Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning Automata Algorithms for Load Scheduling

Abstract Utilities are employing various price-based demand response schemes to curtail the maximum demand on the system. For price-based demand response to succeed, better algorithms, dataset and critical studies analyzing the effect of different pricing schemes need to be done. This article models the load-scheduling problem from the consumers' perspective as a decision-making problem and proposes algorithms to learn the optimal schedule. This article provides a simulation framework with a generalized load pattern and a generalized tariff profile so that different tariffs and load profiles can be tested with different load-scheduling algorithms to design and evaluate different demand response policies. The framework is also generalized in terms of temporal granularity. Moreover, a parameter “udc” to account for user discomfort due to the delay in scheduling the load is also incorporated. The effect of this parameter on load scheduling is studied and guidelines to choose the same are presented. The performance of the proposed algorithms is tested using this framework. The effect of penetration (defined as the percentage of consumers participating in the demand response program) of scheduling algorithm on the maximum demand is also studied.
On Static and Dynamic Intuitive Ontologies

We appreciate Professor Slotta’s responding to our critique (Slotta, this issue) and the editors’ providing him and us space in the Journal of the Learning Sciences for this exchange. It is often difficult to understand subtle new ideas without seeing them defended against misinterpretations. If we have misunderstood Chi’s ideas, then we believe others have as well, and we would be glad to contribute to their further explication. For our part, we believe that Professor Slotta has misinterpreted aspects of our position. There is not space, and it would not be appropriate, for us to reiterate our arguments from the article in question (Gupta, Hammer, & Redish, 2010), but there are two particular points we feel we should clarify. First, we explain here our use of “static ontologies,” which we maintain applies. Second, we respond to the question of how our dynamic view could account for evidence of stabilities. In addition, we take the opportunity to note differences in methodology that, we believe, underlie much of this debate.
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Two streams of research are at the origin of the utilization of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for severe autoimmune diseases (SADs). The allogeneic approach came from experimental studies on lupus mice, besides clinical results in coincidental diseases. The autologous procedure was encouraged by researches on experimental neurological and rheumatic disorders. At present the number of allogeneic HSCT performed for human SADs can be estimated to not over 100 patients, and the results are not greatly encouraging, considering the significant transplant-related mortality (TRM) and the occasional development of a new autoimmune disorder and/or relapses notwithstanding full donor chimerism. Autologous HSCT for refractory SLE has become a major target. Severe cases have been salvaged, TRM is low and diminishing, and prolonged clinical remissions are obtainable. Two types of immune resetting have been established, “re-education” and regulatory T cell (Tregs) normalization. Allogeneic HSCT for SLE seems best indicated for patients with disease complicated by an oncohematologic malignancy. Autologous HSCT is a powerful salvage therapy for otherwise intractable SLE. The duration of remission in uncertain, but a favorable response to previously inactive treatments is a generally constant feature. The comparison with new biological agents, or the combination of both, are to be ascertained.
Consensus of multi-agent moving systems with heterogeneous communication delays

A consensus of mobile multi-agent systems is a question with practical significance in the complex dynamics system. In this paper, a multi-agent moving system with the heterogeneous communication delays is studied under the hypothesis of fixed, undirected and connected topology. Applying the generalised Nyquist criterion, the multi-agent delayed algorithm is analysed, and many sufficient conditions are obtained to ensure the consensus of the moving systems. Finally, many computer simulations are used to show the validity of the results.
Efficacy of a liquid‐based thin layer method for cervical cancer screening in a population with a low incidence of cervical cancer

The performance of the ThinPrep® Pap Test™ (TP) (Cytyc Corp., Boxborough, MA) for detection of cervical cancer precursors in a population with a low incidence of disease was evaluated. This prospective trial compared results obtained with TP to those obtained with the standard cytologic smear in women from the general community who were being screened for cervical cancer from January 1, 1995–December 31, 1997 by physicians in private practice (n × 130,381 conventional examinations and 39,864 TP examinations). In the TP series there was a significant increase in the proportion of “satisfactory” examinations (91.9% TP vs. 72.2% conventional) and positive diagnoses (5.5% TP vs 2.4% conventional, odds ratio × 2.21; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.08–2.34). The likelihood of detecting a high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) by TP was significantly greater than in controls (odds ratio × 1.86; 95% CI, 1.68–2.06). Detection of low‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), or atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), was significantly greater in the TP series than in controls (LSIL odds ratio × 3.41; 95% CI, 3.07–3.79; ASCUS odds ratio × 1.68; 95% CI, 1.56–1.82). A histologic lesion was confirmed in 141 (93%) of the biopsies for HSIL (130 HSIL or greater, 10 LSIL, 1 SIL not otherwise specified). In conclusion, both diagnostic sensitivity and sample adequacy were significantly improved using the ThinPrep® Pap test under routine conditions in an outpatient population with a low incidence of cervical cancer. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2000;22:52–59. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Use of Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Preterm Infants

Nitric oxide, an important signaling molecule with multiple regulatory effects throughout the body, is an important tool for the treatment of full-term and late-preterm infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn and hypoxemic respiratory failure. Several randomized controlled trials have evaluated its role in the management of preterm infants ≤34 weeks’ gestational age with varying results. The purpose of this clinical report is to summarize the existing evidence for the use of inhaled nitric oxide in preterm infants and provide guidance regarding its use in this population. Pediatrics 2014;133:164–170
Enterobacter sakazakii infections in neonates associated with intrinsic contamination of a powdered infant formula.

We report an outbreak of Enterobacter sakazakii infection and colonization in neonates related to an infant formula contaminated during the manufacturing process. The outbreak occurred in a 2O-bed neonatal intensive care unit during a six-week period in 1988, and involved a total of four infants. Three infants had sepsis and three had bloody diarrhea; all patients responded to intravenous antibiotics and recovered without complications. The E sakazakii isolated from the formula had the same plasmid and multilocus enzyme profile as those isolated from patients. This outbreak demonstrates the significance of commercially contaminated formulas and emphasizes the need to limit contamination and multiplication of bacteria in enteral formulas.
Predicting metastasis of pheochromocytomas using DNA flow cytometry and immunohistochemical markers of cell proliferation

In the absence of metastases, there are no reliable microscopic features that distinguish malignant from benign pheochromocytomas. Because a common feature of malignancy is the loss of cell cycle regulation and normal growth arrest, the authors hypothesized that analysis of the cell cycle could be used to aid in the diagnosis of malignant pheochromocytoma.
Family-based dispatching with parallel machines

Family-based dispatching heuristics seek to lower set-up frequencies by grouping similar types of jobs for joint processing. Hence, job flow times may be improved as less time is spent on set-ups. So far, family-based dispatching with parallel machines received little attention in literature. We address the perceived gap by proposing extensions to existing family-based dispatching heuristics. Main extensions concern improved rules for family priority settings and for coordinating the number of machines in use by a single family. Extended heuristics are tested by an extensive simulation study. Significant performance gains for extended heuristics vs. existing heuristics are found. Performance gains are largest for high set-up to run-time ratios.
A neural network parallel algorithm for channel assignment problems in cellular radio networks

The channel assignment problem involves not only assigning channels or frequencies to each radio cell. but also satisfying frequency constraints given by a compatibility matrix. The proposed parallel algorithm is based on an artificial neural network composed of nm processing elements for an n-cell-m-frequency problem. The algorithm runs not only on a sequential machine but also on a parallel machine with up to a maximum of nm processors. The algorithm was tested by solving eight benchmark problems where the total number of frequencies varied from 100 to 533. The algorithm found the solutions in nearly constant time with nm processors. The simulation results showed that the algorithm found better solutions than the existing algorithm in one out of eight problems. >
A new design of central queueing ATM switches

This paper introduces a new ATM switching architecture which integrates routing and buffering in the ATM switch. An output port oriented address management scheme is used in the proposed switching architecture, and all ATM cells are stored statically in the buffer. It is different from other common approaches which require cells to move through various sorting and routing stages inside the switch. The proposed switching architecture can easily support multicast/broadcast and priority scheduling. No cells will be duplicated in the buffer for multicasting/broadcasting. The proposed address management scheme lends itself readily to a straightforward VLSI implementation for the proposed ATM switch. Central queueing is used to achieve optimal throughput-delay performance and buffer utilization. This paper presents performance evaluation of the proposed ATM switching architecture in terms of throughput, queue size distribution, and central buffer occupancy distribution.
Encapsulation of Phaseolus lunatus Protein Hydrolysate with Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitory Activity

The objective of recent research has been to seek alternative therapeutic treatments; for this reason, the use of protein hydrolysates from diverse sources has been studied. A way to guarantee that these treatments reach the site of action is through protection with covers, such as microcapsules. Therefore, proteins from the legume Phaseolus lunatus were hydrolyzed and encapsulated with a blend of Delonix regia carboxymethylated gum/sodium alginate (50 : 50 w/w). Hydrolysis release conditions in a simulated gastrointestinal system were obtained using CaCl2 concentrations as the main factor, indicating that lower CaCl2 concentrations lead to an increased hydrolysis release. Beads obtained with 1.0 mM of CaCl2 exhibited a better hydrolysate release rate under intestinal simulated conditions and the proteins maintained an IC50 of 2.9 mg/mL. Capsules obtained with the blend of Delonix regia carboxymethylated gum/sodium alginate would be used for the controlled delivery of hydrolysates with potential use as nutraceutical or therapeutic agents.
Extension of ITU-T Recommendation P.862 PESQ towards Measuring Speech Intelligibility with Vocoders

ITU-T recommendation P.862 PESQ was developed for assessing speech quality. The basic idea in PESQ is to compare a reference speech signal with the degraded signal through a psycho-acoustic model and a model of human quality comparison (cognitive model). Within NATO, testing of low bit rate speech codecs is more focused on speech intelligibility than on speech quality. Although the cognitive model of PESQ was designed to represent the quality judging process, it was already found that, for specific applications, PESQ can also predict intelligibility. In this paper PESQ is validated for assessing speech intelligibility with low bit rate vocoders. The results show that improvements in PESQ are necessary in order to obtain high correlations between objective and subjective intelligibility scores.
Analysis of four schemes of polarization mode dispersion compensation in a 40Gbit/s optical communication system

With the development of optical fiber communication, and after chromatic dispersion and attenuation are compensated for, polarization mode dispersion (PMD) in optical fibers becomes more and more important and cannot be ignored when the transmission system is up to 40Gbit/s or above, or transmission distance is several thousand kilometers long. In the paper, it is discussed four kinds of compensation schemes in 40Gbit/s optical communication system, it point out that transmission distance is different when use different compensation schemes by pulse broadening theory. And when the transmission speed is very high or the transmission distance is very long, it is necessary to compensated high-order PMD. It compared 2nd-order PMD compensated system and first-order PMD compensated system, it point out that 2nd-order PMD compensated system is much better than first-order PMD compensated system by pulse broadening theory.
LEXICAL DECOMPOSITION IN MONTAGUE-GRAMMAR

This papers argues that meta-grammatical principles prohibiting Montague-grammarians from using lexical decomposition in the disambiguation of sentences of a natural language may deter them from analyzing certain phenomena in a non-ad-hoc and intuitively adequate manner. I try to show that for some uses of German negative expressions, an explication involving lexical decomposition is superior to all other conceivable alternatives.
Features of Success in Engineering Design Presentations

This study explores design presentations that were graded by engineering faculty in order to assess the distinguishing features of those that were successful. Using a thematic analysis of 17 videotaped, final presentations from a capstone chemical engineering (CHE) course, it explores the rhetorical strategies, oral styles, and organizational structures that differentiate successful and unsuccessful team presentations. The results suggest that successful presenters used rhetorical strategies, oral styles, and organizational structures that illustrated students’ ability to negotiate the real and simulated relational and identity nuances of the design presentation genre—in short, they illustrated students’ relational genre knowledge.
Cardiovascular Risk Factors Promote Brain Hypoperfusion Leading to Cognitive Decline and Dementia

Heart disease is the major leading cause of death and disability in the world. Mainly affecting the elderly population, heart disease and its main outcome, cardiovascular disease, have become an important risk factor in the development of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This paper examines the evidence linking chronic brain hypoperfusion induced by a variety of cardiovascular deficits in the development of cognitive impairment preceding AD. The evidence indicates a strong association between AD and cardiovascular risk factors, including ApoE4, atrial fibrillation, thrombotic events, hypertension, hypotension, heart failure, high serum markers of inflammation, coronary artery disease, low cardiac index, and valvular pathology. In elderly people whose cerebral perfusion is already diminished by their advanced age, additional reduction of cerebral blood flow stemming from abnormalities in the heart-brain vascular loop ostensibly increases the probability of developing AD. Evidence also suggests that a neuronal energy crisis brought on by relentless brain hypoperfusion may be responsible for protein synthesis abnormalities that later result in the classic neurodegenerative lesions involving the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Insight into how cardiovascular risk factors can induce progressive cognitive impairment offers an enhanced understanding of the multifactorial pathophysiology characterizing AD and ways at preventing or managing the cardiovascular precursors of this dementia.
Teaching Marketing Research With the Internet

Abstract This article reports on an evaluation of an educational Website specifically developed for teaching Internet market research. The evaluation results reveal that students perceive the information content of the Website as important and useful, but believe that the Website should be technically easy to master. Thus, to encourage students to use the Internet, a new technology and medium for marketing research, marketing educators should motivate students to learn, use, and master Internet technology. Also, marketing educators should identify the degree of the Internet literacy of their students and develop educational Website accordingly.
Post silicon power/performance optimization in the presence of process variations using individual well adaptive body biasing (IWABB)

Continued scaling of silicon process technologies beyond the 90nm node will face problems due to within die process variations. The increasing relative magnitude of within die process variations will cause power-frequency distributions to widen, thus reducing manufacturing yields. Mitigating the effects of these process variations can be done by using a system of locally-generated body biases. This system allows for highly localized circuit optimizations with very little overhead in silicon area and routing resources. We present two algorithms to find near-optimal configurations of these biases which can be applied during post-fabrication testing. The system can improve an initial yield of 12% to 73%.
Writing bioanalytical reports

Bioanalytical reports are usually written by bioanalysts. Medical writers offer a valuable contribution to bioanalytical reporting, increasing the efficiency of document development and improving the quality of data presentation. This article covers essential aspects of reporting bioanalytical results, including the key parameters of bioanalysis, regulatory requirements, and the content and structure of bioanalytical reports. It will also be of interest to medical writers who deal with bioequivalence and other pharmacokinetic trials.
Intertemporal Consistency of Predictors of Student Performance: Evidence From a Business Administration Program

In this article, the author analyzes the intertemporal consistency of high school grades as predictors of the academic performance of business administration students over a 2-year period by using data from a university in Germany. This study shows how students' average high school grades and a range of other factors are regressed on the students' grade performance at regular half-year intervals during their participation in the program. The author applies a bootstrapping procedure to analyze changes in the regression estimators over time and finds that the magnitude of the coefficients on high school grades decreases over the 2-year period, and this decline is statistically significant. Nevertheless, high-school grades remain the most important predictors of the students' performance throughout the period studied here.
Image compression using hybrid vector quantization with DCT

As a result of bandwidth and storage limitations, image compression techniques are widely used in data transmission and data storage. In a congested network like the Internet or low bandwidth communication for wireless transmission, image compression at a low bit rate is necessary. In this paper, a very low bit rate image compression scheme is proposed. This scheme is a hybrid method that combines the high compression ratio of Vector Quantization (VQ) with the good energy-compaction property of Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). In order to increase the compression ratio while preserving decent reconstructed image quality, Image is compressed using vector quantization (VQ), while DCT was used the code books block. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
A professional development project for improving the use of information and communication technologies in science teaching

This article describes a professional development project aiming to develop practical approaches for the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into science education. Altogether, 13 two‐day face‐to‐face seminars and numerous computer network conferences were held during a three‐year period. The goals for the project were based on the general goals of the Finnish national framework curriculum and ICT strategy. Self‐evaluation data showed that participating teachers had used ICT extensively and integrated it into their science education programmes during the project. The ICT competence of the participating teachers increased substantially. Based on the results of the project, it can be suggested that professional development projects for science teachers in the use of ICT should emphasise the following: (i) empowerment (co‐planning of the project and its activities, and dissemination, allocation of resources, and authentic evaluation); (ii) communication (ensuring a flow of ideas and creativity, allowing communication and reflection in small groups and in optimal locations); and (iii) context (integration of ICT into teaching methods and cumulative development of competencies in the teachers who use it).
Saving Face While Geeking Out: Video Game Testing as a Justification for Learning Computer Science

Why would individuals who are capable of learning opt not to? Learning is important for stability and success. It would seem rational that students in groups that are frequently underrepresented or marginalized would be motivated to learn. However, negotiation of multiple identities and self-beliefs can impact motivations to learn. For example, young African American males frequently adopt a “cool pose” in their approach to education. They maintain that they do not care and will not try to be a part of the existing educational system. To better understand these issues, we studied African American males in the Glitch Game Testers program. High school students in the Glitch program worked as paid game testers and took workshops in computer science. More than 65% of the participants went on to study computing after high school. We found that these students persisted with education and computing because they navigated around motivations to not learn by creating many different faces for their involvement with Glitch. In this article, we explore the use and design implications of face-saving tactics these young men used to “geek out” on computer programming, choose computer science for their career, and maintain their current identities with friends and families.