Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of search‐based optimization techniques to schedule and staff software projects: an approach and an empirical study

Allocating resources to a software project and assigning tasks to teams constitute crucial activities that affect project cost and completion time. Finding a solution for such a problem is NP‐hard; this requires managers to be supported by proper tools for performing such an allocation. This paper shows how search‐based optimization techniques can be combined with a queuing simulation model to address these problems. The obtained staff and task allocations aim to minimize the completion time and reduce schedule fragmentation. The proposed approach allows project managers to run multiple simulations, compare results and consider trade‐offs between increasing the staffing level and anticipating the project completion date and between reducing the fragmentation and accepting project delays. The paper presents results from the application of the proposed search‐based project planning approach to data obtained from two large‐scale commercial software maintenance projects. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Indicators of Good Student Performance in Moodle Activity Data

In this paper we conduct an analysis of Moodle activity data focused on identifying early predictors of good student performance. The analysis shows that three relevant hypotheses are largely supported by the data. These hypotheses are: early submission is a good sign, a high level of activity is predictive of good results and evening activity is even better than daytime activity. We highlight some pathological examples where high levels of activity correlates with bad results.
Mechanical Behaviour of Geopolymer Concrete under Ambient Curing

Utilisation of fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast Slag as an alternative material in concrete reduces the use of OPC in concrete. Evolution of geopolymer concrete cured at ambient temperature broadens its suitability and applicability to concrete based structures. This paper presents the mix proportions and outcome of an experimental study on the density and compressive strength of geopolymer concrete. Fly ash was used as a base material which was made to react with sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution to act as a binder for fine and coarse aggregate. Ground Granulated Blast Slag was replaced in different proportions to fly ash to enhance various properties of concrete. The concrete was subjected to curing at ambient temperature. Based on the study carried out, replacement of GGBS in fly ash up to 50% produced better mechanical properties.
Frequency effects on first and second language compositional phrase comprehension and production

Abstract Usage-based approaches to language acquisition posit that first (L1) and second language (L2) speakers should process more frequent compositional phrases, which have a meaning derivable from word parts, faster than less frequent ones (e.g., Bybee, 2010; Ellis, 2011). Although this prediction has received increasing empirical support, methodological limitations in previous relevant studies include a lack of control of frequencies of subparts of target phrases and scant attention to L2 production. Addressing these limitations, the current study tested phrase frequency effects in both language comprehension and production in two respective experiments, in which adult native English speakers (N = 51) and English L2 learners (N = 52) completed a timed phrasal decision task and an elicited oral production task. Experiment 1 revealed phrase frequency effects in both groups, lending support to usage-based researchers’ proposal that L1 and L2 speakers retain memory of word co-occurrences and that compositional phrase processing reflects an accumulation of statistics in previously encountered input. Experiment 2, however, provided weaker evidence for phrase frequency effects in these participant groups. Based on the results and previous empirical studies, methodological issues that may have impacted frequency effects and implications for future work in this area are discussed.
The Warthin-Like Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Comparison with Classic Type in the Patients with Coexisting Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

Background. The Warthin-like variant of papillary thyroid (WLPTC) is a rare subtype of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) resembling Warthin tumors of the salivary glands. Due to its rarity, the clinicopathologic and molecular features of WLPTC remain unclear. Methods. Of the 2,139 patients who underwent surgical treatment for PTC from 2012 to 2013, 40 patients with WLPTC were identified and compared to 200 consecutive patients with classic PTC. BRAF mutation was tested with pyrosequencing. Results. There were no significant differences in age, predilection for women, multifocality, extrathyroidal extension, or lymph node metastasis between WLPTC and classic PTC. However, WLPTCs were more commonly associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis than classic PTCs (93% versus 36%, resp., P < 0.001) and showed significantly lower rate of BRAF mutation when compared to classic PTCs (65% versus 84%, resp., P = 0.007). In classic PTC, the frequency of BRAF mutations was negatively correlated with coexisting Hashimoto's thyroiditis. When we compared WLPTC and classic PTC in the patients with coexisting Hashimoto's thyroiditis, there were no significant differences in clinicopathologic characteristics or the BRAF mutational rate between the two groups. Conclusions. Patients with WLPTC have similar demographic, clinical, pathologic, and molecular characteristics to those with classic PTC coexisting with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
An improved algorithm for human activity recognition using wearable sensors

In this paper, a novel approach is investigated to recognize human activities by using wearable sensors. Three key techniques are mainly discussed including the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), the sparse multinomial logistic regression algorithm with Bayesian regularization (SBMLR) and the fuzzy least squares support vector machine (FLS-SVM). All of the features based on the EEMD are extracted from sensor data. Then, the features vectors are processed by an embedded feature selection algorithm - SBMLR, which may remarkably reduce the dimension and maintain the most discriminative information. The FLS-SVM technique is employed to deal with the reduced features and identify human activities. Experimental results show that our approach achieves an overall mean classification rate of 93.43%, which exhibits the remarkable recognition performance compared with other approaches. We conclude that the proposed approach could play an important role in human activity recognition (HAR) using wearable sensors, especially in real-time applications and large-scale dataset processing.
In-hospital daily insulin dose predicts long-term adverse outcome in patients with diabetes with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with successful primary percutaneous angioplasty

Introduction Early initiation of reperfusion therapy including primary percutaneous coronary revascularization (PPCI) has been recognized as a crucial factor determining clinical outcomes in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. In unstable patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) the clear benefit from PPCI was proven. We aim to evaluate the prognostic value of factors describing glycometabolic state on admission in patients with T2D undergoing PPCI in acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Material and methods Prospective analysis of clinical and laboratory variables (mean daily short acting exogenous insulin dose (DID), admission blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), microalbuminuria) was performed in 112 consecutive patients with T2D with STEMI who underwent PPCI. Women comprised 58% of the group. Results Insulin dosing was targeted to obtain a mean daily glucose level < 7.8 mmol/l. During 12-month follow-up 33 (29.5%) major adverse cardiac events (major adverse cardiac events (MACE) consisting of death, reinfarction, and repeated target vessel revascularization) were reported. Microalbuminuria was present in 68 (60.5%) patients. The mean HbA1c level was 7.9%. In the multivariate logistic regression model only DID > 44 IU remained an independent risk factor for MACE (p = 0.02, OR = 5.2). Conclusions In patients with diabetes with STEMI treated with PPCI, simple measurement of DID during hospitalization can add valuable prognostic information about the future risk of MACE.
Switching roles : an investigation into the use of reverse-mentoring by students to encourage teachers' uptake of ICT in their pedagogical approach

The literature provided evidence that the integration of teaching and learning with ICT was critical to support learner centred pedagogies. There was also clear evidence that a number of key barriers were impacting on the ability of teachers to integrate ICT in their classrooms. These barriers include teachers’ perceptions of the lack of usefulness of the technologies and a lack of knowledge of how to use the technologies. The literature also noted that female teachers were less likely than their male colleagues to take up ICT in their teaching—the socalled gender barrier. Teachers are adult learners and have special needs associated with adult learning such as the need for individual and personalised learning programmes delivered at a time of their choosing. One approach to meet those special needs and overcome barriers preventing the uptake of ICT was through reverse-mentoring which is the use of students to help teachers with ICT issues in a timely and relevant manner. The benefits of reverse-mentoring have not been widely explored in the literature and this study provided evidence that the programme delivered both timely and relevant professional development for the participant teachers. Also the concept of students helping their teachers to develop skills with ICT fitted well with constructivist learning theory and this helped overcome many of the barriers associated with adult learning. The research design employed mixed methods multiple case studies which provided complementary lenses through which quantitative and qualitative data were assessed. The data analysis was complemented through the use of Activity Theory. The research also investigated the extent the reversementored programme assisted female teachers’ uptake of ICT in their teaching.
CHIEF PATRON CHIEF PATRON CHIEF PATRON CHIEF PATRON

We invite unpublished novel, original, empirical and high quality research work pertaining to recent developments & practices in the area of Computer, Business, Finance, Marketing, Human Resource Management, General Management, Banking, Insurance, Corporate Governance and emerging paradigms in allied subjects like Accounting Education; Accounting Information Systems; Accounting Theory & Practice; Auditing; Behavioral Accounting; Behavioral Economics; Corporate Finance; Cost Accounting; Econometrics; Economic Development; Economic History; Financial Institutions & Markets; Financial Services; Fiscal Policy; Government & Non Profit Accounting; Industrial Organization; International Economics & Trade; International Finance; Macro Economics; Micro Economics; Monetary Policy; Portfolio & Security Analysis; Public Policy Economics; Real Estate; Regional Economics; Tax Accounting; Advertising & Promotion Management; Business Education; Management Information Systems (MIS); Business Law, Public Responsibility & Ethics; Communication; Direct Marketing; E-Commerce; Global Business; Health Care Administration; Labor Relations & Human Resource Management; Marketing Research; Marketing Theory & Applications; Non-Profit Organizations; Office Administration/Management; Operations Research/Statistics; Organizational Behavior & Theory; Organizational Development; Production/Operations; Public Administration; Purchasing/Materials Management; Retailing; Sales/Selling; Services; Small Business Entrepreneurship; Strategic Management Policy; Technology/Innovation; Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure; Transportation/Physical Distribution; Algorithms; Artificial Intelligence; Compilers & Translation; Computer Aided Design (CAD); Computer Aided Manufacturing; Computer Graphics; Computer Organization & Architecture; Database Structures & Systems; Digital Logic; Discrete Structures; Internet; Management Information Systems; Modeling & Simulation; Multimedia; Neural Systems/Neural Networks; Numerical Analysis/Scientific Computing; Object Oriented Programming; Operating Systems; Programming Languages; Robotics; Symbolic & Formal Logic and Web Design. The above mentioned tracks are only indicative, and not exhaustive.
Evidence-based actions for maximising training effectiveness in corporate E-learning and classroom training

ABSTRACT The present study aimed at contributing to the science-practice gap regarding the application of evidence-based actions for maximising training effectiveness in corporate practice. Training and development professionals employed at companies from diverse branches of industry and among the best employers in Germany were assessed cross-sectionally regarding actions that foster transfer separately for e-learning and classroom training. Results showed that actions for maximising training effectiveness were almost always implemented in both training settings, especially before and during training. However, after training, such actions were least implemented in both training settings. Moreover, fewer actions were implemented in e-learning compared with classroom training settings before, during, and after training. Although companies implemented transfer-supportive actions to a great deal, we emphasise that there is room for improvement in corporate practice, especially in meeting the needs of older workers and evaluation training at multiple levels.
Aversive emotional interference impacts behavior and prefronto-striatal activity during increasing attentional control

Earlier studies have demonstrated that emotional stimulation modulates attentional processing during goal-directed behavior and related activity of a brain network including the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the caudate nucleus. However, it is not clear how emotional interference modulates behavior and brain physiology during variation in attentional control, a relevant question for everyday life situations in which both emotional stimuli and cognitive load vary. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of negative emotions on behavior and activity in IFG and caudate nucleus during increasing levels of attentional control. Twenty two healthy subjects underwent event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a task in which neutral or fearful facial expressions were displayed before stimuli eliciting increasing levels of attentional control processing. Results indicated slower reaction time (RT) and greater right IFG activity when fearful compared with neutral facial expressions preceded the low level of attentional control. On the other hand, fearful facial expressions preceding the intermediate level of attentional control elicited faster behavioral responses and greater activity in the right and left sides of the caudate. Finally, correlation analysis indicated a relationship between behavioral correlates of attentional control after emotional interference and right IFG activity. All together, these results suggest that the impact of negative emotions on attentional processing is differentially elicited at the behavioral and physiological levels as a function of cognitive load.
Changing Party System Polarization, Election Rules and Ideological Congruence*

Ideological congruence between median voter and the government changes substantially from one decade to the next, especially in the SMD systems of Western democracies. These changes are closely linked to changing levels of party system polarization. When the large parties are close to the median voter, any outcome creates congruent governments. When they diverge, governments are usually much further away. In the PR systems, too, depolarization of the party system contributes to greater ideological congruence, although the connections are more complex, and cross-system differences are more diverse than in the SMD systems. This paper describes the changing levels of party system polarization from 1946 through 2003, explicating the positions of political party families and tracing the implications for ideological congruence. Under conditions of relative ideological consensus, such as the social democratic orientation of 1956-65 or today’s center-right orientation, there is little difference in the ideological congruence levels of SMD and PR electoral systems.
Differential Mechanisms of Transmission at Three Types of Mossy Fiber Synapse

The axons of the dentate gyrus granule cells, the so-called mossy fibers, innervate their inhibitory interneuron and pyramidal neuron targets via both anatomically and functionally specialized synapses. Mossy fiber synapses onto inhibitory interneurons were comprised of either calcium-permeable (CP) or calcium-impermeable (CI) AMPA receptors, whereas only calcium-impermeable AMPA receptors existed at CA3 principal neuron synapses. In response to brief trains of high-frequency stimuli (20 Hz), pyramidal neuron synapses invariably demonstrated short-term facilitation, whereas interneuron EPSCs demonstrated either short-term facilitation or depression. Facilitation at all CI AMPA synapses was voltage independent, whereas EPSCs at CP AMPA synapses showed greater facilitation at −20 than at −80 mV, consistent with a role for the postsynaptic unblock of polyamines. At pyramidal cell synapses, mossy fiber EPSCs possessed marked frequency-dependent facilitation (commencing at stimulation frequencies >0.1 Hz), whereas EPSCs at either type of interneuron synapse showed only moderate frequency-dependent facilitation or underwent depression. Presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) decreased transmission at all three synapse types in a frequency-dependent manner. However, after block of presynaptic mGluRs, transmission at interneuron synapses still did not match the dynamic range of EPSCs at pyramidal neuron synapses. High-frequency stimulation of mossy fibers induced long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD), or no change at pyramidal neuron synapses, interneuron CP AMPA synapses, and CI AMPA synapses, respectively. Induction of LTP or LTD altered the short-term plasticity of transmission onto both pyramidal cells and interneuron CP AMPA synapses by a mechanism consistent with changes in release probability. These data reveal differential mechanisms of transmission at three classes of mossy fiber synapse made onto distinct targets.
IS THE ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY COSMIC-RAY EXCESS OBSERVED BY THE TELESCOPE ARRAY CORRELATED WITH ICECUBE NEUTRINOS?

The Telescope Array (TA) has observed a statistically significant excess in cosmic rays with energies above 57 EeV in a region of approximately 1150 deg2 centered on coordinates R.A. = 146.7, decl. = 43.2. We note that the location of this excess correlates with 2 of the 28 extraterrestrial neutrinos recently observed by IceCube. The overlap between the two IceCube neutrinos and the TA excess is statistically significant at the 2σ level. Furthermore, the spectrum and intensity of the IceCube neutrinos is consistent with a single source which would also produce the TA excess. Finally, we discuss possible source classes with the correct characteristics to explain the cosmic-ray and neutrino fluxes with a single source.
Design and evaluation of congestion control algorithms in the future Internet

Linear Increase/Multiplicative Decrease (LIMD) has typi^. tally been the congestion control paradigm ot choice in the traditional Internet with tail-drop routers. In recent years, routers with fair packet dropping policies (e.g. RED) are increasingly being deployed in the Internet. In the context of a network with fair packet dropping routers, we challenge the popular notion that Linear Increase/Linear Decrease (LILD) is an unsuitable paradigm for congestion control, and present two key results: (a) LILD is both eficient and fair in the target environment. In fact, LILD outperforms LIMD in most respects. (b) By maintaining the history of transmission rates and loss profiles, congestion control algorithms can effectively distinguish between congestion-induced and non-congestioninduced loss. We present the LILD/H algorithm that combines the above features. LILD/H reacts gently to random/channel probe loss, and aggressively to congestion loss, thereby adapting effectively to the dynamics of the network. Consequently, we believe that LILD/H is a viable congestion control algorithm at the end host or the edge router in the future Internet.
Performance of gradient-based OFDMA subcarrier schedulers with TCP traffic

We study interaction between gradient-based subcarrier allocation algorithms and TCP traffic sources in a downlink single-hop OFDMA wireless system. Specifically, we are interested in evaluating the maximum-rate (Max-SNR), Proportional Fair (PF), and queue-based Max-Weight (QBMW) subcarrier schedulers, in both non-iterative and iterative versions, with long-lived TCP fluid traffic. Using system throughput and the Jain's fairness index as benchmarks, our simulation results show that even when the users are homogeneous, QBMW leads to suboptimal throughput and extreme unfairness in the presence of TCP traffic. On the other hand, when the users are heterogeneous, Max-SNR is also unfair and gives suboptimal system throughput. However, in both cases, the iterative PF gives the best throughput as well as the best fairness among all considered schedulers, due to its slow variation in the subcarrier allocation, which is preferred by TCP.
An Asymptotically Random Tausworthe Sequence

The theoretical limitations on the orders of equidistribution attainable by Tausworthe sequences are derived from first principles and are stated in the form of a criterion to be achieved. A second criterion, extending these limitations to multidimensional uniformity, is also defined. A sequence possessing both properties is said to be asymptotically random as no other sequence of the same period could be more random in these respects. An algorithm is presented which, for any Tausworthe sequence based on a primitive trinomial over GF(2), establishes how closely or otherwise the conditions necessary for the criteria are achieved. Given that the necessary conditions are achieved, the conditions sufficient for the first criterion are derived from Galois theory and always apply. For the second criterion, however, the period must be prime. An asymptotically random 23-bit number sequence of astronomic period, 2607 - 1, is presented. An initialization program is required to provide 607 starting values, after which the sequence can be generated with a three-term recurrence of the Fibonacci type. In addition to possessing the theoretically demonstrable randomness properties associated with Tausworthe sequences, the sequence possesses equidistribution and multidimensional uniformity properties vastly in excess of anything that has yet been shown for conventional congruentially generated sequences. It is shown that, for samples of a size it is practicable to generate, there can exist no purely empirical test of the sequence as it stands capable of distinguishing between it and an ∞-distributed sequence. Bounds for local nonrandomness in respect of runs above (below) the mean and runs of equal numbers are established theoretically. The claimed randomness properties do not necessarily extend to subsequences, though it is not yet known which particular subsequences are at fault. Accordingly, the sequence is at present suggested only for simulations with no fixed dimensionality requirements.