An algorithm for extracting the PPG Baseline Drift in real-time

Photoplethysmography is an optical technique for measuring the perfusion of blood in skin and tissue arterial vessels. Due to its simplicity, accessibility and abundance of information on an individual’s cardiovascular system, it has been a pervasive topic of research within recent years. With these benefits however there are many challenges concerning the processing and conditioning of the signal in order to allow information to be extracted. One such challenge is removing the baseline drift of the signal, which is caused by respiratory rate, muscle tremor and physiological changes within the body as a response to various stimuli. Over the years there have been many methods developed in order to condition the signal such as Wavelet Transform, Cubic Spline Interpolation, Morphological Operators and Fourier-Based filtering techniques. All have their own individual benefits and drawbacks. These drawbacks are that they are unsuitable for real-time usage due to the computation power needed, or have the trade-off of being real-time at the cost of deforming the signal which is unideal for accurate analysis. This thesis aims to explore these techniques in order to develop an algorithm that can be used to condition the signal against the baseline drift in real-time, while being able to achieve good computational efficiency and the preservation of the signal form

A Trio Neural Model for Dynamic Entity Relatedness Ranking

Measuring entity relatedness is a fundamental task for many natural language processing and information retrieval applications. Prior work often studies entity relatedness in static settings and an unsupervised manner. However, entities in real-world are often involved in many different relationships, consequently entity-relations are very dynamic over time. In this work, we propose a neural networkbased approach for dynamic entity relatedness, leveraging the collective attention as supervision. Our model is capable of learning rich and different entity representations in a joint framework. Through extensive experiments on large-scale datasets, we demonstrate that our method achieves better results than competitive baselines.Comment: In Proceedings of CoNLL 201

Asymptotic integration of linear differential-algebraic equations

Abstract. This paper is concerned with the asymptotic behavior of solutions of lin-ear differential-algebraic equations with asymptotically constant coefficients. Some re-sults of asymptotic integration which are well known for ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are extended to differential-algebraic equations (DAEs)

Vertical stratification in foraging activity of the wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat, chaerephon plicatus (buchanan, 1800) in Central Thailand

Master of Science (Ecology (International Program))The Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat, Chaerephon plicatus, widely distributes in South and Southeast Asia. The species roost in large colony with the estimated number up to several million individuals. Chaerephon plicatus also provides important guano resource. Previous studies have shown the species as important pest suppression agents which predated on rice pests such as White-backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera, and Brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. It is also suggested that C. plicatus forage at high altitude since substantial number of brown planthopper, a high altitude migratory insects, found in bat diet while no brown planthopper capture in the ground. Yet there is any direct evidence found to confirm this hypothesis. This study concentrates on the foraging activity of C. plicatus on vertical dimension. The bat activity was measured by acoustic sampling using bat detectors mounted on a 3×3m obsolete helium kite balloon. Three altitudinal levels were measured simultaneously including 2m, 100m and 200m. Foraging activity of C. plicatus was highly stratified in vertical dimension. Number of call recorded aloft (100m and 200m) was significantly higher than at the ground. Nocturnal boundary layer was typically formed at the nights when the data were collected. The level of 100m might have been the top of nocturnal boundary layer which is known at the layer of high migratory insect density. The high number of calls recorded at 100m and 200m showed a link between foraging activity of C. plicatus and migratory insects. However, the altitudinal level of high activity of bats, which ca. 100m is also in the swept-area of wind turbine blade. The construction of wind turbine farms in the areas of high number of C. plicatus could be harmful to the species. The vertical stratification in foraging activity of C. plicatus might also reveal a niche partitioning between open space bats in vertical dimension. This study revealed a clue in a shift in whole-night activity pattern of C. plicatus. Whole night pattern at the ground has a peak in the early part of the night, however, gradually decrease until morning. The biomass of insects near ground level also showed at gradual decrease trend during the course of night. Meanwhile, an increasing in activity found at high altitudes after midnight. Chaerephon plicatus might take advantage by foraging near ground level when the insects swarm shortly after dusk. However, as the number of insects decrease, C. plicatus shift their activity to higher altitude to avoid interspecific competition with other edge-open space bats such as Myotis sp. However, this remains a hypothesis and needs to be investigated in more detail since a few data are available in the area. Future study can be conducted to test this hypothesis

Development of supplemental diets for carp in Vietnamese upland ponds based on locally available resources

Cyprinids play very important role in aquaculture, especially in Asia and Pacific regions. Vietnam is not an exception. Although aquaculture in Vietnam increased dramatically recently, its high value products such as catfish, tiger prawn seem to be unaffordable for the people in rural areas, especially for the mountainous ethnic minority in the North who are more independent to herbivorous and omnivorous fish such as grass carp, Indians carp, and common carp. Yen Chau is a district of Cyprinids play very important role in aquaculture, especially in Asia and Pacific regions. Vietnam is not an exception. Although aquaculture in Vietnam increased dramatically recently, its high value products such as catfish, tiger prawn seem to be unaffordable for the people in rural areas, especially for the Son La province, located in mountainous region in North-Western Vietnam. In this district, Black Thai ethnic minority accounts for approximately 54% population. Besides producing huge amount of grain and tuber crop such as maize and cassava for selling, aquaculture in a small poly-culture pond system is also a very typical activity which supplies an important nutritional source for human consumption and income generation as well. However, even though most of farmers in Yen Chau own at least one pond each, the demand on the local market cannot be covered (Steinbronn, 2009). Recently, unknown diseases causing high mortalities could be the reason of the decrease of grass carp production. To avoid risk from losing grass carp, farmers are tending to change the composition of the fish species stocked in favour of e.g. common carp and mud carp without having an appropriate feed base for these species. So far, no high quality feed was applied into the pond system. Therefore, the study entitled ?Development of supplemental diets for carp in Vietnamese upland ponds based on locally available resources? was conducted to not only contribute to an improvement of income and food security in the region but also meet the appeal of improvement of scientific knowledge on cyprinids which is inadequate with their great contribution. In the study, most of the possible feed ingredients were collected and analyzed for nutritive and non-nutritive values. Based on the results of the analysis a number of diets were formulated for 30% of CP and 10% of CL then tested by common carp. In total, four experiments were designed. The first was conducted in laboratory in which common carp were fed by local pelleted feed with 25, 50, and 75% protein derived from local ingredients. Results of this trial were confirmed by the trial 2 which was implemented under pond condition at Hanoi University of Agriculture. Trial 3 was conducted to compare different protein (full fat soybean meal and soybean cake) and carbohydrate sources (maize and cassava powder). Furthermore, sweet potato leaves were preliminarily investigated in fish feed inclusion. The last trial, trial 4, was carried out to evaluate the use of earthworm for common carp. Trial 1, 3 and 4 were designed for a recirculation system in which five common carp were stocked in each aquarium of 40 l with 3 replicates. Water flow through the aquaria was maintained at 6-7 litters per minute. Water temperature, DO and pH were kept at 25-27°C, above 4 mg/l and around 7.0-8.0, respectively. The photoperiod was set up at 12 hrs light:12 hrs dark. Fish were fed daily five times metabolic body mass requirement for eight weeks. The trial 2 consisted of four feeding groups (3 test diets and 1 control), each having three replicates. In each net, 45 common carp were stocked, Fish were fed three times per day (8h, 12h, and 16h) at a feeding rate of 5 times of maintenance requirement manually. Feed amount was adjusted every ten days after taking the weight of fish. The total trial lasted for 2 months. Analytical results show that all of local materials have good nutritive values, similar or better that those in other regions. Besides, fish meal and many other ingredients can be used as source of protein such as full fat soybean meal, soybean cake, meat meal, as well as earthworm powder. This earthworms Perionyx excavatus show a suitable quality for fish feed, high protein (71% of DM) and amino acids in comparison with many conventional protein sources, including fish meal. Replacement of 70% of protein (~ 20% of DM) by earthworms can significantly improve growth of fish. However, it is still unclear in full replacement fish meal by this material. Using maize and cassava in Yen Chau is also feasible because these materials not only are cheap but also are the most available. Among all plant materials, full fat soybean seems to be the best ingredient with high protein and lipid content. In contrast, fish seem to be deficient of nutrient by feeding sweet potato leaf inclusion diets. In conclusion, except for sweet potato, all of local ingredients can be used for fish feed formulation. The local feeds were well digested, utilized by omnivorous common carp. Despite local feed ingredients did not give the best growth of fish, they gave the best results in term of economic return. Local ingredient feed gave the lowest cost of feed as well as the lowest cost of fresh fish produced. The field trial fish performance seems to be better than in the laboratory due to receiving certain amount of natural food. Thus, fish utilize feed more efficiently resulted in reduction of feed conversion ratio as well as cost of feed per unit of fish produced. Transfer knowledge about low-cost feed to the local farmer together with basal techniques of producing, storing, and effective using fish feed is an important issue which could help farmers to improve production of fish in the region as well as contribute to poverty alleviation in the rural areas in Vietnam.Karpfenartige Fische spielen eine wichtige Rolle in der Aquakultur, besonders in Asien und pazifischen Regionen. Vietnam ist davon nicht ausgenommen. Obwohl Aquakultur in Vietnam in der letzten Zeit sehr stark zugenommen hat, sind ihre wertvolleren Produkte wie z.B. Welse oder Tigershrimps nahezu unerschwinglich für die Bevölkerung in den ländlichen Gebieten. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Bewohner der bergigen Regionen im Norden, welche mehr auf herbivore und omnivore Fische wie z.B. Grasskarpfen, Indische Karpfen und den gemeinen Karpfen angewiesen sind. Yen Chau ist ein Distrikt der Son La Provinz im bergigen Nordwesten Vietnams. In dieser Region macht die Minderheit der "Black Thai" mit 54% den größten Anteil in der Bevölkerung aus. Neben der Produktion großer Mengen an Getreide, Mais und Maniok für den Verkauf, spielt die Produktion von Fischen in Polykultur in kleinen Teichen eine wichtige Rolle. In ihnen werden die hauptsächlich für den Eigenverzehr aber auch für den Verkauf auf lokalen Märkten gedachten Fische produziert. Obwohl die meisten Kleinbauern mindestens einen Teich besitzen, kann in der jüngeren Zeit der Bedarf auf den Märkten nicht mehr gedeckt werden. Dies hat seine Ursache vermutlich in einer seit wenigen Jahren registrierten Grasskarpfen-spezifischen Krankheit, durch die die Produktion merklich zurückging. Um den Verlust der Grasskarpfen zu vermeiden, verändern die Kleinbauern oft die Artenzusammensetzung der Besatzfische in den Teichen und bevorzugen dabei Karpfen und "Mud Carp" ohne dabei jedoch das nötige Futter für diese Fischarten zu haben. Bis heute ist noch kein hochqualitatives Futter für diese Karpfenarten getestet wurden. Daher wurde diese Studie mit dem Titel: "Development of supplemental diets for carp in Vietnamese upland ponds based on locally available resources" durchgeführt um nicht nur einen Beitrag zu der Einkommens- und Ernährungssicherung in der Region zu leisten, sondern auch um das unzureichende Wissen über diese Karpfenarten zu erweitern. In dieser Studie sind die meisten der möglichen Futtermittel gesammelt und auf ihre nutritiven und anti-nutritiven Eigenschaften untersucht worden. Den Ergebnissen entsprechend sind eine Reihe von Futtermitteln formuliert worden, die 30% Rohprotein und 10% Rohfett enthielten, welche anschliessend an Karpfen getestet wurden. Insgesamt sind vier Experimente geplant und durchgeführt worden. Das erste fand im Labor statt und beinhaltete die Fütterung von Karpfen mit pelletiertem Futter. Dieses enthielt 25, 50 und 75% Rohprotein aus lokalen Zutaten. Die Ergebnisse des Experiments wurden im zweiten Experiment bestätigt. Dieses wurde unter Feldbedingungen an der Agrarwissenschaftlichen Universität von Hanoi durchgeführt. In dem nächsten Versuch wurden verschiedene Proteinquellen (nicht entfettetes Sojamehl und Soja-Presskuchen) sowie Mais und Maniokpulver als Kohlenhydratquellen miteinander verglichen. Ausserdem wurden Süßkartoffelblätter zum ersten Mal als Fischfutterzusatz getestet. Das letzte Experiment wurde durchgeführt um den Einsatz von Regenwürmern als Futtermittel zu evaluieren. Versuche 1, 3 und 4 wurden in einer Kreislaufanlage durchgeführt, in der pro 40 L Becken fünf Karpfen in drei Replikaten gehalten wurden. Die Wasserversorgung betrug zwischen sechs und sieben Liter pro Minute. Die Wassertemperatur, gelöster Sauerstoff und der pH-Wert betrugen 25-27°C, über 4 mg/L und zwischen 7.0-8.0. In diesem Labor war ein Licht-:Dunkelzyklus von 12:12 Stunden eingestellt. Die Futtermenge betrug das Fünffache des metabolischen Körpergewichts. Alle drei Experimente dauerten jeweils 8 Wochen. Der 2. Versuch bestand aus vier Fütterungsgruppen (drei experimentelle und eine Kontrolldiät) mit je drei Replikaten. Pro Netz wurden 45 Karpfen eingesetzt und drei Mal täglich von Hand gefüttert (8:00, 12:00 und 16:00). Die Futtermenge betrug dabei wieder den fünffachen Erhaltungsbedarf. Nach je 10 Tagen wurden die Fische gewogen und die Futtermenge angepasst. Der Versuch dauerte zwei Monate. Die analytischen Ergebnisse haben gezeigt, dass alle einheimischen Materialen einen hohen Nährwert aufwiesen, ähnlich denen oder besser als die aus anderen Regionen. Darüber hinaus können Fischmehl und viele andere Zutaten als Proteinquelle verwendet werden wie z.B nicht entfettetes Sojamehl, Sojapresskuchen, Fleischmehl oder Regenwurmpulver. Der Regenwurm Perionyx excavatus zeigt eine hervorragende Proteinqualität und -quantität (71% von Trockengewicht) und eine ebenfalls gute Aminosäurezusammensetzung im Vergleich zu vielen herkömmlichen Proteinquellen, einschließlich Fischmehl. Das Ersetzen von 70% Protein (entspricht 20% vom Trockengewicht) durch Regenwurmprotein konnte das Wachstum der Fische erheblich verbessern. Allerdings ist es noch unklar ob das vollständige Ersetzen von Fischmehl durch dieses Material eine ähnliche Wirkung bringt. Das Verwenden von Mais und Maniok in Yen Chau ist ebenso plausibel, denn diese Materialen sind nicht nur günstig sondern auch meistens verfügbar. Unter den pflanzlichen Materialen scheinen Vollfettsojabohnen der beste Einsatzstoff zu sein mit hohem Protein- und Lipidgehalt. Im Gegensatz dazu erscheinen die Fische unter Fehlernährung zu leiden wenn Sie mit Süßkartoffelblättern gefüttert werden. Es lässt sich schlußfolgern, dass bis auf Süßkartoffel alle einheimische Zutaten für den Einsatz als Fischfutter verwendet werden können. Die getesteten Futtermittel sind gut verdaulich und verwertbar von den omnivoren Karpfen. Obwohl diese Futterbestandteile nicht das beste Wachstum hervorgebracht haben, haben Sie die besten wirtschaftlichen Ergebnissen ergeben. Sie sind die günstigsten Futtermittel einerseits und haben andererseits den geringsten Preis pro produzierter Einheit Fisch ergeben. Die Leistung der in dem Feldversuch produzierten Fische erscheint besser als die im Labor, wahrscheinlich wegen der zusätzlich verfügbaren natürlichen Nahrung in den Teichen. Aus diesem Grund konnten die Fische effizienter das Futter verwerten, welches zur Abnahme sowohl von der Futterverwertung als auch von den Futterkosten pro Fischproduktionseinheit geführt hat. Das Wissen über die Produktion von kostengünstigen Futtermitteln an Kleinbauern zu übertragen, zusammen mit grundlegenden Techniken in Herstellung, Lagerung und wirksamere Nutzung von Fischfuttern stellen ein wichtiges Thema dar, wodurch den Bauern geholfen werden könnte, um nicht nur die Fischproduktion in der Region zu verbessern, sondern auch die Armut in den ländlichen Gebieten Vietnams zu beseitigen

Internal corporate social responsibility and organizational creativity: an empirical study of Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises

Purpose: The present study investigates the relationship between internal corporate social responsibility (CSR), a type of CSR particularly for employees within organizations, and organizational creativity. The focus is on the mediating effects of affective commitment and knowledge sharing within the relationship. Design/methodology: Data were collected in Vietnam via questionnaire survey. Regarding survey administration, first, we chose the five biggest universities, which specialized in economics and business in Hanoi. Then, from those universities, we randomly selected graduate classes whose students are fulltime employees in various companies around Hanoi. The questionnaire included 5 point Likert scale multi-items designed to measure factors. Among 750 distributed questionnaires, 252 were returned. After screening and deleting those questionnaires with missing information or those from large companies, 199 remained for further investigation, representing 26.53% of the valid response rate. The sample included 117 manufacturing and 82 non-manufacturing companies. For the statistical analysis of the data, we followed the three-step procedure of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling. Findings: Results support our hypotheses that predict positive mediating effects, except for the direct relationship between training and development as one aspect of internal CSR and affective commitment, although training and development have an indirect relationship with organizational creativity through knowledge sharing. Originality/value: The study contributes to the literature on internal CSR, especially because it provides the valid empirical evidence for the relationship between internal CSR and organizational creativity, which needs more clarification regarding the process. We emphasize the importance of findings to the case of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries, because they often face difficulties implementing external CSR due to resource constraints.Peer Reviewe

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ASSESSMENT CRITERIA OF THE CONTENT CONTEXT AND FORMS OF EXTRACURRICULAR SPORTS ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS AT SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TAY NINH PROVINCE, VIETNAM

After using the conventional scientific research methods, observing the steps of document synthesis, interviewing, and checking the reliability of the questionnaire through Cronbach's Alpha, the paper has come up with five quantitative assessment criteria and eight qualitative assessment questions of the content and forms of extracurricular sports activities for students at secondary schools in Tay Ninh province. This research has contributed to renewing the content and forms of extracurricular sports activities for students at secondary school.  Article visualizations