Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Joint Source Coding and Data Rate Adaptation for Energy Efficient Wireless Video Streaming

—Rapid growth in wireless networks is fueling demand for video services from mobile users. While the problem of transmitting video over unreliable channels has received some attention, the wireless network environment poses challenges such as transmission power management that have received little attention previously in connection with video. Transmission power management affects battery life in mobile devices, interference to other users, and network capacity. We consider energy efficient transmission of a video sequence under delay and quality constraints. The selection of source coding parameters is considered jointly with transmitter power and rate adaptation, and packet transmission scheduling. The goal is to transmit a video frame using the minimal required transmission energy under delay and quality constraints. Experimental results are presented that illustrate the advantages of the proposed approach.
Why all Directors should be Shareholders in the Company: The Case Against ‘Independence’

It is argued that the shift towards more 'independent' directors, in the wake of corporate collapses, is a fundamentally bad move, undermining the rights and powers of minority shareholders - entrenches a second-rate corporate governance model, separation of ownership and control, in company law - rather than suggest cosmetic reform in an attempt to address the problem, it is proposed that all directors must have significant interest in the company they serve - directors' self-interests and the best interests of the company become intertwined - this is a more effective way of tackling the problem of separation of ownership and control
Problema del viajante de comercio con periodicidad

The traveling salesman problem is one of the most important and most studied combinatorial optimization problems. A salesman must visit a number of cities starting from a depot and returning to it at the end of the route. The aim is minimize the cost of that journey. The periodic traveling salesman problem, model on which this report will focus, is a variant of the traveling salesman problem. Its objective remains to minimize the cost of the route, but in this case cities must be visited a predetermined number of times and may be conditions on the periods to be visited. This variant of the traveling salesman problem has not been studied in the literature as other variants, however, there are many cases with real applications. The aim of this work was to study the literature, present mathematical models and solve some examples of this problem. To solve mathematical models, we have chosen to code it with two different softwares, one free and another commercial.
Management and impacts of wild hogs (Sus scrofa) in South Carolina

Wild hogs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species that can damage native ecosystems, negatively impact native wildlife, and potentially act as disease reservoirs in the U.S. To better understand how natural resource professionals in South Carolina approach wild hog management, I conducted a web-based survey of natural resource professionals focused on aspects of wild hog impacts and management. Generally, there was agreement among natural resource professionals regarding the approaches used to control wild hog populations and their subsequent effectiveness. The majority of respondents indicated high priority impacts needing to be addressed in wild hog management were agricultural damage and disease transmission. The expert opinions and perceptions of natural resource professionals provide important information for the creation of a wild hog technical guide for South Carolina. To assess the feasibility of a technical assistance and cost-sharing program to reduce wild hog damage on private landowners' properties in South Carolina, I provided camera-activated corral traps to five private landowners and examined how they used the traps to manage wild hogs and how other wildlife species responded the traps. Most pictures were taken during late night and early morning hours between 2100 and 0300. Wild hogs were present in approximately 2% of pictures, and non-target species, including white-tailed deer, raccoons, eastern cottontail rabbits, and opossums, were photographed more often than wild hogs. During the study period, a total of 30 wild hogs were trapped by two landowners. The development of a technical assistance and cost-sharing program for private landowners affected by wild hogs is a priority because wild hogs are present in iii every South Carolina county and affecting landowners throughout the state. With the majority of land in the U.S. privately owned, wild hog population control will likely entail management in large portions of the landscape on private lands as well as public lands. To examine the relationship between the prevalence of six wild hog diseases and certain demographic, temporal, and spatial factors, I analyzed disease data collected by the United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services personnel in South Carolina between 2007 and 2014. Age class was significantly associated with swine brucellosis, pseudorabies virus, and porcine circovirus 2 prevalence. Sex and season were significantly associated with porcine circovirus 2 prevalence as well. Positive swine brucellosis, pseudorabies virus, and porcine circovirus samples were detected in 44.4-92.3% of counties sampled. All domestic swine operations in the U.S. are currently free of swine brucellosis …
Th-234 Scavenging in the Water Column off Southwestern Taiwan

A station off southwestern Taiwan (22°25'N 120°08'E) was selected to carry out detailed seawater sampling for the measurements of dissolved and particulate (superscript 234)Th. The profiles showed that (superscript 234)Th is subject to scavenging and removal processes by biological particles in the euphotic zone and by resuspended particles in the deep layer. Estimated by box-model, the residence times of dissolved and particulate (superscript 234)Th in the euphotic layer are in the ranges of 90-110 days and 12-28 days, respectively. A vertical (superscript 234)Th flux of 1220 dpm m^(-2) d^(-1) out of the euphotic layer is estimated. Horizontal transport of resuspended particles in the deep and bottom layer is evident based on morphological examination of particles but is difficult to quantify. Resuspended particles act as an effective scavenger for Th in the deep layer and cause a radioactive disequilibrium of (superscript 234)Th with respect to its progenitor, (superscript 238)U. Residence times of dissolved and particulate (superscript 234)Th in this layer are 112 days and 35 days, respectively. A lower limit of (superscript 234)Th flux of 1600 dpm m^(-2) d^(-1) into the bottom sediment can be estimated.
Effect of allopurinol in decreasing proteinuria in type 2 diabetic patients.

INTRODUCTION Diabetic nephropathy is the most prevalent cause of end-stage renal disease. Besides factors such as angiotensin II, cytokines, and vascular endothelial growth factor, uric acid may play a role as the underlying cause of diabetic nephropathy. We evaluated allopurinol effects on proteinuria in diabetic patients with nephropathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a double-blinded randomized controlled trial on 40 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy (proteinuria, at least 500 mg/24 h and a serum creatinine level less than 3 mg/dL), allopurinol (100 mg/d) was compared with placebo. Administration of antihypertensive and renoprotective drugs (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers continued for both groups, without changes in dosage. Proteinuria was compared at baseline and 2 and 4 months between the two groups. RESULTS Each group consisted of 9 men and 11 women. There were no difference between two groups regarding age, body mass index, duration of diabetes mellitus, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, serum potassium, and urine volume. Serum levels of uric acid (P = .02) and 24-hour urine protein (P = .049) were significantly lower in the patients on allopurinol, after 4 months of receiving allopurinol, compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS Low-dose allopurinol can reduce severity of proteinuria after 4 months of drug administration, which is probably due to decreasing the serum level of uric acid. Thus, allopurinol can be administered as an adjuvant cost-effective therapy for patients with diabetic nephropathy.
On the 100th anniversary of the Sackur-Tetrode equation

In 1912, Otto Sackur and Hugo Tetrode independently put forward an equation for the absolute entropy of a monoatomic ideal gas and published it in "Annalen der Physik. " The grand achievement in the derivation of this equation was the discretization of phase space for massive particles, expressed as \delta q \delta p = h, where q and p are conjugate variables and h is Planck's constant. Due to the dependence of the absolute entropy on Planck's constant, Sackur and Tetrode were able to devise a test of their equation by applying it to the monoatomic vapor of mercury; from the satisfactory numerical comparison of h obtained from thermodynamic data on mercury with Planck's value from black-body radiation, they inferred the correctness of their equation. In this review we highlight this almost forgotten episode of physics, discuss the arguments leading to the derivation of the Sackur--Tetrode equation and outline the method how this equation was tested with thermodynamic data.
Effects of privatization and agencification on citizens and citizenship: an international comparison

textabstractThis study has been compiled as an internationally comparative contribution to the parliamentary inquiry by the Dutch Senate into the effects of privatization and agencification on the relationship between citizens and the (national) government. Knowledge on this topic is scarce and scattered across different sources. Therefore, this paper consists of three different sections. Each section deals with a different question and uses different sources. In this overview we summarize the main findings of the three sections.
REP-PCR Typing, Antibiogram Pattern and Distribution of Clinical Isolates ofPseudomonas aeruginosa in a Teaching Hospital in South of Iran

Introduction: P. aeruginosa is an important multi-drug resistant (MDR) opportunistic pathogen in hospital-acquired infections. Several methods based on DNA analysis have been used for investigating genetic diversity of P. aeruginosa isolates. Among them, REPPCR typing has been introduced as a rapid, low cost method with high discriminatory power. The aims of this study were to investigate genotypic relatedness and antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa. Methods: This cross - sectional study was carried out on 67 P.aeruginosa at Shahid Mohammadi hospital, Bandar Abbas, Iran, between May 2012 and June 2013. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates were determined by conventional biochemical reactions and Kirby-Bauer method. The genetic similarity was investigated by REP-PCR technique and data analysis was performed with NTSYS PC software, and Jacquard's method. The correlation between the molecular patterns and the other parameters was determined by Pearson’s chi-square test using SPSS software, version 19. Results: REP-PCR results, created 7 genotypic clusters with 76% similarity. Clusters I and III were the most prevalent clones, identified in 16 (23.88%) of isolates, distinctly. ICU had the most cluster diversity. The majority of isolates were obtained from sputum (29.85 %). The isolates were most resistant to cotrimoxazole (80.6%) and most susceptible to ciprofloxacin (85.1%). Conclusion: REP-PCR type A and C were the predominant strains in our hospital. Because of serious infections and high drug resistance, it is necessary to implement the guidelines of infection control committee to reduce Pseudomonas infections.
Noncontact, depth-detailed 3D fingerprinting

Fingerprint recognition has been used extensively to identify people for law enforcement and security applications.1 The technique has the advantage of uniqueness, employs compact and inexpensive sensors, and delivers rapid matching. However, traditional fingerprint acquisition is performed in 2D using contact methods that introduce uncontrollable and nonuniform distortion when pressing or rolling a human finger onto a rigid surface.2 Consequently, applications that require high-precision fingerprints are limited.3 To circumvent these problems, our research group, in partnership with Flashscan3D LLC, is investigating a noncontact 3D fingerprint scanner, shown in Figure 1. This system relies on 3D image acquisition using structured light illumination (SLI), which recovers the necessary information by performing so-called triangulation between a projector and camera pair using a series of time-multiplexed, striped light patterns.4 No physical contact is made with the fingerprint. The system takes 0.7s to acquire a scan with as many as 142
A assembléia de pequenos mamíferos da floresta paludosa do faxinal, Torres-RS : sua relação com a borda e o roedor Akodon montensis (Rodentia, Muridae) como potencial dispersor de sementes endozoocóricas

However the small mammal assemblage displays several important roles on forest dynamics, information circa richness and ecological role of small mammals in the coastal forests in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, are still limited. Little is known about their ecological role of these species in forest fragments and its spatial relationship with edge environments. Despite its importance, few studies focus on studying small mammals sensitivity to edge effects, how far do these species perceive the edge and whether this perception shows variation throughout the year. On the northernmost portion of the coastal plains in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in an area known as Faxinal, the following research focused on investigating richness and capture success of small mammals, whether there is an association with forest border distance and (if existent), does this behavior vary throughout the year. During January (summer), April (autumn) and August (winter) of 2004 two sizes of wire traps were set along the ground and understorey on a grid composed by six parallel transections running through a patch of forest (3,17ha) and grassland (0,31ha). Distance between each capture station and the nearest forest border were distributed into six classes (1: 0-30m; 2: 31-70m; 3: 71-100; 4: 101-120; 5: 121-131; 6: 131-160m, no solo e 1: 020m; 2: 40-71m; 3: 80-100m; 4: 101-120m; 5: 121-131m; 6: 132-160m), to check if capture success varied according to the distance from the forest border and according to sampling period. Eleven species of small mammals were captured exclusively at the forested portion of the grid (total capture success of 15.49%). The species more captured were Akodon montensis (154 individuos), Oligoryzomys nigripes (34 individuos), Brucepattersonius iheringi (19 individuos), Oryzomys angouya (12 individuos) e Micoureus cf. demerarae (8 individuos) e Didelphis albiventris (7 individuos). Rodent species captured on the ground displayed highest richness and number of individuals. August displayed highest capture success, species richness, as well as biomass.
Speleothem records of changes in tropical hydrology over the Holocene and possible implications for atmospheric methane

Recent speleothem records from the tropics of both hemispheres document a gradual decrease in the intensity of the monsoons in the Northern Hemisphere and increase in the Southern Hemisphere monsoons over the Holocene. These changes are a direct response of the monsoons to precession-driven insolation variability. With regard to atmospheric methane, this shift should result in a decrease in Northern Hemisphere tropical methane emissions and increase in Southern Hemisphere emissions. It is plausible that that overall tropical methane production experienced a minimum in the mid-Holocene because of decreased seasonality in rainfall at the margins of the tropics. Changes in tropical methane production alone might, therefore, explain many of the characteristics of Holocene methane concentrations and isotopic chemistry.
Efficient discovery of network topology and routing policy in the internet

Little is known about the structure and configuration of the ISP networks that constitute the Internet. This shortage of information is a consequence of a fundamental principle of the Internet architecture: that constituent ISPs are administered independently. ISP networks connect by a narrow interface that supports the delivery of data but hides the implementation and behavior of a network from its neighbors. One consequence of this isolation between networks is that, although operators have inside information for their own networks, it is difficult to recognize and fix problems that span administrative boundaries. In this dissertation, I focus on what can be discovered by an outsider: a user or researcher without access to privileged information. I show that the network topologies and routing policies of ISP networks can be discovered despite the narrowness of the interface between them. To do this, I develop and evaluate techniques to measure structured, router-level ISP network topologies and infer intra-domain and peering routing policies. To make these techniques efficient, I use a philosophy of choosing to collect only measurements likely to yield new information. This enables the techniques to run on a large network measurement platform, composed of hundreds of public traceroute servers, to produce an accurate result. I applied and evaluated my techniques to map ten diverse ISP networks and characterize the routing policies of 65 ISP networks. The results are a set of ISP topologies that are several times more complete than previous maps and the first quantitative study of peering routing policy. This data highlights the diversity of ISP networks and can be used by others to better understand network operation and protocol design choices.
Síndrome de Crigler-Najjar, diagnóstico y tratamiento

Introduccion El sindrome de Crigler-Najjar (SCN) es una entidad infrecuente, caracterizada por hiperbilirrubinemia indirecta grave desde el nacimiento con funcion hepatica normal, y que puede ocasionar quernictero a cualquier edad. Se debe a un deficit total o parcial de la enzima UDP-glucuronil transferasa (UGT) causado por mutaciones en los exones del gen UGT1A1. Pacientes y metodos Se revisa la evolucion de 7 ninos, diagnosticados de SCN, de 1987 a 2004. Resultados Los pacientes son 3 ninos y 4 ninas, dos de ellas gemelas homozigotas. En 2 familias existia consanguinidad y en tres los hermanos eran sanos; el resto eran hijos unicos. El seguimiento medio fue de 8,3 anos (14 meses-17 anos). La ictericia fue detectada en todos en los primeros 3 dias de vida. El ingreso que motivo la sospecha diagnostica ocurrio entre el dia 4 y el 60 con cifras de bilirrubina indirecta (BI) de entre 12,5 y 32 mg/dl. En todos se descarto hemolisis y la funcion hepatica fue normal. El diagnostico se baso en un estudio genetico de 4 casos, en determinacion de 0% de la actividad de la enzima UGT en higado en uno y en criterios clinicos exclusivamente en los dos restantes. El tratamiento consistio en fenobarbital y fototerapia de 8 a 16 h diarias en todos excepto en tres. En 5 casos se asociaron sales de calcio y en dos colestiramina. Un total de 2 pacientes desarrollaron quernictero durante la evolucion; 2 ninos fueron trasplantados con normalizacion del metabolismo de la bilirrubina. El resto presentaron cifras de BI de entre 15 y 25 mg/dl sin desarrollar alteraciones neurologicas. Conclusiones El principal riesgo de los pacientes con SCN es el desarrollo de quernictero, sobre todo con cifras de BI en torno a 25 mg/dl. La fototerapia es util en el control de estos pacientes. El trasplante hepatico es el unico tratamiento definitivo.
A Comparison of Management Practices in the Army, Navy, and Air Force

This article presents the results of empirical studies of current practices in services acquisition in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The authors studied the manage ment practices in areas such as contract characteristics, acquisition management methods, use of the project management approach, acquisition leadership, and ownership of requirements. They also studied areas such as the ability of personnel responsible for acquisition, adequacy of acquisition billets and their fill rates, and training provided to services acquisition personnel. The data confirmed that the Navy uses a regional contracting approach, while the Army and the Air Force use an installation-level approach. These differences have important implications for other acquisition manage ment practices, such as the use of project management and contractor surveillance.
Analysis of IGBT power cycling capabilities used in Doubly Fed Induction Generator wind power system

The Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) is one of the most popular topologies applied in wind power systems. Its main advantage is to adjust the speed of a large system with much lower power converters. This is because its rotor side converter (RSC) operates under slip frequency and it needs only to support slip power to the overall system. However, this slip frequency is much lower than the grid frequency and IGBTs in the RSC are susceptible to power cycling failures. This paper provides a method to analyze the power cycle capability of a DFIG power converter under wind power applications. Different current control methods, including minimal stator losses, minimal rotor losses and minimal overall losses, are analyzed and compared. It is verified that the sizes of the IGBT must be selected appropriately to avoid earlier power cycling failures. Designing a wind power converter into the targeted system is critical for cost reduction without sacrificing the reliability of the whole system
Individual differences in attentional processing of responsible drinking statements in alcohol packaging, public health campaigns and alcohol advertising among alcohol consumers

We live in an environment in which alcohol is easily available and widely marketed. Alcohol advertising has been shown to increase long-term and short-term alcohol consumption. On the other hand, governments and industry use warning labels and public health campaigns to inform the public of the harmful effects of alcohol in an attempt reduce alcohol-related harm. There is not much evidence that labels and campaigns affect drinking behaviour, but evidence from other domains suggests that individual differences in attentional processing might moderate effects on behaviour. In this thesis, I tested the general hypothesis that individual differences in visual attention to alcohol cues and responsible drinking statements would underlie the effect of alcohol-related mass persuasion attempts (i.e., alcohol advertisements, warning labels and public health campaigns) on drinking behaviour and its antecedents, in young adult alcohol consumers. The secondary aim of this thesis was to examine the direct effect of alcohol-related mass persuasion attempts on drinking intentions and alcohol consumption shortly after exposure. To study this, I first conducted a cross-sectional study and a between-subjects experimental study to investigate attention to warning labels on alcohol packaging and examine whether priming participants to direct their attention to warning labels would prompt them to intend to drink less alcohol. Findings suggested that existing UK warning labels did not attract substantial attention and the amount of attention that participants directed to them did not affect their drinking intentions (Chapter 2). I subsequently conducted three experimental studies to examine to what extent novel warning labels would capture attention and affect willingness to pay for alcohol. Findings showed that novel warning labels