Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optical range finder using semiconductor laser frequency noise

Semiconductor laser range-finder systems use so-called “time-of-flight” methods that require us to modulate semiconductor lasers’ intensity and frequency, and detect those of reflected lights, in order to compare optical paths to the reference and the target. But, accurate measurement requires both high-speed modulation and detection systems. By taking advantage of semiconductor lasers’ broad- spectrum frequency noise, which has a range of up to a few GHz, and converting it to intensity noise, we were able to generate a set of high-speed physical random numbers that we used to precisely measure the distance. We tuned the semiconductor lasers’ oscillation frequencies loosely to the Rb absorption line and converted their frequency noise to intensity noise, in the light transmitted. Observed through a frequency discriminator, beams traveling along two different paths will always share intensity noise patterns, but there is a time lag. We calculate the cross-correlation of the two signals by sweeping their time lags. The one with the highest degree of correlation was that corresponding to the difference in the length of the two optical paths. Through our experiments, we confirmed that the system was accurate up to a distance of 50 m, at a resolution of 0.03 m, when the sampling rate was adjusted to 0.2 ns.
Postharvest Handling of Berries Postharvest Handling of Berries

Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are highly appreciated fruits due to their unique taste and high content in antioxidant and bioactive compounds. They are rich in phenolic compounds, mostly flavonoids and anthocyanins, which are responsible for fruit color and can exert antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti‐inflammatory, anticancer, and cardioprotective effects. However, berries have a short storage life, as a result of their high respiration and softening rate, and susceptibility to mechanical damages and decay. As berries are considered non‐climacteric fruit, they must be harvested at, or near to full maturity, because they will not continue to ripen normally once detached. At this stage, the fruit presents appropriate organoleptic attributes but may become softer and more sensitive to mechanical damage. Thus, it is crucial to be extremely careful during harvest and postharvest handling and to sort, grade, and pack the berries in the field, avoid ‐ ing excessive manipulation of the fruit. The most extended methods to maintain quality during the postharvest period are prompt precooling and storage at low temperatures. Modified and controlled atmospheres with up to 20‐kPa CO 2 and 5–10‐kPa O 2 reduce microbial growth and delay senescence but can affect bioactive compounds with a culti ‐ var‐dependent response observed for these technologies.
Edinburgh Research Explorer TOP-SPIN

We propose a novel topic discovery algorithm for unlabeled images based on the bag-of-words (BoW) framework. We ﬁrst extract a dictionary of visual words and subsequently for each image compute a visual word occurrence histogram. We view these histograms as rows of a large matrix from which we extract sparse principal components (PCs). Each PC identiﬁes a sparse combination of visual words which co-occur frequently in some images but seldom appear in others. Each sparse PC corresponds to a topic, and images whose interference with the PC is high belong to that topic, revealing the common parts possessed by the images. We propose to solve the associated sparse PCA problems using an Al-ternating Maximization (AM) method, which we modify for purpose of efﬁciently extracting multiple PCs in a deﬂation scheme. Our approach attacks the maximization problem in sparse PCA directly and is scalable to high-dimensional data. Experiments on automatic topic discovery and category prediction demonstrate encouraging performance of our approach.
Development of an Extended-Speciﬁcity Multiplex Immunoassay for Detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype-Speciﬁc Antigen in Urine by Use of Human Monoclonal Antibodies

Current pneumococcal vaccines cover the 10 to 23 most common serotypes of the 92 presently described. However, with the increased usage of pneumococcal-serotype-based vaccines, the risk of serotype replacement and an increase in disease caused by nonvaccine serotypes remains. Serotype surveillance of pneumococcal infections relies heavily on culture techniques, which are known to be insensitive, particularly in cases of noninvasive disease. Pneumococcal-serotype-speciﬁc urine assays offer an alternative method of serotyping for both invasive and noninvasive disease. However, the assays described previously cover mainly conjugate vaccine serotypes, give little information about circulating nonvaccine serotypes, and are currently available only in one or two specialist laboratories. Our laboratory has developed a Luminex-based extended-range antigen capture assay to detect pneumococcal-serotype-speciﬁc antigens in urine samples. The assay targets 24 distinct serotypes/serogroups plus the cell wall polysaccharide (CWP) and some cross-reactive serotypes. We report that the assay is capable of detecting all the targeted serotypes and the CWP at 0.1 ng/ml, while some serotypes are detected at concentrations as low as 0.3 pg/ml. The analytical serotype speciﬁcity was deter-mined to be 98.4% using a panel of polysaccharide-negative urine specimens spiked with nonpneumococcal bacterial antigens. We also report clinical sensitivities of 96.2% and speciﬁcities of 89.9% established using a panel of urine specimens from patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia or pneumococcal disease. This assay can be extended for testing other clinical samples and has the potential to greatly improve serotype-speciﬁc surveillance in the many cases of pneumococcal disease in which a culture is never obtained. The cell wall C polysaccharide antigen common to all pneumococci is detected by the BinaxNOW test so as to identify and diagnose adult pneumococcal pneumonia from urine samples. Testing of urine samples identiﬁed the potential of our assay for detecting CWP from nontypeable pneumococcal serotypes. Thus, our assay could be used as an indicator for determining the proportion of noninvasive pneumococcal disease caused by non-PPV types. Our UAD assay reported a positive result for 100% (95/95) of the BinaxNOW-positive urine samples tested. Furthermore, as well as being able to provide serotype information for the serotypes that are most commonly isolated currently, this assay is more sensitive than the BinaxNOW test. Tests show that our assay could identify pneumococcal antigen in 32% of the BinaxNOW-negative samples. (BinaxNOW has reported a sensitivity and speciﬁcity of 74 to 90% and 71 to 94%, respectively [28, 29, 30]).
Radical Adaptive Steganography of Imitation with AES

— In recent years Steganography plays an important role in secure communication. Steganography is the practice of hiding one piece of information inside of another, So that only the sender and the authorized Recipient can locate the presence of secret information. This Process simply encrypts the text file that contains the secret message using the AES (Advance Encryption Standard) and hides the cipher in an image file. AES is asymmetric encryption algorithm which means the sender use the public key of the receiver to encrypt the message receiver use its private key to decrypt the message. Earlier they have used least significant bit (LSB) which is the simplest form. In LSB method data is inserted in the least significant bit which leads to a negligible change on the cover image that is not visible to the naked eye. This method can be easily cracked and exposed to risk. In the proposed system I propose Geospatial Domain Steganography using Most Significant Bit (MSB) then the cipher text is embedded into the image using the MSB technique. The algorithm used in the Encryption process is the AES Algorithm. This will ensure higher security.
Modelling of turbulent flow in the near-wall region using PDF method

The paper presents near-wall turbulence models which incorporate the idea of elliptic relaxation. The simplified elliptic blending model is applied in the Lagrangian probability density function (PDF) approach. The PDF method is extended to compute near-wall viscous momentum transport. Computations are performed for fully developed turbulent channel flow and validated against available DNS data.
BACTERIOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME PATHOGENS FROM FAST FOODS

This study was conducted to evaluate the bacteriological status of some fast food and the public health significance of some isolated pathogenic bacteria from their bacteriological and molecular point of view. Sixty random samples of chicken nuggets, beef shawerma and sausage sandwiches (20 samples for each) were collected from different fast food restaurants in Dakahlia Governorate and examined for their bacteriological status. The obtaind results indicated that the mean values of APC count, coliform and Staph. aureus counts of chicken nuggets, beef shawerma and sausage were 9.1x10 3 ±1.2x10 3 1.3x10 4 ±3.5x10 3 and 1.2x10 4 ±2.2x10 3 ; < 10, 1.1x10 3 ±1.2x10 2 and 8.5x10 3 ±1.1x10 3 , 5.6x10 3 ±1.2x10 3 , 8.7x10 3 ±1.2x10 3 and 6.3x10 3 ±3.1x10 3 respectively. The bacteriological examination of these products showed the presence of one Salmonella isolate ( S. Typhimurium ) with a percentage of (5%) and two E. coli isolates with a percentage of (10%) in 20 meat shawerma samples, meanwhile nuggets and sausage were negative for both Salmonella and E.coli isolation. Eight coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus were isolated with a percentage of (10%, 15% and 15%) from chicken nuggets, beef shawerma and sausage, respectively. PCR was applied to evaluate the presence of some virulence genes in the isolated Salmonella, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus . The isolated S. Typhimurium harbored inv A and stn genes. The isolated E.coli showed absence of shiga toxin genes ( stx 1 and stx 2). The examined coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus showed the presence of different enterotoxin genes ( sea , seb , sec , sed and see ). The puplic health significance and the possible sourcs of contamination of isolated organisms as well as some recommendations to improve the quality were discussed.
Secure Integration of IoT and cloud computing using Map-Reduce Model

- Cloud computing integrating with Iot is a new technology which refers to an infrastructure where both data storage and data processing operate outside of the mobile device. Another recent technology is Internet of Things. Internet of Things is a new technology. The IoT Agent Platform mechanism to separate IoT functions from physical devices and to run isolated IoT functions on cloud environment. This is a transparent programming framework for IoT devices where we don’t care about communication, server side programming or database.
Near-infrared study of southern massive star formation regions - The case of IRAS 16571-4029 source

Context. We present the results of a near-infrared survey of the young stellar cluster associated with the IRAS 16571-4029 source. Aims. The main purpose of this survey is to study the cluster members and find the ionizing sources of the associated HII region. Methods. The stellar population was studied by using color–color and color–magnitude diagrams, as well as by analysing the spectral energy distributions in the near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. The extended emission was studied by the construction of contour diagrams, which were compared with near- and mid-infrared images. We computed the corresponding number of Lyman continuum photons (using the integrated Br γ flux density) and compared it with that obtained from the 5 GHz flux density to derive a mean visual extinction. Results. NIR observations in the direction of RCW116B reveal the presence of a young cluster of massive stars coincident with the IRAS 16571-4029 source. These observations, together with published radio data, MSX, and Spitzer images were used to determine some of the physical parameters of the region. We found 102 cluster member candidates in an area of about 3 $\times$ 3 square arcmin, the majority of them showing excess emission in the NIR. We found that IRAS 16571-4029 is formed by multiple infrared sources, all but one are associated with small groups of stars. This suggests that the fragmentation of massive molecular clouds generates the massive sub-clusters. We derived a mean visual extinction of $A_{\rm V}=12.8\pm ^{4.7}_{3.2}$. This result is independent of the assumed distance and agrees with the mean visual extinction $A_{\rm V}=14.4$, as obtained by previous spectroscopic observations of two NIR sources in the direction of the IRAS 16571-4029 source. We also compare the results obtained in this study with those obtained in previous papers in this series finding a very good correlation between the number of cluster members N s and the cluster radius r c . The cluster radius varies from 0.2-0.3 pc (IRAS 15411-5352 and IRAS 16132-5039) until about 1 pc (IRAS 15408-5356). The youngest clusters are those associated with the RCW95 complex (IRAS 15408-5356 and IRAS 15411-5353) with ages in the range 1.5-2 $\times$ 10 6 years, while the sources associated with the RCW106 (IRAS 16132-5039, IRAS 16177-5018) and RCW116B (IRAS 16571-4029) complexes have ages in the range 2.5-3 $\times$ 10 6 years. The oldest of them is the cluster associated with the RCW121 region (IRAS 17149-4029), which has an estimated age of 4.2 $\times$ 10 6 years.
An Adequate Left-Associated Binary Numeral System in the lambda-Calculus

This paper introduces a sequence of lambda-expressions, modelling the binary expansion of integers. We derive expressions computing the test for zero, the successor function, and the predecessor function, thereby showing the sequence to be an adequate numeral system. These functions can be computed efficiently. Their complexity is independent of the order of evaluation. Keywords: Programming calculi, lambda-calculus, functional programming.
Semi-static hedging strategies for exotic options: An overview

In this paper we will give a survey on results for semi-static hedging strategies for exotic options under different model assumptions and also in a model-independent framework. Semi-static hedging strategies consist of rebalancing the underlying portfolio only at certain pre-speciﬁed timepoints during the lifetime of the hedged derivative, as opposed to classical dynamic hedging, where adjustments have to be made continuously in time. In many market situations (and in particular in times of limited liquidity) this alternative approach to the hedging problem is quite useful and has become an increasingly popular research topic over the last years. We summarize results on barrier options as well as strongly path-dependent options such as Asian or lookback options. Finally it is shown how perfect semi-static hedging strategies for discretely observed options can be developed in quite general Markov-type models.
Recent development on fluid-structure interaction control based on surface perturbation

Control of fluid-structure interactions has been extensively investigated in the past. Various techniques have been developed, including passive control techniques such as changing structural geometries, adding grooves, shrouds or near-wake stabilizers to structures and active control techniques such as acoustic excitation, oscillating or rotating structures and surface bleeding. A novel surface perturbation technique has emerged recently, which has been successfully applied to control flow, flow-induced vibration and noise. In this article, we summarize this technique, major applications, control performances, and possible physical mechanisms responsible for flow modification, drag reduction, controlling fluctuating forces/structural vibrations, and noise control.
Quantiﬁcation of Enterococci and Human Adenoviruses in Environmental Samples by Real-Time PCR

Pathogenic bacteria and enteric viruses can be introduced into the environment via human waste discharge. Methods for rapid detection and quantiﬁcation of human viruses and fecal indicator bacteria in water are urgently needed to prevent human exposure to pathogens through drinking and recreational waters. Here we describe the development of two real-time PCR methods to detect and quantify human adenoviruses and enterococci in environmental waters. For real-time quantiﬁcation of enterococci, a set of primers and a probe targeting the 23S rRNA gene were used. The standard curve generated using Enterococcus faecalis genomic DNA was linear over a 7-log-dilution series. Serial dilutions of E. faecalis suspensions resulted in a lower limit of detection (LLD) of 5 CFU/reaction. To develop real-time PCR for adenoviruses, degenerate primers and a Taqman probe targeting a 163-bp region of the adenovirus hexon gene were designed to speciﬁcally amplify 14 different serotypes of human adenoviruses, including enteric adenovirus serotype 40 and 41. The standard curve generated was linear over a 5-log-dilution series, and the LLD was 100 PFU/reaction using serial dilutions of puriﬁed adenoviral particles of serotype 40. Both methods were optimized to be applicable to environmental samples. The real-time PCR methods showed a greater sensitivity in detection of adenoviruses in sewage samples than the viral plaque assay and in detection of enterococci in coastal waters than the bacterial culture method. However,
Types of professionalization Understanding contemporary organizational designs of Swiss national sport federations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify types of professionalization in Swiss national sport federations (NSFs) and analyze organizational characteristics associated with specific types of professionalization. Such types reveal common patterns among the increasingly complex organizational designs of NSFs and thus contribute to the understanding of professionalization in NSFs. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey of all Swiss NSFs was conducted to identify types of professionalization in these organizations using hierarchical cluster analysis, based on a multi-dimensional framework of professionalization. Findings – The analysis revealed four types of professionalization: formalized NSFs managed by paid staff, NSFs managed by volunteers and a few paid staff off the field, NSFs with differing formalization and paid staff on the field, and moderately formalized NSFs managed by volunteers. The types differ in terms of the NSFs ’ organizational characteristics, in particular, size, financial resources, Olympic status, and performance. Originality/value – Applying factor and cluster analysis is a new approach to analyzing professionalization in NSFs that makes uncovering distinctive organizational patterns among a large number of NSFs possible. These results lay the foundation for understanding the professionalization of NSFs, counseling NSFs on their organizational development, and conducting future research on the design types of sport organizations.
Nevirapine uptake into the CNS of the guinea-pig; an in situ brain perfusion study

The presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the CNS is associated with the development of HIV-1 associated dementia (HAD), a major cause of HIV-related mortality. To eradicate HIV in the CNS, anti-HIV drugs need to reach the brain and CSF in therapeutic concentrations. This involves passage through the blood-brain and blood-CSF barriers. Using a well-established guinea-pig in situ brain perfusion model, this study investigated whether nevirapine, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), could effectively accumulate in the CNS. [ 3 H]nevirapine was co-perfused with [ 14 C]mannitol (a vascular/paracellular permeability marker) through the carotid arteries for up to 30 min, and accumulation in the brain, CSF and choroid plexus measured. [ 3 H]nevirapine uptake into the cerebrum was greater than uptake of [ 14 C]mannitol, indicating significant passage across the blood-brain barrier and accumulation into the brain (this was further confirmed with capillary depletion and HPLC analyses). Similarly [ 3 H]nevirapine showed a great ability to cross the blood-CSF barrier and accumulate in the CSF, when compared to [ 14 C]mannitol. The CNS accumulation of [ 3 H]nevirapine was unaffected by 100 µ M nevirapine suggesting that passage across the blood-brain barrier can occur by diffusion. Furthermore did not significantly alter CNS of [ 3 H]nevirapine, indicating that the efficacy of the would not be altered by addition of this drug to a combination Together these data indicate that this anti-HIV drug should be beneficial in the eradication of HIV within the CNS and the subsequent treatment of HAD.
Fasting plasma glucose in the rst trimester is related to Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and adverse pregnancy outcomes

Jia-Ning Tong Southern Medical University Lin-Lin Wu Southern Medical University Yi-Xuan Chen Southern Medical University Xiao-Nian Guan Southern Medical University Fu-Ying Tian Southern Medical University Hua-Fan Zhang Southern Medical University Kan Liu Southern Medical University Ai-Qi Yin Southern Medical University Xiao-Xia Wu Southern Medical University Jian-min Niu (  njianmin@163.com ) Southern Medical University
The analysis of flavonoids in the flowering herbs of Carduus acanthoides L. Current Issues in Pharmacy and Medical Sciences

7- The present paper discusses the analysis of flavonoids in the methanol extract from the flowering herbs of Carduus acanthoides (L.), where flavonois were indentified by TLC and SPE HPLC. The quantitative analysis was performed using spectrophotometric Christ-Müller’s method. The samples containing flavonoids and those released after acid hydrolysis were investigated by 1D TLC on silica gel and polyamide. After purification by SPE, the samples were also analyzed by RP-HPLC. Apigenin-7-glucoside, luteolin-7-glucoside, kaempferol-3-rhamnoglucoside, kaempferol-3-glucoside, apigenin, luteolin and chlorogenic acid and p-coumaric acid were detected in the fractions of methanol extracts obtained from the plant. This method is very simple for the analysis and suitable for rapid screening of flavonoids in plants.
ON THE ASYMPTOTICS OF DETERMINANT OF LAPLACIAN

Let X be a translation surface of genus g > 1 with 2 g − 2 conical points of angle 4 π and let γ , γ (cid:2) be two homologous saddle connections of length s joining two conical points of X and bounding two surfaces S + and S − with boundaries ∂S + = γ − γ (cid:2) and ∂S − = γ (cid:2) − γ . Gluing the opposite sides of the boundary of each surface S + , S − one gets two (closed) translation surfaces X + , X − of genera g + , g − ; g + + g − = g . Let Δ, Δ + and Δ − be the Friedrichs extensions of the Laplacians corresponding to the (ﬂat conical) metrics on X , X + and X − respectively. We study the asymptotical behavior of the (modiﬁed, i.e. with zero modes excluded) zeta-regularized determinant det ∗ Δ as γ and γ (cid:2) shrink. We ﬁnd the asymptotics det ∗ Δ ∼ κs 1 / 2 X ) as s → 0; here κ is a certain absolute constant admitting an explicit expression through spectral characteristics of some model operators. We use the obtained result to ﬁx an undetermined constant in the explicit formula for det ∗ Δ found in an earlier work by the author and D. Korotkin.