Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Models and operators for extension of active multimedia documents via annotations

Multimedia production is an elaborate activity composed of multiple information management and transformation tasks that support an underlying creative goal. Examples of these activities are structuring, organization, modification and versioning of media elements, all of which depend on the maintenance of supporting documentation and metadata. In professional productions, which can count on proper human and material resources, such documentation is maintained by the production crew, being key to secure a high quality in the final content. In less resourceful configurations, such as amateur-oriented productions, at least reasonable quality standards are desirable in most cases, however the perceived difficulty in managing and transforming content can inhibit amateurs on producing content with acceptable quality. This problem has been tackled in many fronts, for instance via annotation methods, smart browsing methods and authoring techniques, just to name a few. In this dissertation, the primary objective is to take advantage of user-created annotations in order to aid amateur-oriented multimedia authoring. In order to support this objective, the contributions are built around an authoring approach based on structured multimedia documents. First, a custom language for Web-based multimedia documents is defined, based on SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language). This language brings several contributions, such as the formalization of an extended graph-based temporal layout model, live editing of document elements and extended reuse features. Second, a model for document annotation and an algebra for document transformations are defined, both of which allows composition and extraction of multimedia document fragments based on annotations. Third, the previous contributions are integrated into a Web-based authoring tool, which allows manipulating a document while it is active. Such manipulations encompass several interaction techniques for enriching, editing, publishing and extending multimedia documents. The contributions have been instantiated with multimedia sessions obtained from synchronous collaboration tools, in scenarios of video-based lectures, meetings and video-based qualitative research. Such instantiations demonstrate the applicability and utility of the contributions.
Performance analysis of reuse partitioning in cellular systems

Reuse partitioning (RP) is a simple technique that can be used to increase system capacity. With RP a cell is divided into several concentric regions, each associated with a different cluster size. In this paper the call blocking probability P/sub B/ in a cellular system which employs an n-region RP scheme with fixed channel allocation (FCA) is studied. For an n-region RP scheme with multiple channel switching, an analytic expression for P/sub B/ can be obtained. A comparison of no, single and multiple channel switching is made. It was found that the performances of single and multiple channel switching are very close. The system capacity of a two region (four region) RP scheme can be increased by about 25% (45%) compared to conventional FCA system without RP. Comparison with a previously studied simplified model indicates that the latter can yield overly optimistic blocking probabilities.
Tools for the assessment of hydrological ensemble forecasts obtained by neural networks

The increasing demand for uncertainty assessment in streamflow forecasts has drawn the hydrological community's interest toward ensemble forecasting techniques. The widespread deterministic hydrological forecasting point of view focuses to a great extent on the search for a hydrological model that would come as close as possible to “perfection” (i.e. the aim is to implement a model that produces a point forecast that is as close as possible as the observed outcome). On the other hand, ensemble forecasting departs from the deterministic point of view by avoiding the assumption that the “perfect” model exists and instead focuses on issuing a type of forecast that accounts explicitly for the uncertainty inherent to the forecasting process as a whole. In this paper, one-day-ahead hydrological ensemble forecasts obtained by stacked neural networks are presented and analysed. To do so, three simple performance assessment criteria are presented. Those criteria were originally developed in the meteorological and statistical communities to accommodate the need for a quality assessment methodology that is coherent with the probabilistic nature of ensemble weather forecasts. It will be shown that, even though the ensemble forecasts suffer from underdispersion, they outperform point forecasts.
L'etablissement protohistorique de La Fonteta (fin VIIIe-fin VIe siècle av. J.-C.)

espanolEn la Fonteta, al sur de la provincia de Alicante, las excavaciones descubrieron un emplazamiento fenicio –el mas septentrional conocido en la Peninsula Iberica– fundado a finales del siglo VIII antes de nuestra era y habitado por una poblacion mixta (indigenas y semitas) hasta fines del siglo VI. La vida de este activo puerto se estudia bajo multiples aspectos: tecnicas de construccion, arquitectura, alimentacion, objetos de uso diario y bienes de intercambio comercial. francaisLe site de La Fonteta, au sud de la province d'Alicante, est un etablissement phenicien, fonde a la fin du VIIIe siecle avant notre ere, qui fut habite par une population mixte - indigenes et semites - jusqu'a la fin du VIe siecle. Ce port actif, qui controlait, a l'embouchure du fleuve Segura, un axe important de penetration vers l'interieur de la Peninsule, est la fondation phenicienne la plus septentrionale que l'on connaisse a ce jour en Espagne. Sa situation privilegiee explique le developpement d'une culture impregnee d'influences orientalisantes, dont temoignent notamment des elements de decor architectural d'un style original qui est a l'origine de la sculpture iberique. Les fouilles dont ce livre rend compte ont revele la vie de La Fonteta dans tous ses aspects : techniques de construction, formes d'habitat, alimentation, objets de la vie quotidienne et biens echanges dans le cadre d'un commerce a longue ou a courte distance. Elles ont ete menees par une equipe pluridisciplinaire franco-espagnole - composee de specialistes en paleogeographie, geomorphologie, ceramologie, architecture, archeozoologie, archeobotanique, anthracologie - dont le travail offre un tableau complet de l'existence de cette communaute protohistorique.
Picturing the Uncertain World

In his entertaining and informative book Graphic Discovery, Howard Wainer unlocked the power of graphical display to make complex problems clear. Now hes back with Picturing the Uncertain World, a book that explores how graphs can serve as maps to guide us when the information we have is ambiguous or incomplete. Using a visually diverse sampling of graphical display, from heartrending autobiographical displays of genocide in the Kovno ghetto to the Pie Chart of Mystery in a New Yorker cartoon, Wainer illustrates the many ways graphs can be used-and misused-as we try to make sense of an uncertain world.
Performance analysis of intelligent networks

The Intelligent Network architecture is an extension of the existing telephone network architecture to provide centralised definition and control of services. This architecture allows enormous flexibility in introduction of new services, and allows customers to define and control their own services with a large degree of independence from network providers. This thesis is concerned with systematic modelling and analysis Intelligent Networks and Intelligent Network services. There is a significant body of prior art on queueing network modelling of the signalling networks and switching equipment which comprise Intelligent Networks. The first part of the dissertation defines a scheme for systematically translating intelligent network service definitions into parameters for such queueing network models. A representation syntax for services is defined for this purpose, and the steps required to translate a service to analysable form are defined with the aid of this syntax. The second part of the dissertation extends existing queueing network analysis techniques to obtain certain performance measures which are important in the analysis of Intelligent Networks, and which are lacking in previous work. In particular, the calculation of completion time distributions for entire call set-ups, as opposed delays at individual devices, is calculated. Telecommunications switches may use simple priority-based approaches to preserve throughput under congestion conditions. Such measures have previously been observed to cause oscillatory behaviour in voice switches, through a mechanism known as
Estudio de las dimensiones de la salud autopercibida en mujeres adultas

espanolLa Organizacion Mundial de la Salud concibe la salud como el conjunto del bienestar fisico, mental y social, asi como la ausencia de enfermedad; no obstante, la concepcion individual de la salud de cada persona esta condicionada por su entorno. El presente estudio pretende comparar la concepcion de la salud de once mujeres con edades comprendidas entre los 45 y los 60 anos con la de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud. Para ello se han realizado entrevistas individuales con caracter semiestructurado, tras una prueba piloto para el diseno del guion de entrevistas. Los resultados han ratificado las cuatro dimensiones de la salud que reconoce la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud, a las que las informantes anaden la calidad de vida, que a su vez recoge tres categorias: los factores culturales, los factores socioeconomicos y el estilo de vida. Esta nueva dimension, que enriquece la actual concepcion de la salud, debe ser difundida por los profesionales de la salud facilitando una vision mas integral de la salud a todos los estratos de la sociedad. EnglishThe World Health Organization conceptualizes health as the set of physical, mental and social welfare as well as the absence of disease; nevertheless, individual health conception is conditioned by their context. The present study aims to compare the conception of eleven women, whose ages vary from 45 to 60 years old, with the World Health Organization’s conception. In order to that, individual semi-structured interviews has been done, after a pilot test for the design of the script for interviews. The achieved results support the four dimensions of health the World Health Organization recognizes, adding the quality of life, that includes three categories: cultural factors, socioeconomic factors and lifestyle. This new dimension, that enriches the current concept of health, must be issued by health professionals providing a more comprehensive vision of health to all society strata.
Evolutionary theory : a 'good' explanatory framework for research into technological innovation?

This study attempts to answer the question; does evolutionary theory provide a ‘good’ explanatory framework for examining the phenomenon of technological innovation? In doing so, the study critically examines mainstream marketing’s in-place explanatory frameworks, offers an explanation of ‘evolution’ based on new insights from a broad range of (sub)disciplines, and makes the practical proposition that this explanation is a ‘good’ analogous representation of the technological innovation process. As an alternative to the ‘scientific empiricist’ approach that dominates much of marketing’s research into technological innovation, the study develops a research methodology that is based within a postmodern philosophy, adopts an epistemology of transcendental realism, bases the research design on abduction and textual explanation, and brings together a research method based on the criteria of interesting, plausibility and acceptability. Familiarisation with mainstream marketing’s explanatory frameworks for research into technological innovation identified Diffusion theory, New Product Development theory and Network theory as dominant. It is concluded that these frameworks are based on problematic theoretical foundations, a situation considered as largely due to a pre-occupation with assumptions that are atomistic, reductionistic, deterministic, gradualistic and mechanistic in nature. It is argued, that in concert with the ‘socialised’ dominance of mathematical form over conceptual substance, mainstream marketing’s research into technological innovation is locked into a narrow range of ‘preordained axiomatics’. The explanation of ‘evolution’ offered within the study is based on a why, what, how, when and where format. The resultant explanation represents a significant departure from the (neo)Darwinian biological perspective that tends to dominate evolutionary explanations of socio-economic behaviour, in that the focus is on the principles (and associated conceptualizations) of ‘variation’, ‘selection’ and ‘preservation’ within the broader context of open and dissipative systems. The offered explanation presents a number of theoretical ideas, and in particular, that evolution can only occur in a ‘multidimensional space of possibilities’, denotes a process of ‘adaptive emergence’, and is essentially concerned with ‘on-going resilience through adaptability’. The practical proposition is made that the offered explanation of ‘evolution’ can be used in an ‘as if’ manner, that is, the principles of ‘variation’, ‘selection’, and ‘preservation’ (and the meanings ascribed to them through conceptualization) are analogically transferable to the technological innovation research area. The proposition is supported through reference to theoretical and empirical research, highlighting the similarity with respect to the generative mechanisms, structures and contingent conditions underpinning both ‘evolution’ and ‘technological innovation’.
Off-line signature verification using directional PDF and neural networks

The first stage of a complete automatic handwritten signature verification system (AHSVS) is described in this paper. Since only random forgeries are taken into account in this first stage of decision, the directional probability density function (PDF) which is related to the overall shape of the handwritten signature has been taken into account as feature vector. Experimental results show that using both directional PDFs and the completely connected feedforward neural network classifier are valuable to build the first stage of a complete AHSVS. <<ETX>>
Matrix Structural Analysis

Examines computerized structural analysis methods for buildings, bridges, and other structures, with special emphasis on current practices. Covers the stiffness analysis of frames, the flexibility method, virtual work principles, special analysis procedures, and more. Defines the terminology, coordinate systems, and fundamental concepts of structural behavior, laying the foundation for the study of more advanced treatments such as the finite element method.
A support vector approach to online brain control

This paper introduces a new approach to direct motor cortical brain machine interfaces between rats and a directional decision task. This approach does not rely on a model of neural activity like preferred direction approaches. It builds a functional mapping between the neural firing patterns and the control command using a kernel based method, namely the support vector machine. Therefore this approach seeks to classify the spatial and temporal neural firing activities without making assumptions on how the neural signals produce movement in intact individuals. Offline analysis offers critical evaluation of parameters used in decoding the control command from the cortical signal. Further these results show the effect of increasing the number of neural signals used on the accuracy of the control commands generated. The method was then implemented in a real-time, closed-loop situation where four animals, after a brief paddle pressing phase for calibration, used signals from their motor cortex to actuate the task achieving an accuracy of 77.7% (71.7% 85.8%). These results hold hope for a possibly robust and realistic interface capable of adding quality to the life of paralyzed people.
Secularism Beyond the State: the ‘State’ and the ‘Market’ in Islamist Imagination

Abstract This paper will build on my ethnographic engagement with the Jamaat-e-Islami to explore aspects of a shift in Islamist practice and imagination from the ‘state’ as the inspiration for projects and movements to the ‘market’. In doing so I hope to investigate not just what this might tell us about Islamism in Pakistan, but also about the ability of the state to manage religion more generally. My aim is three-fold: first, to record the particular modalities of changes within Islamism in Pakistan; second, to show that these shifts betray a closer alignment between the global political imagination and Islamism than has previously been acknowledged; and third, in discussing these issues, to explore the implications of the idea of market as an important contender to the dominance of the idea of the state in political mobilizations. While recent discussions about secularism, following Talal Asad,1 have tended to focus on the disciplinary force exerted by the state, this paper suggests that the market has emerged as a potentially more significant, though under-recognized, disciplinary force.
The textbook problem: Investigating one possible solution

Abstract This article explores the inherent problems for academic libraries in providing access to textbooks to students, the growing demand for such access by students, and presents the findings of a reserve pilot project conducted at a major Midwest university. Findings indicate the pros and cons of the pilot attempted as well as demonstrating the need for continued research and collaborative work with appropriate organizations on the campus and beyond.
Um novo retrato da Web brasileira

The objective of this paper is to evaluate quantitative and q characteristics of the Brazilian Web, matching present est imatives with estima- tives from five years ago. Most of the Web content is dynamic an d volatile, becoming the crawling of the total Web content a impracticabl e task. Thus, the evaluation process was performed over a sample of the Brazili an Web, crawled on March 2005. The results are consistently estimated, usin g an effective metho- dology. Many statistical data are presented. Among the main aspects observed in this work are the distribution of idioms of the pages, usageof open source versus private development tools for generation of dynamicpages, distribution of document formats, distribution of types of domains and th e distribution of the links to external Web sites.
Native language identification and writing proficiency

This study evaluates the impact of writing proficiency on native language identification (NLI), a topic that has important implications for the generalizability of NLI models and detection-based arguments for cross-linguistic influence (Jarvis 2010, 2012; CLI). The study uses multinomial logistic regression to classify the first language (L1) group membership of essays at two proficiency levels based on systematic lexical and phrasal choices made by members of five L1 groups. The results indicate that lower proficiency essays are significantly easier to classify than higher proficiency essays, suggesting that lower proficiency writers make lexical and phrasal choices that are more similar to other lower proficiency writers that share an L1 than higher proficiency writers that share an L1. A close analysis of the findings also indicates that the relationship between NLI accuracy and proficiency differed across L1 groups.
Capacity evaluation of cellular CDMA

The paper is concerned with the capacity of a cellular code division multiple access (CDMA) system in Rayleigh fading with log-normal shadowing. The capacity in terms of the number of users per cell per Hz is shown to be very sensitive to assumed values of various parameters. CDMA capacity is shown to be possibly greater than the proposed TDMA capacity under certain assumptions and vice versa under others. An asymmetry between the uplink and downlink capacities in CDMA is shown based on the finding that the uplink intracell interference power is only half of that in the downlink. <<ETX>>
MODEL CHECKING SUPPORT FOR CoreASM: MODEL CHECKING DISTRIBUTED ABSTRACT STATE MACHINES USING SPIN

We present an approach to model checking Abstract State Machines, in the context of a larger project called CoreASM, which aims to provide a comprehensive and extensible tool environment for the design, validation, and verification of systems using the Abstract State Machine (ASM) formal methodology. Model checking is an automated and efficient formal verification technique that allows us to algorithmically prove properties about state transition systems. This thesis describes the design and implementation of model checking support for CoreASM, thereby enabling formal verification of ASMs. We specify extensions to CoreASM required to support model checking, as well as present a novel procedure for transforming CoreASM specifications into Promela models, which can be checked by the Spin model checker. We also present the results of applying our ASM model checking tool to several non-trivial software specifications.
The Chaos Panaceas

Use of chaos in solving engineering problems has been one of the most productive areas in scientific and engineering research in recent years. Indeed, a huge number of research papers with an unprecedented amount of novelty claims have been produced in the past two decades. "Chaos applications" is still one of the trendiest topics of research. Proposals, reports and papers addressing the applications of chaos-based methods in solving practical problems are generally well received by funding bodies and journal reviewers. However, in many such proposals, reports and papers, misunderstanding and omission of the real underlying causes have led to mistaken analysis and possible misuse of chaos. It is therefore of interest to review the current state of research in this field and to clarify the various possible misunderstandings so that chaos-based applications can be developed with strong engineering judgments and consistency with scientific principles. Undeniably, chaos does offer a range of desirable features for doing certain engineering tasks, but analysis and thorough exposition of the basis of accomplishing certain tasks is still insufficient. In this talk we review the work in the field of chaos applications, especially in the formulation of solutions for practical engineering problems. Using a few case studies we illustrate the various common pitfalls in the reporting of chaos applications in engineering. Our objective is to promote the prudent use of engineering judgments and proper exercise of scientific principles when applying the theory of chaos in analyzing and solving engineering problems.
HABITS AND FACTORS AFFECTING UNDERGRADUATES? ACCEPTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL COMPUTER GAMES: A CASE STUDY

Educational computer games (ECG) are regarded as the promising teaching and learning tool due to its fun and engagement features as well as preferences of younger generations. Most research have explored on how ECG helps student learn, but little are known on factors contribute to students' perceptions and acceptance of ECG. It is important to understand how students perceive ECG since they are the main ECG's stakeholders. This study investigates factors that affect (or do not affect) students to use ECG using seven constructs modified from UTAUT and past researches. Data analysis was done using structural equation modelling (SEM) with both measurement and structural models. Results show that performance expectancy, attitude and enjoyment factors were positively significant towards behavioural intention to use ECG while effort expectancy, self- efficacy and anxiety were found otherwise. The findings are useful for ECG developers to understand their target users' preferences and also for university administration for any integration of technology in the future.