor Study (NWTS-5) was to evaluate the efficacy of treatment regimens for anaplastic histology Wilms' tumor (AH). PATIENTS AND METHODS Prospective single-arm studies were conducted. Patients with stage I AH were treated with vincristine and dactinomycin for 18 weeks. Patients with stages II to IV diffuse AH were treated with vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide for 24 weeks plus flank/abdominal radiation. RESULTS A total of 2,596 patients with Wilms' tumor were enrolled onto NWTS-5, of whom 281 (10.8%) had AH. Four-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) estimates for assessable patients with stage I AH (n = 29) were 69.5% (95% CI, 46.9 to 84.0) and 82.6% (95% CI, 63.1 to 92.4). In comparison, 4-year EFS and OS estimates for patients with stage I favorable histology (FH; n = 473) were 92.4% (95% CI, 89.5 to 94.5) and 98.3% (95% CI, 96.4 to 99.2). Four-year EFS estimates for patients who underwent immediate nephrectomy with stages II (n = 23), III (n = 43), and IV (n = 15) diffuse AH were 82.6% (95% CI, 60.1 to 93.1), 64.7% (95% CI, 48.3 to 77.7), and 33.3% (95% CI, 12.2 to 56.4), respectively. OS was similar to EFS for these groups. There were no local recurrences among patients with stage II AH. Four-year EFS and OS estimates for patients with bilateral AH (n = 29) were 43.8% (95% CI, 24.2 to 61.8) and 55.2% (95% CI, 34.8 to 71.7), respectively. CONCLUSION The prognosis for patients with stage I AH is worse than that for patients with stage I FH. Novel treatment strategies are needed to improve outcomes for patients with AH, especially those with stage III to V disease.
Fatty Acid Signaling in the Hypothalamus and the Neural Control of Insulin Secretion

It is now clearly demonstrated that fatty acids (FAs) may modulate neural control of energy homeostasis and specifically affect both insulin secretion and action. Indeed, pancreatic β-cells receive rich neural innervation and FAs induce important changes in autonomic nervous activity. We previously reported that chronic infusion of lipids decreased sympathetic nervous system activity and led to exaggerated glucose-induced insulin secretion (GIIS), as would be expected from the known inhibitory effect of sympathetic splanchnic nerve activity on insulin secretion. Intracarotid infusion of lipids that do not change plasma FA concentrations also lead to increased GIIS. This effect of FAs on GIIS was prevented by inhibition of β-oxidation. It is noteworthy that a single intracarotid injection of oleic acid also induced a transient increase in plasma insulin without any change in plasma glucose, suggesting that FAs per se can regulate neural control of insulin secretion. Finally, using whole cell current clamp recordings in hypothalamic slices and calcium imaging in dissociated hypothalamic neurons, we identified a hypothalamic subpopulation of neurons either excited (13%) or inhibited (6%) by FAs. Thus, FAs per se or their metabolites modulate neuronal activity, as a means of directly monitoring ongoing fuel availability by central nervous system nutrient-sensing neurons involved in the regulation of insulin secretion.
Optimum grasp planner and vision-guided grasping using a three-finger hand

Purpose – The capability to perform dexterous operations in an autonomous manner would greatly enhance the productivity of robotic operations. In this paper, we present a new methodology for vision‐based grasping of objects or parts using a three‐finger hand as a gripper of a robotic manipulator.Design/methodology/approach – The hand employed in our work, called SARAH, was designed for robotic operations on the space station, however, the main steps of our procedure can be applied for tasks in a manufacturing environment. Our methodology involves two principal stages: automatic synthesis of grasps for planar and revolute objects with SARAH and vision‐based pose estimation of the object to be grasped. For both stages, we assume that a model of the object is available off‐line.Findings – In the paper, numerical results are presented for grasp synthesis of several objects with SARAH to demonstrate the feasibility and optimality of the synthesized grasps. Experimental results are also obtained with SARAH as t.
Measurement of Plasma Glucose, Free Fatty Acid, Lactate, and Insulin for 24 h in Patients With NIDDM

Fasting and postprandial plasma glucose, free fatty acid (FFA), lactate, and insulin concentrations were measured at hourly intervals for 24 h in 27 nonobese individuals—9 with normal glucose tolerance, 9 with mild non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM, fasting plasma glucose < 175 mg/dl), and 9 with severe NIDDM (fasting plasma glucose > 250 mg/dl). In addition, hepatic glucose production (HGP) was measured from midnight to 0800 in normal individuals and patients with severe NIDDM. Plasma glucose concentration was highest in patients with severe NIDDM, lowest in those with normal glucose tolerance, and intermediate in those with mild NIDDM (two-way ANOVA, P < .001). Variations in plasma FFA and lactate levels of the three groups were qualitatively similar, with lowest concentrations seen in normal individuals, intermediate levels in the group with mild NIDDM, and the highest concentration in those with severe NIDDM (two-way ANOVA, P < .001). Of particular interest was the observation that plasma FFA concentrations were dramatically elevated from midnight to 0800 in patients with severe NIDDM. The 24-h insulin response was significantly increased in patients with mild NIDDM, with comparable values seen in the other two groups. Values for HGP fell progressively throughout the night in normal individuals and patients with severe NIDDM, despite a concomitant decline in plasma glucose and insulin levels. Although the magnitude of the fall in HGP was greater in NIDDM, the absolute value was significantly (P < .001) greater than normal throughout the period of observation. These results demonstrate that there are differences in substrate level between individuals with normal glucose tolerance and patients with NIDDM and differing degrees of glucose intolerance, unrelated to ambient insulin level, and these changes persist over 24 h.
Asset Planning for Climate Change Adaptation in Poor Neighborhoods of Tegucigalpa, Honduras

En estudios de vulnerabilidad al cambio climatico, una limitante importante se relaciona con la incertidumbre de proyecciones climaticas que los gobiernos locales requieren para estimar los riesgos e impactos que eventos climaticos tienen en diferentes areas de la ciudad. La falta de informacion a escala reducida dificulta comparar como las comunidades, los hogares y las pequenas empresas se adaptan a fenomenos meteorologicos extremos y severos. Lo anterior genera desafios a los gobiernos locales y otras instituciones publicas y no gubernamentales para que puedan implementar medidas que aumenten la resiliencia en areas urbanas pobres. El informe se basa en la experiencia del Proyecto ‘Planificacion de Adaptacion de Activos al Cambio Climatico (PACC)’ que muestra como la adaptacion de activos comunitarios contribuye a abordar esta brecha y, al hacerlo, puede integrarse en la planificacion estrategica y operativa de la ciudad. El informe describe el marco conceptual y operativo del enfoque PACC y las distintas fases a traves de las cuales los habitantes de dos barrios populares de Tegucigalpa junto con representantes del Municipio de Tegucigalpa y otros socios locales en un proceso de coproduccion identificaron, negociaron y acordaron soluciones de adaptacion de activos al cambio climatico. Finalmente, proporciona ejemplos de soluciones de adaptacion a climas severos (sequia y lluvia) que fueron legal y tecnicamente factibles, y financiera y socialmente aceptables en los dos barrios: cosecha de agua lluvia y construccion de muros de retencion con llantas usadas.
Representing text attributes haptically on a webpage for the visually impaired

Web accessibility in terms of providing comprehensive information on a webpage is an issue for the visually impaired users. This could be due to the websites developed are usually with sighted users in mind and the unavailability of an assistive technology to fully support the information presented. The loss in semantic information on the webpage creates frustration among these special groups of users during web browsing. This paper addresses the problem by examining how non-visual text elements such as font attributes and text hierarchy could be presented to the visually impaired users. A webpage that enables the font attributes to be interacted haptically using a Braille line 20 cell was developed. An evaluation study was conducted with a group of visually-impaired Internet users to assess the effectiveness of the webpage. The results showed that most of the users are able to visualize the text structure of the page. The haptically-enabled font attributes improve the readability of the webpage and enable the users to understand better the content presented.
Design and implementation of precision time synchronization system based on IEEE1588

With the development of digital substation, the devices of the substation put forward higher demands on clock synchronization. The standard of the IEEE1588 provides a protocol that enables precise synchronization of clocks in measurement and control systems, and the precision of its network is sub-microsecond level which can satisfy the need of clock synchronization of the substation. This paper makes a brief analysis of the principles of clock synchronization and the protocol state machine, and achieves the clock synchronization by programming. Under the Linux operating system, the design of software contains the protocol engine module, transmission control module and receipt control module. Eventually it is transplanted into the platform of ARM9 and tested. The results show that the precision of time synchronization this paper designed can meet the requirements of the synchronous units of digital substation.
Intensity filters on discrete spaces

Multitarget tracking problems on discrete target state and sensor measurement spaces arise when measurements are grouped into histograms to reduce data volume and when target state space is quantized, or gridded. In such problems more than one target can occupy the same discrete target state, and any number of measurements can be observed in the histogram cells. The joint probability generating function (PGF) for the discrete problem is derived. The generating function of the Bayes posterior is derived by differentiating the joint generating function. Two summary statistics of the Bayes posterior process are given: the distribution of the total number of targets and the intensity function, or expected number of targets in each discrete state. Intensity filters are obtained by assuming these summary statistics are sufficient statistics. Several limiting forms are derived for small cell size.
Comparison of two differential GPR systems for imaging objects under a reflection configuration

This work deals with the problem of imaging perfectly conducting objects from ground penetrating radar surveys. The goal is to analyze and compare two differential antenna systems with receiving antennas horizontally and vertically displaced with respect to the transmitting antenna. To this end, synthetic radargrams are generated by a finite-difference time domain forward solver for both configurations. After, a microwave tomographic approach is adopted to process the scattered field differential data and facilitate the comparison among the systems.
M�ssbauer Effect and High-Voltage Electron Microscopy of Pyroxenes in Type B Samples

Site occupancy numbers for ferrous iron, magnesium, and calcium at the Ml and M2 sites in lunar clinopyroxenes are estimated from nuclear gamma-ray resonant absorption spectra of 57Fe. The cation distribution is ordered; calcium and magnesium prefer M2 and Ml, respectively. The distribution corresponds to an equilibrium at a temperature lower than 680�C. Crystals cleaved and sectioned by diamond-knife ultramicrotomy were examined by high-voltage (200 kv) electron microscopy and diffraction. Uniform 300-to 600-A-wide bands that correspond to single crystal domains were found. Correlation of the bands with magnetic ordering at low temperatures is considered.
Morphogenesis-related gene-expression profile in porcine oocytes before and after in vitro maturation

Summary Mammalian oocyte maturation is achieved when oocytes reach metaphase II (MII) stage, and accumulate mRNA and proteins in the cytoplasm following fertilization. It has been shown that oocytes investigated before and after in vitro maturation (IVM) differ significantly in transcriptomic and proteomic profiles. Additionally, folliculogenesis and oogenesis is accompanied by morphogenetic changes, which significantly influence further zygote formation and embryo growth. This study aimed to determine new transcriptomic markers of porcine oocyte morphogenesis that are associated with cell maturation competence. An Affymetrix microarray assay was performed on an RNA template isolated from porcine oocytes before (n = 150) and after (n = 150) IVM. The brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) staining test was used for identification of cells with the highest developmental capacity. DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery) software was used for the extraction of the genes belonging to a cell morphogenesis Gene Ontology group. The control group consisted of freshly isolated oocytes. In total, 12,000 different transcripts were analysed, from which 379 genes were downregulated and 40 were upregulated in oocytes following IVM. We found five genes, SOX9, MAP1B, DAB2, FN1, and CXCL12, that were significantly upregulated in oocytes after IVM (in vitro group) compared with oocytes analysed before IVM (in vivo group). In conclusion, we found new transcriptomic markers of oocyte morphogenesis, which may be also recognized as significant mediators of cellular maturation capacity in pigs. Genes SOX9, MAP1B, DAB2, FN1, and CXCL12 may be involved in the regulation of the MII stage oocyte formation and several other processes that are crucial for porcine reproductive competence.