Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic QoS Management and Optimization in Service-Based Systems

Service-based systems that are dynamically composed at runtime to provide complex, adaptive functionality are currently one of the main development paradigms in software engineering. However, the Quality of Service (QoS) delivered by these systems remains an important concern, and needs to be managed in an equally adaptive and predictable way. To address this need, we introduce a novel, tool-supported framework for the development of adaptive service-based systems called QoSMOS (QoS Management and Optimization of Service-based systems). QoSMOS can be used to develop service-based systems that achieve their QoS requirements through dynamically adapting to changes in the system state, environment, and workload. QoSMOS service-based systems translate high-level QoS requirements specified by their administrators into probabilistic temporal logic formulae, which are then formally and automatically analyzed to identify and enforce optimal system configurations. The QoSMOS self-adaptation mechanism can handle reliability and performance-related QoS requirements, and can be integrated into newly developed solutions or legacy systems. The effectiveness and scalability of the approach are validated using simulations and a set of experiments based on an implementation of an adaptive service-based system for remote medical assistance.
HABITAT-DEPENDENT SONG DIVERGENCE IN THE LITTLE GREENBUL: AN ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SELECTION PRESSURES ON ACOUSTIC SIGNALS

Abstract Bird song is a sexual trait important in mate choice and known to be shaped by environmental selection. Here we investigate the ecological factors shaping song variation across a rainforest gradient in central Africa. We show that the little greenbul (Andropadus virens), previously shown to vary morphologically across the gradient in fitness-related characters, also varies with respect to song characteristics. Acoustic features, including minimum and maximum frequency, and delivery rate of song notes showed significant differences between habitats. In contrast, we found dialectal variation independent of habitat in population-typical songtype sequences. This pattern is consistent with ongoing gene flow across habitats and in line with the view that song variation in the order in which songtypes are produced is not dependent on habitat characteristics in the same way physical song characteristics are. Sound transmission characteristics of the two habitats did not vary significantly, but analyses of ambient noise spectra revealed dramatic and consistent habitat-dependent differences. Matching between low ambient noise levels for low frequencies in the rainforest and lower minimal frequencies in greenbul songs in this habitat suggests that part of the song divergence may be driven by habitat-dependent ambient noise patterns. These results suggest that habitat-dependent selection may act simultaneously on traits of ecological importance and those important in prezygotic isolation, leading to an association between morphological and acoustic divergence. Such an association may promote assortative mating and may be a mechanism driving reproductive divergence across ecological gradients.
Strategic Flexibility: Mediating Entrepreneurial Orientation and SME Performance in Bahrain

The study aimed to identify the mediating role of Strategic Flexibility in the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and its dimensions (Innovativeness, Proactiveness, Risk-taking, Autonomy, and Competitive Aggressiveness) and the performance of Bahraini SMEs according to the Balanced Scorecard perspective. The study used descriptive analytical approach, and the study population consisted of = small and medium enterprises that are members of Bahrain Society for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises. Questionnaire was used as a tool to collect primary data from the study sample and (205) questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program. The study concluded that there is an impact of the dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation studied in achieving SME performance from the perspective of the balanced scorecard, dimension of Autonomy came as the most influential dimension in achieving performance, followed by Risk-taking, then Proactiveness and Competitive Aggressiveness, followed by the Innovativeness dimension. The study found a statistically significant positive effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation and its five dimensions on achieving Strategic Flexibility, and found a positive, statistically significant effect of Strategic Flexibility on achieving performance according to the Balanced Scorecard perspective. The study also found a partial mediation of Strategic Flexibility in the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and the performance of SMEs. The study recommended the need to enhance the concept of entrepreneurial orientation in Bahraini SMEs, and to adopt its dimensions as a strategic construct on which their decision-making process is based, by holding seminars and educational programs, and Encourage SMEs managers not to depend on Innovativeness exclusively to achieve performance, but rather including other entrepreneurial elements in addition to it, to achieve the required performance, and adopting balanced scorecard perspectives as a comprehensive strategic tool for measuring performance by Bahraini small and medium-sized enterprises, and not narrowing the horizon when Consider performance and limit it exclusively to financial income or the number of employees.
Excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy for residual myopia after radial keratotomy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the surgical outcome of excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for undercorrected myopia after radial keratotomy (RK). DESIGN Case series. SETTING Gimbel Eye Centre, Calgary. PATIENTS Thirty-one patients (37 eyes) who underwent excimer laser PRK for residual myopia after RK and were followed for at least 12 months. OUTCOME MEASURES Spherical equivalent refraction, uncorrected and best corrected Snellen visual acuity, attempted and achieved correction, and corneal haze. RESULTS The mean refraction before PRK was -3.11 (standard deviation [SD] 1.48) dioptres and 12 months after PRK, -1.18 D (SD 1.48 D) (p < 0.0001). Twelve months after PRK 24 eyes (64.9%) had an uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better. Five eyes lost one line of best corrected acuity, and one eye lost more than two lines. At 12 months 28 eyes (75.7%) had no corneal haze or trace haze, 8 (21.6%) had mild haze, and 1 (2.7%) had marked haze. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that excimer laser PRK has the potential to manage undercorrection of myopia after RK. The issues of refractive predictability, loss of best corrected visual acuity and corneal haze require further study.
Antimicrobial Evaluation of Diterpenes from Copaifera langsdorffii Oleoresin Against Periodontal Anaerobic Bacteria

The antimicrobial activity of four labdane-type diterpenes isolated from the oleoresin of Copaifera langsdorffii as well as of two commercially available diterpenes (sclareol and manool) was investigated against a representative panel of microorganisms responsible for periodontitis. Among all the evaluated compounds, (−)-copalic acid (CA) was the most active, displaying a very promising MIC value (3.1 µg mL−1; 10.2 µM) against the key pathogen (Porphyromonas gingivalis) involved in this infectious disease. Moreover, CA did not exhibit cytotoxicity when tested in human fibroblasts. Time-kill curve assays performed with CA against P. gingivalis revealed that this compound only inhibited the growth of the inoculums in the first 12 h (bacteriostatic effect). However, its bactericidal effect was clearly noted thereafter (between 12 and 24 h). It was also possible to verify an additive effect when CA and chlorhexidine dihydrochloride (CHD, positive control) were associated at their MBC values. The time curve profile resulting from this combination showed that this association needed only six hours for the bactericidal effect to be noted. In summary, CA has shown to be an important metabolite for the control of periodontal diseases. Moreover, the use of standardized extracts based on copaiba oleoresin with high CA contents can be an important strategy in the development of novel oral care products.
Model Pertanian Terpadu Tanaman Hortikultura dan Ternak Sapi untuk Meningkatkan Pendapatan Petani

Research was conducted to identify the diversity of technologies in an integrated farming system for horticulture and beef cattle. Furthermore, it observed the improving of farmer income that used this model. There were primary and secondary data with the survey method for farmers in Pekanbaru. The result showed the integrated farming system kept up to 21 heads of beef cattle and 4,22 ha of holticultures. Every farmer had around 0,3 ha farmland and approximately 4 to 5 heads of beef cattle. Finally, the integrated farming system increased the farmer income about Rp 9.731. 147 per cultivating period of holticultures and about Rp. 9.345. 328 per year of keeping the beef cattles.
Organic Field-Effect Transistors Based on a Liquid-Crystalline Polymeric Semiconductor using SU-8 Gate Dielectrics on Flexible Substrates

In this work, the insulating properties of poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVP) and SU-8 (MicroChem, Westborough, MA, USA) dielectrics are analyzed and compared with each other. We further investigate the performance behavior of organic field-effect transistors based on a semiconducting liquid-crystal polymer (LCP) using both dielectric materials and evaluate the results regarding the processability. Due to the lower process temperature needed for the SU-8 deposition, the realization of organic transistors on flexible substrates is demonstrated showing comparable charge carrier mobilities to devices using PVP on glass. In addition, a µ-dispensing procedure of the LCP on SU-8 is presented, improving the switching behavior of the organic transistors, and the promising stability data of the SU-8/LCP stack are verified after storing the structures for 60 days in ambient air showing negligible irreversible degradation of the organic semiconductor.
Effect of Fluid Contamination on Reverse Torque Values in Bone-Level Implants

Introduction: Screw loosening is one of the most common mechanical complications within the prosthetic components of dental implants. Clinicians must know if reverse torque values (RTVs) are affected by contamination of the implant abutment screw hole with either blood, saliva or chlorhexidine. Methods: Forty implants were divided into 4 groups (n = 10). Implants were embedded in epoxy resin and placed in a digital torque meter. Screw holes of 30 implants were contaminated with either chlorhexidine (CG), fresh human saliva (SG), or blood (BG), and the remaining noncontaminated screws served as a control group (NC). Abutment screws were tightened using a hand-held torque meter (25 N·cm). Thermocycling (1500 cycles) was performed, and abutment detorque values were calculated using the digital torque meter. Results: RTVs were lower than insertion torque values for all groups. According to Tukey HSD Test, blood contamination of abutment screws resulted in significantly lower RTVs (18.950 ± 2.641 N·cm) when compared with controls. Conclusions: Blood contamination of abutment screw holes was shown to significantly decrease RTVs. Blood contamination may result in greater loosening of implant screws in clinical practice.
Face clustering in videos: GMM-based hierarchical clustering using Spatio-Temporal data

In recent years, an increase in multimedia data generation and efficient forms of storage have given rise to needs like quick browsing, efficient summarization and techniques for information retrieval. Face Clustering, together with other technologies such as speech recognition, can effectively solve these problems. Applications such as video indexing, major cast detection and video summarization greatly benefit from the development of accurate face clustering algorithms. Since videos represent a temporally ordered collection of faces, it is only natural to use the knowledge of the temporal ordering of these faces, in conjunction with the spatial features extracted from them, to obtain optimal clusterings. This paper is aimed at developing a novel clustering algorithm, by modifying the highly successful hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) process, so that it includes an effective initialization mechanism, via an initial temporal clustering and Gaussian Mixture Model based cluster splitting, and introduces a temporal aspect during cluster combination, in addition to the spatial distances. Experiments show that it significantly outperforms HAC while being equally flexible.
The Quality of School Climate and Teachers’ Classroom Communication Skills as Predictors of Pupils’ Performance in Nigeria

This study examined the quality of school climate and teachers’ classrooms communication skills as predictors of pupils’ performance in Lagos State, Nigeria. Correlational survey research design was used for the study. The sample comprised 120 teachers who were selected from 30 primary schools. Multi-Stage sampling technique was used for the selection. Two validated self-designed instruments were used to collect data for the study. The first one was titled“Observational Schedule on School Climate and Teachers Communication Skills (OSSCTCS). The second one was an achievement test titled” Pupil’s Achievement Test (PAT) which was used to collect data on the performance of the pupils involved in the study. OSSCTCS was subjected to a reliability test through inter-rater scale technique and it yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.82. While Kuder-Richardson 20 formula was used to determine the reliability of the achievement test. It yielded reliability index of 0.91. Data collected were analysed using inferential statistics of multiple regression. Findings from the study revealed that there was significant composite contribution of school climate and teachers’ communication skills to pupil’s performance (F(6,113) = 4.744; p<0.05). Again, school climate had the highest significant relative contribution to pupils’ performance (β = .504; t = 7.741; p<0.05) andit is followed by teachers’ communication skills which had the least non-significant relative contribution (β = .015; t = .349; p>0.05). Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that training programs, seminars or workshops should be organised by experts in the field of early childhood education to train school heads and teachers on the importance of aesthetically designed early childhood schools. Also, that teachers should be trained on the significant of effective communication.
Dynamic shader lamps : painting on movable objects

The authors present a Dynamic Spatially Augmented Reality system for augmenting movable 3D objects in an indoor environment using multiple projectors. We describe a real-time system for applying virtual paint and textures to real objects simply by direct physical manipulation of the object and a "paint brush" stylus. We track the objects and the "paint brush", and illuminate the objects with images that remain registered as they move, to create the illusion of material properties. The system is simple to use and we hope it may herald new applications in diverse fields such as visualization, tele-immersion, art and architecture. The system currently works with tracked objects whose geometry was pre-acquired and models created manually, but it is possible to extend it by adding cameras to the environment, to acquire object geometry automatically and use vision-based tracking for the object and paintbrush. Plus colour plates.
Review of Infant Feeding: Key Features of Breast Milk and Infant Formula

Mothers’ own milk is the best source of nutrition for nearly all infants. Beyond somatic growth, breast milk as a biologic fluid has a variety of other benefits, including modulation of postnatal intestinal function, immune ontogeny, and brain development. Although breastfeeding is highly recommended, breastfeeding may not always be possible, suitable or solely adequate. Infant formula is an industrially produced substitute for infant consumption. Infant formula attempts to mimic the nutritional composition of breast milk as closely as possible, and is based on cow’s milk or soymilk. A number of alternatives to cow’s milk-based formula also exist. In this article, we review the nutritional information of breast milk and infant formulas for better understanding of the importance of breastfeeding and the uses of infant formula from birth to 12 months of age when a substitute form of nutrition is required.
Knops blood group haplotypes among distinct Brazilian populations

BACKGROUND: The Knops blood group system consists of antigens encoded by exon 29 of complement receptor 1 (CR1) gene. To better elucidate the complexity of Knops group system, the frequency of six single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three Brazilian populations is determined.
Rapid, cost-effective screening of flax genotypes to identify desirable fatty acid compositions.

Seeds of oil flax (Linum usitatissimum) are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and their composition is one of the major criteria for flax selection. Conventional breeding schemes take many years and need a lot of space in greenhouses and/or in fields to achieve genotypes with the desired traits. We have improved the half-seed method that allows flax line selection from their oil seed composition. Cotyledon tips were analysed by GC to determine their FAME profiles while the remaining seed was sown to regenerate flax plant. An optimisation of the GC enabled a sample to be analysed every 4 minutes. Such a technique could be applied without loss of germination rate for excised seeds. Further experiments showed that both seed parts had the same fatty acid profile as cotyledon tips. This non-destructive procedure based on the half-seed method and ultrafast GC analysis provides an efficient screening of flax genotypes according to their seed fatty acid composition over only one generation.
Risk Factors for Intracerebral Hemorrhage in a Pooled Prospective Study

Background and Purpose— Few prospective studies have reported risk factors for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and results are inconsistent. We studied risk factors for ICH in a pooled cohort of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) and the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Methods— The ARIC cohort was recruited in 1987 to 1989 and involves 15 792 men and women, aged 45 to 64 years at baseline, sampled from 4 US communities. The CHS cohort was recruited in 1989 to 1993 and involves 5888 men and women, aged 65 or over at baseline, sampled from 4 US communities. Baseline measurements included many potential vascular risk factors. The cohorts were followed for incident stroke events. Results— Over 263 489 person-years of follow-up, 135 incident ICH events occurred. In a multivariable model, age, African-American ethnicity (versus Whites), and hypertension were positively associated with incident ICH, whereas low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were inversely related to incident ICH. Participants with systolic blood pressure ≥160 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥110 mm Hg had 5.55 (95% CI 3.07 to 10.0) times the rate of ICH as nonhypertensives. Sex, smoking, alcohol intake, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, and diabetes were not related to ICH. Conclusions— In this pooled cohort the risk factors for ICH were older age, African-American ethnicity, hypertension, lower LDL-C, and lower triglycerides.
Joint impacts of minimum legal drinking age and beer taxes on US youth traffic fatalities, 1975 to 2001.

BACKGROUND There is a considerable body of prior research indicating that a number of public policies that limit alcohol availability affect youth traffic fatalities. These limitations can be economic (e.g., beverage taxation), physical (e.g., numbers or operating hours of alcohol outlets), or demographic (e.g., minimum legal drinking age). The estimated impacts of these policies differ widely across studies. A full-price theoretical approach suggests that people weigh the benefits of drinking against the sum of all the associated costs, including the price of the beverages themselves plus the difficulty of obtaining them and any additional risks of injury or punishment related to their use. This study tested one prediction of this model, namely that the impact from changing one availability-related cost depends on the level of other components of full cost. METHODS The current analyses concentrate on 2 forms of limitations on availability that have been shown to affect youth traffic fatalities: minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws and beer taxes. The interdependence between the impacts of MLDA and taxes is investigated using a panel of 48 US states over the period 1975 to 2001. All age-group-specific models control for numerous other variables previously shown to affect vehicle fatalities, as well as fixed effects to account for unexplained crosssectional and time-series variation. RESULTS The analyses showed that raising either MLDA or beer taxes in isolation led to fewer youth traffic fatalities. As expected, a given change in MLDA causes a larger proportional change in fatalities when beer taxes are low than when they are high. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that a community's expected benefit from a proposed limitation on alcohol availability depends on its current regulatory environment. Specifically, communities with relatively strong existing policies might expect smaller impacts than suggested by prior research, while places with weak current regulations might expect larger benefits from the same policy initiative.
The Center for Research in Security Prices

This paper presents clinically-based studies of two acquisitions that received very different stock market reactions at announcements one positive and one negative. Despite the differing market reactions, we find that, ultimately, neither acquisition created value overall. In exploring the reasons for the acquisition outcomes, we rely primarily on interviews with managers and on internally generated performance data. We compare the results of these analyses to those from analyses of post-acquisition operating and stock price performance traditionally applied to large samples. We draw two primary conclusions. (1) Our findings highlight the difficulty of implementing a successful acquisition strategy and of running an effective internal capital market. Post-acquisition difficulties resulted because: (a) managers of the acquiring company did not deeply understand the target company at the time of the acquisition; (b) the acquirer imposed an inappropriate organizational design on the target as part of the post-acquisition integration process; and (c) inappropriate management incentives existed at both the top management and division level. (2) Measures of operating performance used in large sample studies are weakly correlated with actual post-acquisition operating performance. * University of Chicago and NBER, University of Chicago, and Harvard University, respectively. We especially thank Shel Erikson, Thomas Hix, William Berger, Michael Grimes and Joseph Chamberlain of Cooper Cameron, John Deakins of Cameron Iron Works, and James Ringler and Larry Skatoff of Premark for talking with us and making this study possible. We thank Steven Hoffman, Sherry Roper, and Bradley Thompson for excellent research assistance. Comments from Larry Berlin, Derrick Deakins, Marc Knez, Toby Stuart, G. William Schwert, Rene Stulz, and seminar participants at the National Bureau of Economic Research and University of Chicago were very helpful. This research has been supported by the Sloan Foundation through a grant to the National Bureau of Economic Research, and by a Merrill Lynch grant to Mitchell to study mergers and acquisitions. Address correspondence to Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 1101 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.