Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The predictive influence of variables in a Normal Regression Model

Abstract The influence of explanatory variables in a normal multiple linear regression model is considered when the goal is to determine the predictive distribution of a future response in a Bayesian approach. The Kullback-Leibler directed divergence is used as a measure of the discrepancy between the predictive distribution for a future observation with and without a specified subset of the explanatory variables.
A computational model of neural contour processing: figure-ground segregation and illusory contours

We present a computational model of contour processing that was suggested by neurophysiological recordings from the monkey visual cortex. The model employs convolutions and nonlinear operations, but no feedback loops. Contours are defined by the local maxima of the responses of a contour operator that sums a representation of contrast borders and a "grouping signal". The grouping consists in convolving a representation of "key points", such as T-junctions, corners, and line ends, with a set of orientation selective kernels, and a nonlinear pairing operation. The grouping scheme is selective according to whether the configuration of key points is consistent with the interpretation of occlusion. The resulting contour representation includes an indicator of figure ground direction. We show: that the model reproduces illusory contours in accurate agreement with perception; and generates representations of occluding contours on images of natural scenes that are more complete and less cluttered by spurious connections of foreground and background than those obtained by conventional edge detection operators.
Multi-Locomotion Design and Implementation of Transverse Ledge Brachiation Robot Inspired by Sport Climbing

Brachiation robots mimic the locomotion of bio-primates, including continuous brachiation and ricochetal brachiation. The hand-eye coordination involved in ricochetal brachiation is complex. Few studies have integrated both continuous and ricochetal brachiation within the same robot. This study seeks to fill this gap. The proposed design mimics the transverse movements of sports climbers holding onto horizontal wall ledges. We analyzed the cause-and-effect relationship among the phases of a single locomotion cycle. This led us to apply a parallel four-link posture constraint in model-based simulation. To facilitate smooth coordination and efficient energy accumulation, we derived the required phase switching conditions as well as joint motion trajectories. Based on a two-hand-release design, we propose a new style of transverse ricochetal brachiation. This design better exploits inertial energy storage for enhanced moving distance. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design. A simple evaluation method based on the final robot posture from the previous locomotion cycle is applied to predict the success of subsequent locomotion cycles. This evaluation method serves as a valuable reference for future research.
Strained GaInAs-AlGaInAs 1.5-/spl mu/m-wavelength multiquantum-well lasers loaded with GaInAs-AlInAs multiquantum barriers at the p-side optical confinement layer

Compressively strained GaInAs-AlGaInAs multiquantum-well (MQW) lasers (LD's) operating at 1.5-/spl mu/m-wavelength were fabricated with a multiquantum barrier (MQB) structure at the p-side of the optical confinement layer, using molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth technology. The effect of loading MQB is demonstrated from both laser performances and electro-luminescence (EL) spectra from LD's. As evidence of the suppression of carrier overflow by loading of MQB, it was confirmed from the laser performances that 1) the temperature dependence of slope efficiency was improved so that the efficiency was increased at high temperature and the maximum operating temperature was raised about 15/spl deg/C, 2) the temperature dependence of the K factor was improved, and the K factor was reduced more than 30% at high temperature. More direct evidence was observed in EL spectra from LD's. Reduction of about one magnitude was confirmed in the peak intensity of EL from the optical confinement layer. The rate of suppression of carrier overflow is discussed from above EL reduction rate. >
Leadership transition and survival strategies for family-owned SMEs in an emerging economy

PurposeThis study explores the different survival strategies employed by family-owned small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria. The study delves into the dynamics of ensuring business continuity from founders to successors and identifies the success factors that can facilitate seamless leadership transition outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilised a qualitative multiple-case study approach, with the population consisting of founders from three medium-sized family businesses in Nigeria. Semi-structured interviews were the primary data collection tool used in the study. Furthermore, company documents were analysed to gain further insights into the leadership transition strategies employed in the selected businesses.FindingsSuccessful transition and survival of family businesses are dependent on the founder's desire and support for transition, successor preparation, building trust and credibility in successors, and instilling a clear vision for the business.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's findings will provide valuable insights to leaders of family-owned SMEs, specifically in the development of effective leadership transition action plans. It should be noted that the study is limited to three family-owned businesses in two locations in Nigeria, which may restrict the generalisability of the findings. Despite this, the study offers novel contributions to the current literature by presenting practical strategies for achieving the survival of family businesses in an emerging economy.Originality/valueThis study proposed strategies for business survival, continuity, sustainability and seamless leadership transition for small and medium-sized family-owned businesses. Importantly, the study recommends action plans for present and prospective family business leaders to deepen succession pathways.
EVALUATION OF CYTOKINE IL-6 PROFILE IN PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-19 IN THE 15TH REGIONAL HEALTH OF PARANA

COVID-19 is a viral infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, discovered in Wuhan,China, in 2019. It is a potentially serious disease with high transmissibility, characterized byworsening due to the exacerbated immune response, coordinated from pro-inflammatorycytokines signaling, leading to tissue damage. Objective: to evaluate the immunologicalprofile of patients affected by COVID-19 through protein measurement that modulatesimmune response and has a great influence on cytokine storms. Materials and methods: theserum concentration analysis of the cytokine IL-6 was performed in patients with the disease.This procedure was developed through the duplicate capture ELISA technique, followingmanufacturer's standards, with the serum used from University Hospital of Maringa (HUM)patients who were hospitalized in the ward (G2), and who were in the intensive care unit butdied (G3), as well as negative samples for COVID-19 (G1-control) from blood donors storedin the Maringa Regional Blood Center. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism software,version 7.0. Results: an increase in IL-6 was observed in more severe patients (G3). Conclusion: the cytokine IL-6 has been shown to be important prognostic markers ofworsening of COVID-19.
Abundance and distribution of subsurface microfibres and seabed macrolitter in Thoothukudi, Gulf of Mannar, South-east coast of India

Aim: Considering the potential harm caused by plastic pollution to the marine ecosystem, the present study was conducted to elucidate the status of microfiber and macrolitter in the selected areas of Thoothukudi on the South-east coast of India. Methodology: The abundance and distribution of subsurface microfibers in four locations of Tuticorin inshore waters were estimated by filtering subsurface waters using a 250µm mesh epineuston net. The non-biodegradable macrolitter on the seabed at three locations of Thoothukudi was estimated by swept area method. Results: Among the four selected stations, a higher quantity of microfibres was observed in the subsurface waters at 5m depth close to nearshore areas, with the highest mean numerical abundance of 3.13±0.3 nos.m l-1. The annual difference in the subsurface microfibre abundance varied significantly between stations (p<0.05). Plastics were the most dominant litter constituents on the sea beds among three stations. A significant seasonal variation (p<0.05) with maximum mean total macrolitter abundance was noticed on the seabed at Kayalpattinam (45.81± 9.3 kg km-2). The estimated mean macrolitter abundance at all the stations was higher than the reported national average of 10.95±3.05 kg km-2. Interpretation: This study revealed variations in the abundance and distribution of microfibers and macrolitters in the selected areas of Tuticorin. The study emphasises the role of land and marine-based anthropogenic activities in the plastic pollution of this region. Key words: Abundance, Gulf of mannar, Microfibres, Macrolitter, Subsurface waters, Seabed
An Analysis of Difficulties Faced by English Education Study Program Students Seventh Semester in The Field Experience Program in Teaching during Covid-19 Pandemic

The purpose of the research is to find out the difficulties of students seventh semester has difficult in teaching while following the practical field of experience program during Pandemic Covid-19. The research methodology of this study was a qualitative research design, and a phenomenology approach with technic data collection using purposive sampling. The total of respondent that allowed of this research is six students. The respondent are students at seventh semester in English education department that had been done the practical field of experience program during Pandemic Covid-19. The result of the research that a half of students seventh semester got difficulties in ability and stress when teaching in class. The student difficulties in teaching are teaching model, teaching material, time in teaching and stress in teaching means psychology students feel when did the practical field of experience. There were 4 of 6 students at seventh semester considered that time in teaching while did PPL program was very short and ineffective for explaining the material in class. Then, there were 3 of 6 students at seventh semester had felt afraid, shock, nervous or consume when taught at first time. The cause of the students’ difficulties in teaching while doing PPL program during Pandemic Covid-19 are the lack of students at seventh in discipline students at school while learning process, they depended used application that expensive in cost internet data, they felt disappointed cause not gave the best performance in English learning process in class that they had studied while in university.Keywords: The Field of Experience Program, Students Difficulties in Teaching.
Cytosolic Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate Aldolases Modulate Primary Metabolism and Phytohormone Homeostasis in Soybean

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) is an important catalytic enzyme in carbon metabolism and plays an important role in plant growth and development. Currently, the biological functions of FBA in soybean (Glycine max) remain unknown. In this study, we conducted research on FBA in soybean and identified 14 GmFBA genes. Among them, GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 are broadly expressed in different tissues. Double mutant lines of GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 were obtained by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. Compared with the wild type, the double-gene homozygous mutant gmfbac1gmfbac2 exhibited dwarf seedlings and narrow leaflets, indicating that GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 are critical for soybean growth and development. The gmfbac1gmfbac2 metabolomic analysis revealed that compared to the wild type, carbohydrate metabolism was reduced and amino acid metabolism was enhanced in gmfbac1gmfbac2 mutant leaves. Transcriptomic analysis showed that genes in IAA signaling and JA signaling were downregulated and upregulated, respectively. Our study demonstrates an important role of GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 in modulating carbon metabolism and phytohormone homeostasis.
Investigation of the evolution of thermal properties in ferrielectric CuInP2S6 and Ag0.1Cu0.9InP2S6 layered crystals by means of ac photopyroelectric calorimetry

For CuInP2S6 layered crystal the temperature anomalies of the heat capacity and entropy at the ferrielectric ordering are explained based on the theoretical studies which predict the appearance of a critical endpoint and a bicritical endpoint on the phase diagram. Thus, the splitting of the anomaly of the heat capacity in Ag0.1Cu0. 9InP2S6 mixed crystal can be interpreted as a transformation of the ferrielectric first-order phase transition, that is observed for CuInP2S6, into the sequent paraelectric–ferrielectric second-order phase transition and the isostructural first-order transition with a sharp change of the polarization in the ferrielectric phase.
Graphs, fluid paths and false fluid paths in exponential priority queues I. Construction of graphs MI-report 2003-12

This paper is the first of two papers, where we study exponential priority queueing networks with deterministic routing. Our main aim is to formalise the phenomenon of ‘repeated priority swapping’, which seems to be responsible for the fact that the load of each service station being smaller than 1, does not always imply stability of the network. In this paper we will associate a graph with the network and study a number of simple properties. In the second paper we will study networks with an acyclic associated graph. It will turn out that for such networks, the fluid equations have a unique solution, without cycles. Using results from Chen [3], it is then a rather straightforward consequence that stability is implied by the load of each service station being smaller than 1. The idea for the construction of the relevant graph has been inspired by Dumas’ paper [7].
Correlation as a measure for alignment and similarity of human motions

The ability to measure similarity and alignment of motions is a key tool in motion retrieval and motion editing. Similarity metrics based on distance functions are often utilized when measuring similarity of human motions, however, metrics based on correlation can also potentially useful for measuring similarity and alignment. This paper evaluates the use of correlation as a method of measuring the alignment and similarity of human motion and compares them against more established distance‐based metrics. Three correlation methods and five methods of parameterising rotation are evaluated. The results show that parameterization based on displacement vectors and Kendall Tau rank correlation are optimal for measuring the alignment between two motions. If measuring similarity of motions, however, an approach based on distance metrics for angular or positional distance should be used.
Tumor Induces the Expansion of Foxp3+CD25high and CD11b+Gr-1+ Cell Population in the Early Phase of Tumor Progression

It is well reported that tumor cells can regulate host immune systems. To identify the detailed changes of immune cells between tumor bearing mice and normal mice, we evaluated the systemic immune cell phenotype of B16F10 tumor bearing mice in a time dependent manner. The lymphocytic population (CD4+ and CD8+ T cells) of tumor bearing mice significantly decreased compared to that of normal mice. We found that the Foxp3+CD25+ CD4 T cell decreased, but the Foxp3+CD25 high CD4 T cell significantly increased. All subpopulations of CD8 T cells decreased, except the CD62L-CD44+ CD8 T cell subpopulation. The myeloid cell population (CD11b+ and Gr-1+ cells) of tumor bearing mice significantly increased. Specifically, Foxp3+CD25 high CD4 T cell and CD11b+Gr-1+ cells significantly increased in early phase of tumor progression. These results are helpful to understand the change of the systemic immune cell subpopulation of tumor bearing mice in a time-dependent manner.
Recent Advances in Nanocellulose Aerogels for Efficient Heavy Metal and Dye Removal

Water pollution is a significant environmental issue that has emerged because of industrial and economic growth. Human activities such as industrial, agricultural, and technological practices have increased the levels of pollutants in the environment, causing harm to both the environment and public health. Dyes and heavy metals are major contributors to water pollution. Organic dyes are a major concern because of their stability in water and their potential to absorb sunlight, increasing the temperature and disrupting the ecological balance. The presence of heavy metals in the production of textile dyes adds to the toxicity of the wastewater. Heavy metals are a global issue that can harm both human health and the environment and are mainly caused by urbanization and industrialization. To address this issue, researchers have focused on developing effective water treatment procedures, including adsorption, precipitation, and filtration. Among these methods, adsorption is a simple, efficient, and cheap method for removing organic dyes from water. Aerogels have shown potential as a promising adsorbent material because of their low density, high porosity, high surface area, low thermal and electrical conductivity, and ability to respond to external stimuli. Biomaterials such as cellulose, starch, chitosan, chitin, carrageenan, and graphene have been extensively studied for the production of sustainable aerogels for water treatment. Cellulose, which is abundant in nature, has received significant attention in recent years. This review highlights the potential of cellulose-based aerogels as a sustainable and efficient material for removing dyes and heavy metals from water during the treatment process.
Inference for Heavy-Tailed and Multiple-Threshold Double Autoregressive Models

This article develops a systematic inference procedure for heavy-tailed and multiple-threshold double autoregressive (MTDAR) models. We first study its quasi-maximum exponential likelihood estimator (QMELE). It is shown that the estimated thresholds are n-consistent, each of which converges weakly to the smallest minimizer of a two-sided compound Poisson process. The remaining parameters are -consistent and asymptotically normal. Based on this theory, a score-based test is developed to identify the number of thresholds in the model. Furthermore, we construct a mixed sign-based portmanteau test for model checking. Simulation study is carried out to access the performance of our procedure and a real example is given.
Amplitude ratios for complete moment tensor retrieval: FOCMEC upgraded.

We generalized the Snoke’s method of inversion of amplitude ratios and polarities (P, SH, SV) designed to determine double-couple earthquake focal mechanism. We search for a general dipole source described by unconstrained seismic moment tensor, i.e. non-double-couple (non-DC) source components are allowed as well. From 3-component records of P and S waves the amplitude ratios SH/P, SV/P and SV/SH are constructed. To these data the synthetic amplitude ratios are matched subjected to the constraint of keeping the P-polarities. The cost function is constructed as sum of differences of logarithms of amplitude ratios. Contrary to Snoke’s approach employing the grid search over three parameters of the DC source model, here the minimum in the 6-dimension model space is search by a genetic algorithm. Based on synthetic tests simulating various configurations of seismic stations from sparse to dense networks and from low to high number of stations conditions for successful convergence. We specified minimum amount of data, i.e. number of stations used and amplitude ratios employed, for reliable retrieval of non-shear source components. We demonstrated that processing of non-DC data by traditional DC-constrained algorithm could provide distorted fault-plane solution which, in consequence, may hamper their application in the stress analysis.
Relay-Aided Based Physical Layer Security in VLC System With Improved Noise Model

A visible light communication (VLC) system with an improved noise model applied to physical layer security (PLS) is investigated, where secure beamforming signals with superposition coding are used. In the improved model, the output signal follows Gaussian distribution, but its variance is signal-dependent. Two different methods are proposed to obtain lower and upper bounds on the secrecy rate of the strong user for direct transmission. Under some constraints, closed-form expressions of the lower and upper bounds on secrecy rate regions for various (trusted cooperative half-duplex) relaying schemes are derived. Moreover, the scenarios of blockage/outside coverage are included, and the relevant security performances are discussed. Numerical results show that the lower and upper bounds on secrecy rate regions are tight enough, and the cooperative jamming is superior over other relaying schemes.
Challenges among Small and Medium F&B Operators during Covid-19 Pandemic: An Entrepreneurial Resilience Perspectives

The Covid-19 pandemic that hit turned out to stretch a tremendous impact to the Malaysia economy in macro and micro level including the SMEs company. Statistic shows that 37,415 business operators from the SMEs cluster had severely affected and have got to closed the business due to the enforcement of Movement Control Order (MCO). Despite large numbers of business closure, there are also some small and medium F&B operator who have managed to generate more income during pandemic. Moreover, data issued by Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), from 1 April to 19 July 2020, 82,555 new businesses were registered. This show that, COVID-19 does not prevent anyone to venture into business including SMEs. Sustainable SMEs play a key role in a country's long-term viability. In order to redevelop the collapse of SMEs during Covid-19, deeper attention and consideration are needed to discover the causes of this phenomena. Study about the impact of entrepreneurial resilience on success of small and medium F&B operator during COVID-19 in Malaysia are very scanty. Thus, this study is done to explore a lack of study on Malaysian small and medium food operator’s success during pandemic attributed by entrepreneurial resilience. In future this study could give direction and description of ways to sustain during pandemic among F&B SMEs.
Heisenberg treatment of pair generation in lossy coupled-cavity systems

We employ a quasimode representation of the adjoint master equation to study nonlinear pair-generation dynamics via spontaneous four-wave mixing in coupled-cavity systems in the presence of scattering loss. Perturbative analytic solutions for signal and idler photon-number operators are derived, which enable us to examine the effect of scattering loss on pair-generation dynamics. In particular, for a simple three-mode system, we show that any loss mismatch for the signal and idler photons increases the probability of finding unpaired photons. While decreasing the loss rates for signal and idler photons increases the pair signal brightness, it also results in higher generation rates for multiple pairs in the system, which can result in lower operational signal-to-noise ratios.