Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Temporary In‐Work Benefits for Welfare Recipients: Examination of the Australian Working Credit Programme*

We investigate the impact of ‘Working Credit’, a nationally-implemented programme which created increased incentives for welfare recipients to undertake temporary work. Highlighting the difficulties in identifying programme effects in the absence of a randomised controlled trial or a natural experiment, we produce estimates of impacts under alternative identifying assumptions and also undertake various robustness checks. Unconditional and regression-adjusted difference-in-difference estimates suggest that the introduction of the Working Credit programme increased employment rates, earnings and exits for those on income support, but matching methods and various robustness checks provide conflicting evidence on the impact on movements from welfare to work for unemployment benefit recipients. Moreover, estimated effects on earnings
EMBASSI: Electronic multimedia and service assistance

EMBASSI is the name of a project, which began in summer 1999 with the cooperation of several industrial partners, SMEs, research institutes and universities. As a so-called “Leitprojekt” or focus project, EMBASSI is funded by the German government (BMBF) and addresses innovative methods of man-machine interaction. EMBASSI is less technology driven, focusing more on an incorporation of individual abilities and skills. Thereby, the definition and design of different device user interfaces are based on psychological and ergonomic studies. Innovative interaction technology is achieved through the development of intelligent assistance and anthropomorphic interfaces. Telecommunication and network infrastructure is used in order to provide an added value opponent to stand-alone systems, with regard to usability and functionality. Although the foreseen achievements of EMBASSI can be applied to devices in industrial and office environments, the scope of EMBASSI is directed towards the private sector, including home, car and public terminal applications. Due to the enormous size of the market, which is addressed by the EMBASSI technology, EMBASSI becomes a kind of pacemaker in advanced man-machine interface technology. A primary objective of the project is to establish a kind of EMBASSI standard. In addition to the unification of use paradigms, a further objective is to enable the interaction between different kinds of EMBASSI systems and 1 http://www.embassi. de devices, due to the definition and standardization of an open and extensible semantic protocol.
Evolution and determinants of host specificity in the genus Lamellodiscus (Monogenea)

The evolution and determinants of host specificity in Lamellodiscus species (Monogenea, Diplectanidae) were investigated. The 20 known Mediterranean species were studied, all parasites of fishes from the family Sparidae (Teleostei). An index of specificity, which takes into account the phylogenetic relationships of their fish host species, was defined. The link between specificity and its potential determinants was investigated in a phylogenetic context using the method of independent contrasts. Host specificity in Lamellodiscus species appeared to be highly constrained by phylogeny, but also linked to host size. Mapping specificity onto the parasite phylogenetic tree suggests that specialist species do not represent an evolutionary dead end, and that specialization is not a derived condition. It is hypothesized that the ability to be generalist or specialist in Lamellodiscus is controlled by intrinsic, phylogenetically-related characteristics, and that specialist species tend to use large hosts, which may be more predictable. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 77, 431−443.
THE ECONOMIC ROLE OF TRADITIONAL SAVINGS AND CREDIT INSTITUTIONS IN ETHIOPIA / LE ROLE ECONOMIQUE DES INSTITUTIONS TRADITIONNELLES D'EPARGNE ET DE CREDIT EN ETHIOPIE

Policy makers in many low income countries (LIC's) have placed a great deal of emphasis on expanding formal financial services in rural areas. Relatively little attention, however, has been given to the various traditional mu tual aid associations including the rotating saving and credit associations (RO SCA). In some cases, such traditional associations, despite their important role in social and economic life of the rural people, are considered to be obstacles to development. Ke societies in South Korea, for example, have been called obsta cles to modernization of agriculture, despite their popularity among peasants [70,147-158]*. Even though specific data are required to examine the contribution of traditional mutual aid associations including ROSCA's to the savings and investment pro cess, I will argue in the following discussion that these traditional associations have the capacity to mobilize a substantial amount of resources and can play a positive developmental role. Some studies have shown that the amounts of sa vings mobilized and credit granted through these associations is substantial. One study done in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala showed that the deposits made through ROSCA were equal to about 20 percent of the total com mercial bank deposits [6, 14]. In Ethiopia, the 1968-1973 Development Plan estimated the annual savings vo lume through ROSCA's to be 8 to 10 percent of GDP [6, 13]. These savings, if productively used, can increase agricultural output and rural income. The poten tial usefulness of indigenous saving and credit institutions is hardly ever consi dered by government policy makers. Referring to East Africa, Jellicoe [5, 2] noted a widespread lack of knowledge at the higher levels of governments about these indigenous saving and credit institutions. The overall objective of this paper is to describe the various mutual aid associa tions including ROSCA's in Ethiopia. Emphasis will be placed on Ikub, a com mon form of ROSCA's in Ethiopia. A detailed description of the economic and social functions of Ikub, its contribution to mobilization of saving and provision of credit, and some of its attributes which contribute to its popularity will be presented.
Halotolerant Rhizobacteria Promote Growth and Enhance Salinity Tolerance in Peanut

Use of Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is a promising strategy to improve the crop production under optimal or sub-optimal conditions. In the present study, five diazotrophic salt tolerant bacteria were isolated from the roots of a halophyte, Arthrocnemum indicum. The isolates were partially characterized in vitro for plant growth promoting traits and evaluated for their potential to promote growth and enhanced salt tolerance in peanut. The 16S rRNA gene sequence homology indicated that these bacterial isolates belong to the genera, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Agrobacterium, and Ochrobactrum. All isolates were nifH positive and able to produce indole -3-acetic acid (ranging from 11.5 to 19.1 μg ml−1). The isolates showed phosphate solubilisation activity (ranging from 1.4 to 55.6 μg phosphate /mg dry weight), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity (0.1 to 0.31 μmol α-kB/μg protein/h) and were capable of reducing acetylene in acetylene reduction assay (ranging from 0.95 to 1.8 μmol C2H4 mg protein/h). These isolates successfully colonized the peanut roots and were capable of promoting the growth under non-stress condition. A significant increase in total nitrogen (N) content (up to 76%) was observed over the non-inoculated control. All isolates showed tolerance to NaCl ranging from 4 to 8% in nutrient broth medium. Under salt stress, inoculated peanut seedlings maintained ion homeostasis, accumulated less reactive oxygen species (ROS) and showed enhanced growth compared to non-inoculated seedlings. Overall, the present study has characterized several potential bacterial strains that showed an enhanced growth promotion effect on peanut under control as well as saline conditions. The results show the possibility to reduce chemical fertilizer inputs and may promote the use of bio-inoculants.
Type Inference for Java 5

We consider the problem of type checking for Java 5 with generics and wildcard types. Java supports type inference for methods with type parameters, but its presentation in the Java Language Specification lacks both clarity and a sense for how inference fits into the larger picture of Java’s type system. We show, in contrast, how this type inference can be cleanly integrated with subtyping of wildcard types, justifying the intuitions of programmers and logicians alike. In addition, we examine the decidability of Java typechecking and identify key points in the subtyping relation that both lead to undecidability and suggest a decidable conservative approximation.
Educating for mobile computing: addressing the new challenges

Computers that once filled rooms now fit in our pockets, and unlike their predecessors, mobile computers abound. The mobile industry is surging, with more smartphones being sold to consumers than PCs [17]. But does the rise of mobility impact computer science education? We claim that computer science educators must seriously consider mobility as they examine their curriculum. In this working group report, we offer a brief defense of why mobile computing belongs in our courses, summarize our survey of several hundred courses which already incorporate it, and discuss how educators might adopt it in their own courses. We hope that this work will help computer science educators make informed decisions about incorporating mobile computing into their courses and provide examples of such integration on different levels, ranging from individual projects or lecture topics to mobile computing as a learning context for an entire course.
Determination of the cosmic far-infrared background level with the ISOPHOT instrument

Context. The cosmic infrared background (CIRB) consists mainly of the integrated light of distant galaxies. In the far-infrared the current estimates of its surface brightness are based on the measurements of the COBE satellite. Independent confirmation of these results is still needed from other instruments. Aims. In this paper we derive estimates of the far-infrared CIRB using measurements made with the ISOPHOT instrument aboard the ISO satellite. The results are used to seek further confirmation of the CIRB levels that have been derived by various groups using the COBE data. Methods. We study three regions of very low cirrus emission. The surface brightness observed with the ISOPHOT instrument at 90, 150, and 180 μm is correlated with hydrogen 21 cm line data from the Effelsberg radio telescope. Extrapolation to zero hydrogen column density gives an estimate for the sum of extragalactic signal plus zodiacal light. The zodiacal light is subtracted using ISOPHOT data at shorter wavelengths. Thus, the resulting estimate of the far-infrared CIRB is based on ISO measurements alone. Results. In the range 150 to 180 μm, we obtain a CIRB value of 1.08 ± 0.32 ± 0.30 MJy sr -1 quoting statistical and systematic errors separately. In the 90 μm band, we obtain a 2-σ upper limit of 2.3 MJy sr -1 Conclusions. The estimates derived from ISOPHOT far-infrared maps are consistent with the earlier COBE results.
Limbic network interactions leading to hyperexcitability in a model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

In mouse brain slices that contain reciprocally connected hippocampus and entorhinal cortex (EC) networks, CA3 outputs control the EC propensity to generate experimentally induced ictal-like discharges resembling electrographic seizures. Neuronal damage in limbic areas, such as CA3 and dentate hilus, occurs in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and in animal models (e.g., pilocarpine- or kainate-treated rodents) mimicking this epileptic disorder. Hence, hippocampal damage in epileptic mice may lead to decreased CA3 output function that in turn would allow EC networks to generate ictal-like events. Here we tested this hypothesis and found that CA3-driven interictal discharges induced by 4-aminopyridine (4AP, 50 microM) in hippocampus-EC slices from mice injected with pilocarpine 13-22 days earlier have a lower frequency than in age-matched control slices. Moreover, EC-driven ictal-like discharges in pilocarpine-treated slices occur throughout the experiment (< or = 6 h) and spread to the CA1/subicular area via the temporoammonic path; in contrast, they disappear in control slices within 2 h of 4AP application and propagate via the trisynaptic hippocampal circuit. Thus, different network interactions within the hippocampus-EC loop characterize control and pilocarpine-treated slices maintained in vitro. We propose that these functional changes, which are presumably caused by seizure-induced cell damage, lead to seizures in vivo. This process is facilitated by a decreased control of EC excitability by hippocampal outputs and possibly sustained by the reverberant activity between EC and CA1/subiculum networks that are excited via the temporoammonic path.
Thymine- and Adenine-Functionalized Polystyrene Form Self-Assembled Structures through Multiple Complementary Hydrogen Bonds

In this study, we investigated the self-assembly of two homopolymers of the same molecular weight, but containing complementary nucleobases. After employing nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization to synthesize poly(vinylbenzyl chloride), we converted the polymer into poly(vinylbenzyl azide) through a reaction with NaN3 and then performed click chemistry with propargyl thymine and propargyl adenine to yield the homopolymers, poly(vinylbenzyl triazolylmethyl methylthymine) (PVBT) and poly(vinylbenzyl triazolylmethyl methyladenine) (PVBA), respectively. This PVBT/PVBA blend system exhibited a single glass transition temperature over the entire range of compositions, indicative of a miscible phase arising from the formation of multiple strong complementary hydrogen bonds between the thymine and adenine groups of PVBT and PVBA, respectively; Fourier transform infrared and 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy confirmed the presence of these noncovalent interactions. In addition, dynamic rheology, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy provided evidence for the formation of supramolecular network structures in these binary PVBT/PVBA blend systems.
ASCA and ROSAT X-Ray Spectra of High-Redshift Radio-loud Quasars

Results are presented on the X-ray properties of 9 high-redshift (1.2 < z < 3.4) radio-loud quasars (RLQs) observed by the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA; 10 observations) and ROSAT (11 observations, for a subset of six quasars). New ASCA observations of S5 0014+81 (z = 3.38) and S5 0836+71 (z = 2.17) and ROSAT observations of PKS 2126-158 for which results were never presented elsewhere are included. A simple model consisting of a power law plus cold, uniform absorption gives acceptable fits to the spectra of all sources. The ASCA spectra of the six brightest objects show evidence for absorption in excess of the Galactic value at a ≫99% confidence level. Comparison with the ROSAT data suggests that absorption has significantly varied (ΔNH ~ 8 × 1020 cm-2) in the case of S5 0836+71, on a timescale of approximately 0.8 yr in the quasar frame. For the remaining five sources for which ROSAT spectra were available, the two instruments gave consistent results, and the data were combined yielding unprecedented spectral coverage (typically about 0.4-40 keV in the quasar frame) for high-z quasars. This allows us to put severe limits on several different descriptions of the continuum (e.g., broken power law, bremsstrahlung, reflection component). No Fe Kα emission line is detected in any of the ASCA spectra. An absorption edge consistent with Fe Kα at the quasar redshift is marginally detected in S5 0014+81. Possible origins for the observed low energy absorption are discussed. In particular, contributions from the molecular clouds and dust present in our Galaxy (usually disregarded) are carefully considered. In light of the new results for S5 0836+71 and S5 0014+81, absorption intrinsic to the quasars is considered and discussed. The average slope obtained from the eight ASCA spectra in the observed ~0.5-10 keV energy band is ⟨Γ0.5-10 keV⟩ ≃ 1.61 ± 0.04, with a dispersion σ0.5-10 keV ≃ 0.10 ± 0.03. The average photon index in the observed 2-10 keV band, where the effect of absorption is negligible, is ⟨Γ2-10 keV⟩ ≃ 1.53 ± 0.05, with a dispersion σ2-10 keV ≲ 0.12. Furthermore, the implications of the present results on the calculations of the contribution of quasars to the cosmic X-ray and γ-ray backgrounds are briefly discussed.
Folding Polyominoes into (Poly)Cubes

We study the problem of folding a polyomino [Formula: see text] into a polycube [Formula: see text], allowing faces of [Formula: see text] to be covered multiple times. First, we define a variety of folding models according to whether the folds (a) must be along grid lines of [Formula: see text] or can divide squares in half (diagonally and/or orthogonally), (b) must be mountain or can be both mountain and valley, (c) can remain flat (forming an angle of [Formula: see text]), and (d) must lie on just the polycube surface or can have interior faces as well. Second, we give all the inclusion relations among all models that fold on the grid lines of [Formula: see text]. Third, we characterize all polyominoes that can fold into a unit cube, in some models. Fourth, we give a linear-time dynamic programming algorithm to fold a tree-shaped polyomino into a constant-size polycube, in some models. Finally, we consider the triangular version of the problem, characterizing which polyiamonds fold into a regular tetrahedron.
Cross-Language Information Retrieval via Hybrid Combination of Query Expansion Techniques

A floating type magnetic head for a magnetic disk drive. A slider, in which a magnetic core is incorporated, is fixed by adhesive to a gimbal with a hole formed on the side of the gimbal in contact with the magnetic core. Deformation of the magnetic core by the adhesive is prevented and the position of the magnetic core with respect to the magnetic disk is stabilized without deforming the magnetic core.
Optimum resources allocation proposal for coexistence of cognitive radio with centralized system based on game theoretic approach

Cognitive Radio (CR) is one of the principal technologies aiming to overcome the scarcity of the spectrum. Some cognitive radio scenarios enable the secondary users to coexist with spectrum owner (licensee) on the same frequency band. This paper studies the existence of secondary users on the same channel of a broadcast primary user system where the transmission of the primary user's transmitter covers a transmission area that contains multiple primary users' receivers. The work proposed here employs game theory to guarantee certain Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) for each primary user's receiver while not requiring the primary user to force any price on the secondary users and thus no added complexity to the primary system.
Approximate image matching using strings of bag-of-visual words representation

The Spatial Pyramid Matching approach has become very popular to model images as sets of local bag-of-words. The image comparison is then done region-by-region with an intersection kernel. Despite its success, this model presents some limitations: the grid partitioning is predefined and identical for all images and the matching is sensitive to intra- and inter-class variations. In this paper, we propose a novel approach based on approximate string matching to overcome these limitations and improve the results. First, we introduce a new image representation as strings of ordered bag-of-words. Second, we present a new edit distance specifically adapted to strings of histograms in the context of image comparison. This distance identifies local alignments between subregions and allows to remove sequences of similar subregions to better match two images. Experiments on 15 Scenes and Caltech 101 show that the proposed approach outperforms the classical spatial pyramid representation and most existing concurrent methods for classification presented in recent years.
The Effect of Multiple Rounds of Mass Drug Administration on the Association between Ocular Chlamydia trachomatis Infection and Follicular Trachoma in Preschool-Aged Children

Purpose To examine the relationship between ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection and follicular trachoma (TF) in children prior to and following multiple rounds of annual mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin. Methodology/principal findings Thirty-two communities with endemic trachoma in Kongwa District, Tanzania, were offered annual MDA as part of a district-wide trachoma control program. Presence of ocular C. trachomatis infection and TF were assessed in 3,200 randomly sampled children aged five years and younger, who were examined prior to each MDA. Infection was detected using the Amplicor CT/NG assay and TF was identified by clinical examination using the World Health Organization (WHO) simplified grading system. The association between chlamydial infection and TF in children was evaluated at baseline prior to any treatment, and 12 months after each of three annual rounds of mass treatment. Factors associated with infection were examined using generalized estimating equation models. At baseline, the overall prevalence of chlamydial infection and TF was 22% and 31%, respectively. Among children with clinical signs of TF, the proportion of those with infection was 49% prior to treatment and declined to 30% after three MDAs. The odds of infection positivity among children with clinical signs of TF decreased by 26% (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.84, p = <0.01) with each MDA, after adjusting for age. For children aged under one year, who did not receive treatment, the relationship was unchanged. Conclusions/significance The association between ocular C. trachomatis infection and TF weakened in children with each MDA, as both infection and clinical disease prevalence declined. However, there was still a significant proportion of TF cases with infection after three rounds of MDA. New strategies are needed to assess this residual infection for optimal treatment distribution.