Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fixed frequency sliding mode control of renewable energy resources in DC micro grid

The rising cost of fossil fuels, their high depleting rate and issues regarding environmental pollution have brought the attention of the researchers towards renewable energy technologies. Different renewable energy resources like wind turbines, fuel cells and solar cells are connected to DC micro grid through controllable power electronic converters. In presence of these diverse generation units, robust controllers are required to ensure good power quality and to regulate grid voltage. This paper presents a sliding mode control based methodology to address the above mentioned challenges. The proposed technique keeps the switching frequency constant so that electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues can be solved with conventional filter design. Parallel operation of converter in DC micro gird is considered. Chattering reduction and power quality improvement by harmonic cancellation is proposed. A scaled down hardware for unregulated 11.5 V to 17.5 V input and 24V output is designed and tested. The experimental results show good performance of the controller under different loads and uncertain input voltage conditions. Moreover, the results show the robustness of the closed loop system to sudden variations in load conditions. Furthermore, a significant improvement in power quality is achieved by harmonic cancellation of chattering in the output of the converters.
Trust-Based Social Networks with Computing, Caching and Communications: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach

Social networks have continuously been expanding and trying to be innovative. The recent advances of computing, caching, and communication (3C) can have significant impacts on mobile social networks (MSNs). MSNs can leverage these new paradigms to provide a new mechanism for users to share resources (e.g., information, computation-based services). In this paper, we exploit the intrinsic nature of social networks, i.e., the trust formed through social relationships among users, to enable users to share resources under the framework of 3C. Specifically, we consider the mobile edge computing (MEC), in-network caching and device-to-device (D2D) communications. When considering the trust-based MSNs with MEC, caching and D2D, we apply a novel deep reinforcement learning approach to automatically make a decision for optimally allocating the network resources. The decision is made purely through observing the network's states, rather than any handcrafted or explicit control rules, which makes it adaptive to variable network conditions. Google TensorFlow is used to implement the proposed deep $Q$-learning approach. Simulation results with different network parameters are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
A Mehrotra type predictor-corrector interior-point algorithm for linear programming

In this paper, we analyze a feasible predictor-corrector linear programming variant of Mehrotra's algorithm. The analysis is done in the negative infinity neighborhood of the central path. We demonstrate the theoretical efficiency of this algorithm by showing its polynomial complexity. The complexity result establishes an improvement of factor \begin{document}$ n^3 $\end{document} in the theoretical complexity of an earlier presented variant in [ 2 ], which is a huge improvement. We examine the performance of our algorithm by comparing its implementation results to solve some NETLIB problems with the algorithm presented in [ 2 ].
3D input for 3D worlds

Virtual Worlds present a 3D space to the user. However, input devices are typically 2D. This unnatural mapping reduces the engagement of the experience. We are exploring using Wii controllers to provide 3D gesture-based input to the 3D virtual world, Second Life. By evaluating its usability, we found that gesture-based interfaces are appealing and natural for hand gestures such as wave but difficult to map to facial expressions.
Supercontinuum radiation in fluorescence microscopy and biomedical imaging applications

Compact, high brightness supercontinuum sources have already made a big impact in the fields of fluorescence microscopy and biomedical imaging techniques, such as optical coherence tomography and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. In this review, we provide a brief overview on the generation and properties of supercontinuum radiation for imaging applications. We review specific uses of supercontinuum sources and their potential for bioimaging, but also their limitations and caveats. We conclude with a review of recent advances in UV supercontinuum generation, near-IR microscopy, exciting new potentials for the use of hollow-core PCFs, on-chip supercontinuum generation, and technologies to improve supercontinuum stability for certain applications.
Are Recipients of Social Assistance 'Benefit Dependent'? Concepts, Measurement and Results for Selected Countries

Means-tested Social Assistance (SA) benefits play an important role as social protection floors supporting households in financial difficulties. This paper presents evidence on the patterns of SA benefit receipt in a selection of OECD and EU countries. It provides an overview of the role of SA benefits in social protection systems and assesses the generosity of benefit payments. It then studies the dynamics of SA benefit receipt based on micro-level data describing trends in aggregate receipt and transition rates and presenting new evidence on spell durations and repeat spells. The final part of the paper summarizes recent empirical evidence on state dependence (or 'scarring effects') in benefit receipt and discusses its possible sources and policy implications.
Apoptosis as a cause of death in measles virus-infected cells

To determine the mechanism of measles virus-induced cell death, we studied the infection of Vero cells and monocytic cell lines with wild-type (Chicago-1) and vaccine (Edmonston) strains of measles virus. DNA fragmentation indicative of apoptosis was apparent by flow cytometry, agarose gel electrophoresis, and electron microscopy. Within syncytia, DNA strand breaks were demonstrated by end labeling with terminal transferase and then by visualization.
The Egnatia Motorway - a chance for Northern Greece to catch up?

The European Union aims at reducing interregional disparities by developing the trans-European Transport Networks (TETN). Through the construction of new transport links such as motorways and high-speed railways the accessibility of peripheral regions within Europe is to be increased. The improved accessibility should in turn allow the concerned regions to attain a broader potential of markets and suppliers and thereby reinforce their position in the competition for new economic activities and population. The Egnatia motorway can be classified as one of the most ambitious priority projects of the TETN-programme. Following the alignment of the old roman Via Egnatia, the new Egnatia motorway is expected to become `the backbone of Northern Greece`s transport system. The new motorway is to extend from Igoumenitsa on the Adriatic coast to Kipi on the north-eastern edge of the Aegean Sea, adding up to a total length of 680 kilometers. 394 kilometers have been completed so far, another 189 kilometers are currently under construction, the remaining 97 kilometers are ready to be tendered. A total of 3.2 billion Euro of funding have been approved in order to make this ambitious infrastructure project possible. In light of these significant investments, a quantitative analysis of the expected effects of the Egnatia motorway project is called for. The Institute of Spatial Planning (IRPUD) in Dortmund carried out a series of corresponding research projects dealing with the changes in accessibility due to infrastructure improvements. The Egnatia motorway represents an illustrative example for demonstrating how the impacts of new transport links can be assessed using geographic information systems. Two different dimensions are taken into consideration. First, the travel time reduction is assessed by generating isochrones prior and after the opening of the motorway. Second, the effect on the accessibility of the adjacent regions is analysed. The corresponding accessibility calculations are based on the assumption that the potential for economic activity at a given location is a function of both its proximity or 'travel time' to other economic centres and its economic size or 'mass'. These two analytical steps lead to a differentiated assessment of the motorway`s effects. It will be shown that according to the isochrone approach, the impacts in term of travel time reduction are remarkable. However, the expected increase in (potential type) accessibility is relatively small.
Ways of Knowing Donsoya: Environment, Embodiment and Perception Among the Hunters of Burkina Faso

This thesis is centred on a group of initiated donso hunters in Burkina Faso. It proposes an ecological approach to their knowledge to make sense of the presence of donso hunters across a diversity of languages, ethnic groups and ecological transformations. I suggest that the knowledge of donso hunters is made of a set of specific relationships with their environment, which differentiate them from other villagers and from uninitiated hunters.Central to my approach is the assumption that knowledge is not just a set of notions but is enacted in an ecological system that encompasses a non- dualistic individual and his environment - in its human and non-human aspects. This way donsoya encompasses procedural and propositional knowledge, materiality and meaning, enskilment and initiatory knowledge. I have looked at all these dimensions through the lens of apprenticeship, as a focal interest and as a methodological device, through my own initiation and practice of hunting.The film Kalanda - The Knowledge of the Bush, which accompanies and constitutes part of this thesis, is an audiovisual counterpart to the dissertation. It narrates the apprenticeship providing an overview of the multifaceted knowledge of donsoya, in a collaborative work that involved the filmmaker in the role of student and the hunters in the roles of teachers. I recommend watching the film before approaching the written text.
An Efficient Decoupling Network Between Feeding Points for Multielement Linear Arrays

Strong mutual coupling between both adjacent and nonadjacent elements is unavoidable, especially when antenna array is densely arranged. In this paper, an efficient T-shaped decoupling network is primarily proposed to decouple closely spaced two-element E-plane antenna array based on network analysis and implementation deduction. Subsequently, it is extended to a three-element one by combining with a fine transmission line and further generalized to a multielement linear one. All the accordant simulation and measurement results demonstrate that as compared to the coupled arrays, impedance matching, radiation patterns, and scanning characteristics of the decoupled arrays are evidently improved through adding the decoupling network, while mutual coupling between every two elements is greatly reduced. Moreover, such combined decoupling network is effective in the H-plane array and monopole antenna array, implying its huge potential for large-scale array and various arrays.
NON‐UNIFORM CHANGES TO WHITEWATER RECREATION IN CALIFORNIA'S SIERRA NEVADA FROM REGIONAL CLIMATE WARMING

Whitewater recreation is an aesthetic ecosystem service potentially affected by climate warming alterations to runoff. In California's Sierra Nevada, climate change is likely to reduce water availability with warmer air temperatures and stationary or decreasing precipitation, which will likely alter whitewater recreation opportunities. In this study, we identified 128 whitewater runs on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada within a 13‐basin study area that ranged from serene float trips to remote, difficult, kayak expeditions. We used a spatially explicit, one‐dimensional rainfall‐runoff model to estimate the unregulated hydrology at specific locations within flow thresholds amenable to whitewater recreation. Climate warming scenarios were simulated by increasing air temperature by 2 °C, 4 °C and 6 °C and assuming no change in precipitation.
BSSRDF importance sampling

Light propagation within translucent materials can be described by a BSSRDF [Jensen et al. 2001]. The main difficulty in integrating this effect lies in the generation of well-distributed samples on the surface within the support of the rapidly decaying BSSRDF profile. Jensen suggested that these points could be importance sampled but did not provide implementation details. More recently, Walter et al. [2012] and Christensen et al. [2012] proposed other sampling methods which can still suffer from excessive variance.
EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT BIOMARKERS IN UNCONTROLLED TYPE 2 DIABETICS

Hyperglycemia influences the aetiopathogenesis of diabetes in more than one way. Oxidative stress and antioxidant status are also linked with glycaemic control and probably contribute to the development of diabetic complications. Our data suggest that increased level of MDA and alterations in antioxidant biomarkers could be high risk for complications in patients with poorly controlled diabetes. Thus, evaluation of these markers are simply done by monitoring MDA , FRAP with Albumin, Uric acid and Total bilirubin. It may be helpful in treatment, relieving symptoms and complications.
Landscaping privilege: being British in South Africa

This chapter draws upon field research in Johannesburg to ask the question “What does the transition from apartheid tell us about privilege? ” During the apartheid era (1948–94) the state consolidated white racial privilege through the management and production of racially exclusive spaces of work, residence, and leisure. The urban environment was used as a resource to construct and maintain white racial privilege. During the two decades since apartheid ended, space continues to be a key resource by which privilege is constructed and maintained.
Productos funcionales versus expresivos y de alta implicación versus baja en Internet

espanolInternet ha cambiado la relacion unidireccional medio-receptor. El modelo de eficacia publicitario basado en el impacto pasivo sobre el publico objetivo no se puede exportar a Internet. El modelo desde el que analizamos la eficacia publicitaria debe contemplar un aspecto crucial en la red: la interactividad. La implicacion con el producto y el tipo de analisis al que apelan los productos funcionales y expresivos son claves para entender la eficacia publicitaria. El estudio contrasta la eficacia de 8 anuncios de productos funcionales y expresivos, de alta y baja implicacion con 75 usuarios en una situacion de navegacion controlada. Las implicaciones de los resultados tienen bastante trascendencia en la evaluacion de la eficacia publicitaria en Internet y sus aplicaciones afectan tanto al ambito profesional como academico. EnglishInternet has changed the unidirectional relationship media-user.The model of advertising effectiveness based on the passive impact on the target group cannot be exported to Internet.The model used to analyze advertising effectiveness must consider a crucial aspect on the net: Interactivity. Product involvement and the type of analysis generated by functional and expressive products are key aspects to understand advertising effectiveness. The study contrasts the effectiveness of eight campaigns representing functional, expressive, high and low involvement products with 75 Internet users in a controlled session.The implications of the results are quite important in the assessment of Internet advertising effectiveness and their implementations affect both the professional and the academic domain.
Antarctic Ocean‐Ice Interaction: Implications from Ocean Bulk Property Distributions in the Weddell Gyre

The sea ice distribution in the Antarctic polar oceans is intimately tied to the underlying ocean structure, which controls the oceans' vertical heat flux and stability. The former determines the rate at which ice grows for a given air-sea heat flux, while the latter limits the amount of sea ice that can grow locally before overturning the water column. These relationships have been described through a set of scalings, allowing us to estimate, through examination of the vertical distributions of ocean temperature and salinity: (1) the maximum amount of in situ ice growth in any one location, (2) the ratio of ice melt to ice growth, (3) the amount of ice that has melted in any particular summer location, (4) the ocean winter-averaged heat flux. Climatological maps of these quantities are presented for the Weddell gyre region and general results described. Results include: (1) the sea ice cover throughout the seasonal sea ice region is typically 0.6 m thick or less by the spring melt period, though it is thinner than 0.3 m in some regions near the gyre core; (2) the ocean-ice system manages to liberate heat from the deep water at an average winter rate of 25-35 W/m2 throughout the gyre, regardless of the large scale stratification and dynamic setting which reflect different processes by which the heat makes its way to the surface from the deep waters; (3) strong mixing due to the passage of intense polar lows may serve to reduce the bulk stability of the water column by as much as 75%; (4) most of the bulk stability of the water column is attributed to the enthalpy content of the thermocline, not by direct reduction in ice growth by a strong diffusive heat flux; and (5) positive perturbations (i.e., excess ice growth) in the annual in situ ice growth of ≥80% are required to overturn the water column throughout much of the Weddell gyre. The bulk parameters presented here involve vertically-integrated property distributions, and as such they provide constraints or limitations on the ocean-ice system behavior over seasonal time scales. Consequently, they imply a mean seasonal evolution which may be considerably different from the actual time-dependent behavior.
Sustainable heritage tourism planning in Ethiopia: an assessment framework

Sebele, L. S. (2010). Community-based tourism ventures, benefits and challenges: Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust, Central District, Botswana. Tourism Management, 31(1), 136–146. doi:10.1016/j.tourman. 2009.01. 005 Selin, S. , & Beason, K. (1991). Conditions facilitating collaborative tourism planning: a qualitative perspective. Presented at the Travel and Tourism Research Association twenty-second annual conference,, Long Beach, CA. Sharpley, R. , & Roberts, L. (2004). Rural tourism — 10 years on. International Journal of Tourism Research, 6(3), 119–124. doi:10.1002/jtr.478 Simien National Park UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (2011). UNESCO. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://whc.unesco. org/en/list/9 Simpson, K. (2001). Strategic Planning and Community Involvement as Contributors to Sustainable Tourism Development. Current Issues in Tourism, 4, 3–41. doi:10.1080/13683500108667880 Simpson, M. C. (2008). Community Benefit Tourism Initiatives—A conceptual oxymoron? Tourism Management, 29(1), 1–18. doi:10.1016/j.tourman. 2007.06. 005 101 Soteriou, E. C. , & Coccossis, H. (2010). Integrating Sustainability into the Strategic Planning of National Tourism Organizations. Journal of Travel Research, 49(2), 191 –205. doi:10.1177/0047287509336472 Strati, A. (2000). Theory and method in organization studies: paradigms and choices.
Tree migration detection through comparisons of historic and current forest inventories

Changes in tree species distributions are a potential impact of climate change on forest ecosystems. The examination of tree species shifts in forests of the eastern United States largely has been limited to modeling activities with little empirical analysis of long-term forest inventory datasets. The goal of this study was to compare historic and current spatial distributions of tree species for sets of northern and southern tree species in the eastern United States using regionwide forest inventories. Based on the results of this study, no conclusions could be drawn about tree migration in the eastern United States. The technique of comparing outer ranges of tree species based on periodic forest inventories may be confounded by inconsistent forest inventory methods across time and space along with tree species identification measurement error. It is suggested that novel tree migration detection methods be developed based on contemporary forest inventories that are consistent across space and time.
Caracterização quimica e actividade biológica de azeitonas verdes descaroçadas "alcaparras" produzidas em Trás-os-Montes

In the present work the chemical composition and nutritional value of stoned table olives “alcaparras” produced and commercialized in Trás-os-Montes region (Northeast of Portugal) were investigated. These olives are largely consumed in winter season and no study concerning their characterization has been performed. For this purpose, during three consecutive years (2004-2006) a total of 30 “alcaparras” samples (10 per year) were investigated in what concerns their nutritional characterization (moisture, crude protein, total fat, ash, carbohydrates, and energy), fatty acid composition (GC/FID) and tocopherols content (normal-phase HPLC/FD). Water was their major constituent ranging from 60.4% to 81.0%, followed by fat that varied between 7.6% and 29.3%. The medium amount for carbohydrates was 7.9% and for protein and ash were respectively 1.1% and 3.3%. One hundred grams of “alcaparras” table olives presented an average energetic value of 178 kcal. Thirteen fatty acids were detected and quantified, being oleic acid the most abundant (medium value of 77.7±2.0%), followed by palmitic acid (13.0±1.0%), and linoleic acid (3.8±1.7%). The samples showed a total content of tocopherol of extracted oil from 30.7 mg/kg to 106.3 mg/kg, being α-tocopherol the most abundant.
ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Definitive External Beam Irradiation in Stage T1 and T2 Prostate Cancer

Purpose:External beam radiation therapy is a standard of care treatment for men who present with clinically localized (T1-T2) prostate cancer. The purpose of this review was to provide clarification on the appropriateness criteria and management considerations for the treatment of prostate cancer with external beam radiation therapy. Methods:A panel consisting of physicians with expertise on prostate cancer was assembled and provided with a number of clinical scenarios for consensus treatment and management guidelines. Prostate cancer patient vignettes were presented along with specific management recommendations based on an extensive review of the modern external beam radiotherapy literature. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed every 2 years by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and review include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of a well established consensus methodology (modified Delphi) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures by the panel. In those instances, where evidence is lacking or not definitive, expert opinion may be used to recommend imaging or treatment. Results:Modern external beam radiation therapy series demonstrate favorable biochemical control rates for patients with localized prostate cancer. Morbidity profiles are also favorable and it is clear that this is enhanced by modern techniques like 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy. An active area of investigation is evaluating the use of hypofractionated dosing. Conclusions:Continued investigation to refine patient selection, external beam radiation technology application, and alternative dosing schedules should result in further improvements in biochemical outcome and decreased morbidity with external beam radiation treatment for localized prostate cancer.