Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Refactoring Tool for Smalltalk

Refactoring is an important part of the evolution of reusable software and frameworks. Its uses range from the seemingly trivial, such as renaming program elements, to the profound, such as retrofitting design patterns into an existing system. Despite its importance, lack of tool support forces programmers to refactor programs by hand, which can be tedious and error-prone. The Smalltalk Refactoring Browser is a tool that carries out many refactorings automatically, and provides an environment for improving the structure of Smalltalk programs. It makes refactoring safe and simple, and so reduces the cost of making reusable software. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Modeling segmentation of a visual scene via neural oscillators: fragmentation, discovery of details and attention

The present study analyses the problem of binding and segmentation of a visual scene by means of a network of neural oscillators, laying emphasis on the problems of fragmentation, perception of details at different scales and spatial attention. The work is based on a two-layer model: a second layer of Wilson–Cowan oscillators is inhibited by information from the first layer. Moreover, the model uses a global inhibitor (GI) to segment objects. Spatial attention consists of an excitatory input, surrounded by an inhibitory annulus. A single object is identified by synchronous oscillatory activity of neural groups. The main idea of this work is that segmentation of objects at different detail levels can be achieved by linking parameters of the GI (i.e. the threshold and the inhibition strength) with the dimension of the zone selected by attention and with the dimension of the smaller objects to be detected. Simulations show that three possible kinds of behavior can be attained with the model, through proper choice of the GI parameters and attention input: (i) large objects in the visual scene are perceived, while small details are suppressed; (ii) large objects are perceived, while details are assembled together to constitute a single ‘noise term’; (iii) if attention is focused on a smaller area and the GI parameters modulated accordingly (i.e. the threshold and attention strength are reduced) details are individually perceived as separate objects. These results suggest that the GI and attention may represent two concurrent aspects of the same attentive mechanism, i.e. they should work together to provide flexible management of a visual scene at different levels of detail.
An efficient loss rate estimator in multicast tomography and its validity

Network tomography receives a considerable attention in recent years that provides a viable methodology to discover network charateristics, such as the loss rate of a link, the delay distribution of a link, from end-to-end observations. In the loss rate estimation, the previous studies show that to find the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of a link/path, we need to solve a polynomial form with a degree that is one less than the number of descendants connected to the link/path. Since there is no analytical solution to a polynomial of 5 degree or higher, the main concern is focused on the methods to obtain MLE without using iterative approximation. An explicit estimator based on the Law of Large Numbers has been proposed. However, the estimate obtained from the estimator is not a MLE. If n < ∞, the estimator may fail or produce an estimate that is significantly different from the MLE. In this paper, we propose an algorithm that can obtain the estimate analytically. In addition, we will point out the restriction of the previous estimators.
Origins of Pulsing Regime in Cocurrent Packed-Bed Flows

The mechanism of the formation for cocurrent downflow pulse flow was studied experimentally in a packed bed of inert spheres of 3, 6, and 8 mm using an air−water flow. By measurement of the flow distance until pulses are observed, the spatial growth rate of convective disturbances within the pulsing flow regime were determined. Observations indicate that pulses form from trickling flow as the result of a global convective instability. Further, experiments indicate that an analogous transition exists for the formation of pulses from the dispersed bubble flow regime, except that pulses form as the flow rates are adjusted to become less severe. Existing global instability models based on averaged (dispersed flow) momentum equations were modified to explain experimental results. A key uncertainty in modeling pulse formation from trickle flow is the regularization (i.e., stabilization) force. Re-examination of this issue suggests some mechanistic inconsistencies with surface tension which had been used in prev.
Light Propagation in Inhomogeneous Universes. III. Distributions of Image Separations

Using an analytical model, we compute the distribution of image separations resulting from gravitational lensing of distant sources, for seven COBE-normalized cold dark matter models with various combinations of Ω0 and λ0. Our model assumes that multiple imaging results from strong lensing by individual galaxies. We model galaxies as nonsingular isothermal spheres, whose parameters are functions of the luminosity and morphological type, and take into account the finite angular size of the sources. Our model neglects the contribution of the background matter distribution to lensing and assumes that lensing is entirely caused by galaxies. To test the validity of this assumption, we performed a series of ray-tracing experiments to study the effect of the background matter on the distribution of image separations. Our results are the following: (1) The presence of the background matter tends to increase the image separations produced by lensing galaxies, making the distributions of image separations wider. However, this effect is rather small and independent of the cosmological model. (2) Simulations with galaxies and background matter often produce a secondary peak in the distribution of image separations at large separations. This peak does not appear when the background matter is excluded from the simulations. (3) The effect of the background matter on the magnification distribution is negligible in low-density universes (Ω0 = 0.2) with small density contrast (σ8 = 0.4), but becomes very important as Ω0 and σ8 increase, resulting in a significant widening of the distribution. (4) Multiple imaging is caused primarily by early-type galaxies (elliptical and S0), with a negligible contribution from spiral galaxies. (5) Our analytical model, which has only two free parameters, is in good agreement with the results of ray-tracing experiments, successfully reproducing the distributions of image separations, and also the multiple-imaging probability, for all cosmological models considered. (6) The analytical model predicts that the distributions of image separations are virtually indistinguishable for flat, cosmological-constant models with different values of Ω0. (7) For models with no cosmological constant, the distributions of image separations do depend upon Ω0, but this dependence is weak. We conclude that while the number of multiple-imaged sources can put strong constraints on the cosmological parameters, the distribution of image separations does not constrain the cosmological models in any significant way and mostly provides constraints on the structure of the galaxies responsible for lensing.
Navigating complexity, culture, collaboration, and emotion: student perspectives on global justice and global justice education

ABSTRACT Recent years have seen increasing scholarly attention to the ways in which colleges and universities might contribute to educating ‘global citizens’ who work toward addressing injustice and inequity. The present study examines the experiences and perspectives of students participating in an upper level ‘global justice inquiry’ course designed to help meet this goal. Drawing from interviews with students and reflections submitted as part of their course assessment, we explore participants’ developing understanding of global justice and their experiences of learning about this topic. This investigation reveals key issues that students highlight and with which they sometimes struggle, including the complexity of global challenges, the importance of collaboration in attempting to address such challenges, the significance of navigating cultural considerations, and the potential influence of emotion on understanding and action. Implications of these findings, including the potential value of considering these issues as threshold concepts in global justice education, are discussed.
Prevalence of lifestyle-related cardiovascular risk factors in Peru: the PREVENCION study.

OBJECTIVES To estimate the prevalence of lifestyle-related cardiovascular risk factors in the adult population of Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. METHODS The prevalence and patterns of smoking, alcohol drinking, lack of physical activity, high-fat diet, and low fruit and vegetable intake were evaluated among 1 878 subjects (867 men and 1 011 women) in a population-based study. RESULTS The age-standardized prevalence of current smoking, former smoking, and never smoking were 21.6%, 14.3%, and 64.1%, respectively. The prevalence of current smoking was significantly higher in men than women (31.1% vs. 12.1%; P < 0.01). The prevalence of current alcohol use was 37.7% and significantly higher in men than women (55.5% vs. 19.7%; P < 0.01). Similarly, the prevalence of binge drinking was 21.2%, and the percentage of men who binge drink (36.1%) was significantly higher than for women (6.4%; P < 0.01). The vast majority of alcohol drinkers reported a pattern of alcohol consumption mainly on weekends and holidays rather than regular drinking with meals during the week. The proportion of insufficiently active people was 57.6% and was significantly higher in women than men (63.3% vs. 51.9%; P < 0.01). Overall, 42.0% of adults reported consuming high-fat diets, 34.5% reported low fruit intake, and 33.3% reported low vegetable intake. CONCLUSIONS The high prevalence of lifestyle-related cardiovascular risk factors found in this Andean population is of concern. Preventive programs are urgently needed to deal with this growing problem.
Study of economic, environmental and social factors in sustainability reports using text mining and Bayesian analysis

The increase in the number of corporate environmental reports (CERs) along with the growing interest among the various stakeholder groups created a new challenge to the researchers, academics, regulators and legislators, in measuring the effectiveness of these reports. The present study intends to measure the CERs in terms of economic, environmental and social performance indicators using Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. A large sample (N=2415) is used to perform text mining so as to analyze the reports to come up with a scoring. The significant contribution made in the present study indicates that by adopting the GRI guidelines, it is observed that global CERs is now undergoing fragmented reporting in its incremental approach. Bayesian estimate confirms the probability that the true value of all the selected variable parameter falls within the confidence interval of 95%.
A Biologically Accurate Simulation of the Locomotion of Caenorhabditis elegans

—The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an important model organism for many areas of biological research including genetics, development, and neurobiology. It is the ﬁrst organism to have its genome sequenced, complete cell ontogeny determined, and nervous system mapped. With all of the information that is available on this simple organism, C. elegans may also become the ﬁrst organism to be accurately and completely modeled in silico . This work takes a ﬁrst step toward this goal by presenting a biologically accurate, 3-dimensional simulated model of C. elegans . This model takes into account many facets of the organism including size, shape, weight distribution, muscle placement, and muscle force. It also explicitly models the environment of the worm to include factors such as contact, friction, inertia, surface tension, and gravity. The model was tuned and validated using video recordings taken of the worm to show that it accurately depicts the physics of undulatory locomotion used to forward and reverse crawl on an agar surface. The main contribution of this article is a new, highly detailed 3D physics model and supporting simulator that accurately reproduces the physics of C. elegans
Change of Physiology and Emotion According to Plant-decoration Activity in Workers

This study was conducted to investigate the change of workers physiology and sensitivity according to the plant decoration activity using electroencephalographic (EEG), electrocardiogram, and semantic differential (SD) methods on 31 male and female workers in their twenties. Plant decoration activity and writing documents on a computer (WDOC) were carried out for 10 minutes each. The relative slow alpha power spectrum (RSA) has been highly exhibited at most measurement points at plant decoration activity compared to WDOC, and ratio of alpha to high beta spectrum (RAHB) was higher in the parietal lobe responsible for visual function in charge of visual function and showed stable and relaxed effect with little stress or tension. In addition, the relatively fast alpha power spectrum (RFA), which is responsible for visual function, after WDOC was higher than after plant decoration activity in the left parietal lobe (P <.05). Although not statistically significant, the relative high beta power spectrum (RHB) and the ratio of mid beta to theta (RMT), which are stress concentration indexes with tension, were highly regarded as a whole when performing WDOC. There was little difference in heart rate between after both activities. However, high frequency (HF) component indicating parasympathetic nervous system activity was more highly active after WDOC than Planting decoration activity, and the low frequency (LF) component indicating sympathetic nervous system activity tended to be lower after WDOC than after planting activity meaning that plant activity have a sense of stability than WDOC and these results were similar to brain wave analysis. In addition, the sense of comfort, naturalness, calm were significantly higher when the plant decoration activity was performed than when the WDOC was performed in the SD emotional vocabulary survey. These results could be interpreted that plant decoration activity induced more physiologically and psychologically stability and relaxation than WDOC, and enhanced attention ability in appropriate awakening state. results were similar to those of this study that the level of the activity of the sympathetic nervous system was low, and that the level of the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system was high.
Grasping and in-hand manipulation: experiments with a reconfigurable gripper

This paper addresses the problem of grasping and manipulating three-dimensional objects with a reconfigurable gripper equipped with two parallel plates whose distance can be adjusted by a computer-controlled actuator. The bottom plate is a bare plane and the top one carries a rectangular grid of actuated pins that can translate in discrete increments under computer control. We propose to use this gripper to immobilize objects through frictionless contacts with three of the pins and the bottom plate, and to manipulate an object within a grasp by planning the sequence of pin configurations that will bring this object to a desired position and orientation. A detailed analysis of the problem geometry in configuration space was used in a previous paper to devise simple and efficient algorithms for grasp and manipulation planning. We have constructed a prototype of the gripper and this paper presents our experiments.
Asset Divestiture Following Horizontal Acquisitions: A Dynamic View

Business acquisition, resource redeployment, and asset divestiture are elements of a dynamic process in which firms change their businesses by recombining internal and external resources. Analyzing 253 horizontal acquisitions, we show that post-acquisition resource redeployment leads to asset divestiture from the business that receives the redeployed resources, but not from the business that contributes the new resources. Consistent with scale economies rationales, we find that strategic similarity also leads to greater asset divestiture from the target firms. Many theoretical perspectives are skeptical about the positive rationale for acquisitions and many of these believe that asset divestiture is evidence of acquisition failure. Our arguments and analysis help refine the accepted wisdom. In particular, the pattern of resource redeployment and asset divestiture in our analysis suggests that acquisitions provide a means of reconfiguring the structure of resources within firms and that asset divestiture is a logical consequence of this reconfiguration process. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Combined Assessments of Biochemical Markers and ST-Segment Resolution Provide Additional Prognostic Information for Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background and Objectives The prognostic value of biochemical markers and the resolution of ST-segment elevation on electrocardiogram are well established. However, how a combination of these two tools affects the evaluation of risk stratification has not yet been evaluated. Subjects and Methods Between January 2006 and June 2008, 178 consecutive patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary interventions after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI) were analyzed at two coronary care units. Patients were divided into the following three groups according to ST-segment resolution: complete (≥70% depression of the elevated ST-segment, n=63), partial (30% to 70%, n=90), and incomplete (<30%, n=25). Demographic data, including history, electrocardiography, biochemical markers, initial ejection fraction, and angiographic findings were also evaluated. Results There were 7 deaths, 3 repeated myocardial infarctions, and 17 readmissions for worsening heart failure during six months of follow-up. In a multivariate analysis to predict clinical outcomes, ejection fraction {hazard ratio (HR): 0.83 (0.76-0.91), p<0.01}, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein {HR: 1.15 (1.05-1.26), p<0.05}, and the degree of ST-segment resolution {HR: 0.96 (0.93-0.09), p<0.05} were independently associated with clinical outcomes. According to the Cox-proportional hazards model, the addition of ST-segment resolution markedly improved the prognostic utility of the model containing biochemical markers and ejection fraction. Conclusion Assessment of biomarkers upon admission and ST-segment resolution are strong predictors of clinical outcomes. The combination of these data provides additive information about prognosis at an early point in the disease progression and further improves risk stratification for STEMI.
Circularly-Coupled Markov Chain Sampling

I show how to run an N-time-step Markov chain simulation in a circular fashion, so that the state at time 0 follows the state at time N-1 in the same way as states at times t follow those at times t-1 for 0<t<N. This wrap-around of the chain is achieved using a coupling procedure, and produces states that all have close to the equilibrium distribution of the Markov chain, under the assumption that coupled chains are likely to coalesce in less than N/2 iterations. This procedure therefore automatically eliminates the initial portion of the chain that would otherwise need to be discarded to get good estimates of equilibrium averages. The assumption of rapid coalescence can be tested using auxiliary chains started at times spaced between 0 and N. When multiple processors are available, such auxiliary chains can be simulated in parallel, and pieced together to give the circularly-coupled chain, in less time than a sequential simulation would have taken, provided that coalescence is indeed rapid. The practical utility of these procedures is dependent on the development of good coupling schemes. I show how a specialized random-grid Metropolis algorithm can be used to produce the required exact coalescence. On its own, this method is not efficient in high dimensions, but it can be used to produce exact coalescence once other methods have brought the coupled chains close together. I investigate how well this combined scheme works with standard Metropolis, Langevin, and Gibbs sampling updates. Using such strategies, I show that circular coupling can work effectively in a Bayesian logistic regression problem.
Enzyme 15-lipoxygenase 1 promotes hypoxia-inducible factor 1α turnover and reduces vascular endothelial growth factor expression: implications for angiogenesis

Hypoxia‐inducible factor 1α (HIF‐1α) is the regulatory subunit of the heterodimeric HIF‐1 that plays a critical role in transcriptional regulation of genes in angiogenesis and hypoxic adaptation, while fatty acid metabolism mediated by lipoxygenases has been implicated in a variety of pathogeneses, including cancers. In this study, we report that 15‐lipoxygenase 1 (15‐LO1), a key member of the lipoxygenase family, promotes HIF‐1α ubiquitination and degradation. Altering the level of 15‐LO1 yields inverse changes in HIF‐1α and HIF‐1 transcriptional activity, under both normoxia and hypoxia, and even in CoCl2‐treated cells where HIF‐1α has been artificially elevated. The antagonistic effect of 15‐LO1 is mediated by the Pro564/hydroxylation/26S proteasome system, while both the enzymatic activity and the intracellular membrane‐binding function of 15‐LO1 appear to contribute to HIF‐1α suppression. Our findings provide a novel mechanism for HIF‐1α regulation, in which oxygen‐dependent HIF‐1 activity is modulated by an oxygen‐insensitive lipid metabolic enzyme.
Sparse feature fidelity for image quality assessment

A quality metric called sparse feature fidelity (SFF) is proposed for full-reference image quality assessment (IQA). It is inspired by the fact that images are transformed into sparse representations by the primary visual cortex which is the most important part of the human visual system (HVS). The proposed method is based on sparse features that are acquired from a set of feature detectors called simple cell matrix which is trained on samples of natural images by a sparse coding algorithm. Then the SFF scores are obtained by a similarity measurement between the features of reference and distorted images. Moreover, two strategies are designed to simulate the properties of the visual perception: visual attention and visual threshold. Experimental results on four image databases show that SFF is more consistent with the subjective evaluations than the leading IQA methods.
Evolution of the Frequency of Luminous (≥LV⋆) Close Galaxy Pairs at z < 1.2 in the COSMOS Field

We measure the fraction of luminous galaxies in pairs at projected separations of 5-20 kpc out to z = 1.2 in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field using ACS images and photometric redshifts derived from an extensive multiwavelength data set. Analysis of a complete sample of 106,188 galaxies more luminous than MV = -19.8 (~ LV⋆) in the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1.2 yields 1749 galaxy pairs. These data are supplemented by a local (z = 0-0.1) value for the galaxy pair fraction derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. After statistically correcting the COSMOS pair sample for chance line-of-sight superpositions, the evolution in the pair fraction is fit by a power law ∝ (1 + z)n=3.1±0.1. If this strongly evolving pair fraction continues out to higher redshift, ~50% of all luminous galaxies at z ~ 2 are in close pairs. This clearly signifies that galaxy mergers are a very significant and possibly dominant mechanism for galaxy evolution during the epoch of galaxy formation at z = 1-3.