Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Function-Based and Multi-Scale Approach to Green Roof Guidelines for Urban Sustainability Transitions: The Case of Bogota

A growing number of local green roof niches across the globe are transitioning into the mainstream domain. Guidelines are key to this process, as they define technological environments and set the criteria for best practices in a given socio-technical setting. Although the German Forschungsgesellschaft Landschaftsentwicklung Landschaftsbau (FLL) cornerstone guidelines provided solid empirical ground and established technical parameters for the successful application of green roofs across continents, investigations about alternative green roof guidelines for emerging markets remain very scarce. The paper presents the inclusive approach followed by the Bogota Green Roof Guidelines, which were the result of a multi-actor participatory process that examined how to embrace a wide range of emerging green roof technologies and local adaptations while promoting quality of application at different scales, regardless of the system used, and despite the absence of local robust empirical data on performance parameters. As a result, Bogota’s Green Roof Guidelines incorporated ad hoc elements: (1) new definitions and taxonomy, (2) function-based contents, (3) multi-scale approach, and (4) performance scoping. These aspects are discussed to provide novel insights for the advancement of green infrastructure policies in diverse institutional settings aiming to promote quality and simultaneously support markets that make room for a wide variety of green infrastructure practices.
Italian residential gas demand forecasting

Natural gas is one of the most important energy sources in Italy: it fuels thermoelectric power plants, industrial facilities and domestic heating. Forecasting gas demand is a critical process for each energy provider, as it enables pipe reservation and stock planning. In this paper, we address the problem of short-term forecasting of residential gas demand, by comparing several statistical learning models, including Ridge Regression, Gaussian Processes, and Deep Neural Networks. We also present the preliminary steps of preprocessing and feature engineering. To the best of our knowledge, no benchmark is available for the task we performed, thus we derive a theoretical performance limit, based on the inaccuracy of meteorological forecasts. Our best model, a deep neural network, achieves an RMSE which is about double with respect to the performance limit.
Modeling Dependence with C- and D-Vine Copulas: The R Package CDVine

Flexible multivariate distributions are needed in many areas. The popular multivariate Gaussian distribution is however very restrictive and cannot account for features like asymmetry and heavy tails. Therefore dependence modeling using copulas is nowadays very common to account for such patterns. The use of copulas is however challenging in higher dimensions, where standard multivariate copulas suffer from rather inflexible structures. Vine copulas overcome such limitations and are able to model complex dependency patterns by benefiting from the rich variety of bivariate copulas as building blocks. This article presents the R package CDVine which provides functions and tools for statistical inference of canonical vine (C-vine) and D-vine copulas. It contains tools for bivariate exploratory data analysis and for bivariate copula selection as well as for selection of pair-copula families in a vine. Models can be estimated either sequentially or by joint maximum likelihood estimation. Sampling algorithms and graphical methods are also included.
A fuzzy method for automatic generation of membership function using fuzzy relations from training examples

Fuzzy systems rely on membership functions to represent input values for problem presentation and eventual problem solution. These can be generated in different ways, one of which is obtaining an expert to define the functions. This method is not always cost effective or available, so automatic membership function definition is extremely desirable Many methods for constructing membership functions based on knowledge engineering have been developed. Previous work has shown that statistical methods can be used to generate these membership functions. The quality of the result, however, is very application dependent. This study focuses on a method of automatic membership function generation that relies on the use of fuzzy relations. This paper describes the implementation of one such method, and examines its application to several data sets, including the identification of vowel sounds in spoken English.
Classification of Medical Data Based On Sparse Representation Using Dictionary Learning

Due to the increase in the sources of image acquisition and storage capacity, the search for relevant information in large medical image databases has become more challenging. Classification of medical data into different categories is an important task, and enables efficient cataloging and retrieval with large image collections. The medical image classification systems available today classify medical images based on modality, body part, disease or orientation. Recent work in this direction seek to use the semantics of medical data to achieve better classification. However, representation of semantics is a challenging task and sparse representation has been explored in this thesis for this task.
Zeros and ones: a case for suppressing zeros in sensitive count data with an application to stroke mortality

In the current era of global internet connectivity, privacy concerns are of the utmost importance. When official statistical agencies collect spatially referenced, confidential data that they intend to release as public‐use files, the suppression of small counts is a common measure that agencies take to protect the confidentiality of the data‐subjects from ill‐intentioned users. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that an interval suppression criterion that does not suppress zeros can fail to protect regions with a single occurrence. We illustrate the difference in disclosure risk between an interval suppression criterion and a one‐sided suppression criterion by considering a US county‐level dataset composed of the number of deaths due to stroke in White men. Here, we illustrate that an interval suppression criterion leads to a twofold increase in the disclosure risk when compared with a one‐sided suppression criterion for regions with a single incidence among a population of less than 600. We conclude with an extension of these findings beyond stroke mortality and by offering general guidelines for data suppression. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of similarity metrics for texture image retrieval

Similarity metrics plays an important role in content-based image retrieval. The paper compares nine image similarity measures - Manhattan (L1), weighted-mean-variance (WMV), Euclidean (L2), Chebychev (L/spl infin/), Mahalanobis, Canberra, Bray-Curtis, squared chord and squared chi-squared distances - for texture image retrieval. A large texture database of 1856 images, derived from the Brodatz album, is used to check the retrieval performance. Features of all the database images were extracted using the Gabor wavelet. Experimental results on the Brodatz texture database indicate that the retrieval performance can be improved significantly by using the Canberra and Bray-Curtis distance metrics as compare to traditional Euclidean and Mahalanobis distance based approaches.
Detecting the persistence of drying trends under changing climate conditions using four meteorological drought indices

Numerous drought indices based on single or multiple variables have been developed for the assessment of drought. This study aimed to detect the variability of droughts by applying four drought indices, the standardized precipitation index, the reconnaissance drought index, the standardized precipitation evaporative drought index and the effective drought index, at five meteorological stations in the Songhua River basin (SRB) in China during 1962–2013 and at two meteorological stations in the Indus River basin (IRB) during 1980–2013 using different timescales (3, 6, 9 and 12 months). Moreover, a Mann−Kendall trend test at the 5% significance level was used for the assessment of drought trends in the basins. The results indicated that the 12 month data series for the SRB and the 6 month data series for the IRB were appropriate for assessing dry conditions and for comparing the drought indices. Pearson's correlation analyses between the drought indices results and the meteorological variables revealed that the standardized precipitation index is a better drought index for the assessment of drought in the SRB (r = 0.99). The results also showed that the standardized precipitation evaporative drought index versus the reconnaissance drought index is better at identifying drought in the IRB with a Pearson's correlation value r of 0.98. Severe and extremely dry conditions prevailed between 1990 and 2001 in the SRB, and there were extreme drought conditions with an intensity of −2.00 in the IRB during 2001–2002. Overall, this study provides insights into choosing the appropriate time interval and drought index for a specific region to identify the severity of droughts.
A Study of Adjustment among Government and Private Secondary School Teachers in Ongole town of Prakasam District

The main objective of this paper is to compare the adjustment among government and private secondary school teachers in ongole town of prakasam district. A sample of 105 secondary school teachers (55 governments and 50 private) was selected through stratified random sampling technique. Mangal Teacher Adjustment Inventory (MTAI) developed by Dr. S.K. Mangal was used for the data collection. Mean, SD and t-test were employed to analyze the data. The study revealed that government secondary school teachers possess significantly better adjustment than their private counterparts. There is no significant difference between the adjustment of government male and female secondary school teachers. The study also found that there is significant difference between adjustment of private male and female secondary school teachers. However, there is no significant difference between adjustment of government and private female secondary school teachers.
Efficiency in e-Learning: Proven Instructional Methods for Faster, Better, Online Learning

Instructional designers face the constant challenge of balancing many considerations affecting learning. Of all the guidelines from research offering advice on these matters, few are more challenging than those dealing with cognitive load. How much is too much? Is cognitive load always bad? In this article, two authors who have focused on these questions give you the answers, and a systematic view of the redundancy rule that will help you solve many similar problems. Efficiency in e-Learning: Proven Instructional Methods for Faster, Better, Online Learning
A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF MULTI-VERSION SOFTWARE

Recent work by Eckhardt and Lee shows that independently developed program versions will fail dependently: specifically that simultaneous failure of several versions is greater than would be the case under true independence. We show there is a precise duality between inpuc choice and program choice in this model and consider a generalisation in which different versions may be developed using diverse methodologies. 'The use of diverse methodologies is shown to decrease the probability of simultaneous failure of several versions. For certain I-out-of-n systems we obtain an optimal method for allocating diversity between versions. For 2-nut-of-3 systems there seem to be no simple optimality results which do not depend on constraints which cannot be verified in practice.
Sequential motion estimation using luminance and chrominance information for distributed video coding of Wyner-Ziv frames

Proposed is a novel side information refinement technique for Wyner-Ziv video frames in distributed video coding using sequential motion compensation with luminance and chrominance information for a given bit plane to update the side information for the next bit plane. Simulation results show that over 3 dB PSNR gain can be obtained with the proposed algorithm over the best available pixel domain Wyner Ziv codec from the literature [Natario et al.] at the same bit rate.
Coulombic interaction in Finnish middle school chemistry: a systemic perspective on students' conceptual structure of chemical bonding

The aim of this study was to design a novel and holistic way to teach chemical bonding at the middle school level according to research on the teaching and learning of bonding. A further aim was to investigate high achieving middle school students' conceptual structures concerning chemical bonding by using a systemic perspective. Students in one metropolitan area middle school were introduced to this newly designed model and their conceptual structures were studied by a clinical interview (n = 8) at the time when the students were concluding their studies at the middle school. The interview data were analysed by employing a systemic perspective on conceptual structures. Elements of conceptual structures such as concepts, simple models (mnemonic devices), explaining schemas, attributes and hypothesis constructs were identified and coded. Connections between the knowledge elements were also identified. An understanding of these connections helps to illuminate which components are necessary to build an adequate conceptual structure. The study revealed that applying principles relating to Coulombic interaction to understand chemical bonding requires the simultaneous appreciation of several factors: First, electron shells have to be understood in terms of energy levels. Second, the distance between the outer electrons and the nucleus has to be understood on the basis of electron shell construction. On the other hand, the effective nuclear charge also needs to be taken into account. The study introduces two new points of view to chemistry education research (CER): (1) a teaching model of chemical bonding that emphasises electric interaction as the background of most bonding types was developed in the study. This responds to the identified need in CER to test alternative teaching models that avoid the octet framework. (2) In the field of chemistry education research, a systemic approach has not previously been widely used for the examination of conceptual structures. In addition, the systemic perception of the network structure, which consists of these constructions, helps to explain in more detail the relationship between the separate concepts and the constructions and their significance as a whole.
A strategy to verify the code generation from concurrent and state-rich circus specifications to executable code

O uso de Geradores Automaticos de Codigo para Metodos Formais nao apenas minimiza esforcos na implementacao de Sistemas de Software, como tambem reduz a chance da existencia de erros na execucao destes Sistemas. Estas ferramentas, no entanto, podem ter faltas em seus codigos-fonte que causam erros na geracao dos Sistemas de Software, e entao a verificacao de tais ferramentas e encorajada. Esta tese de Doutorado visa criar e desenvolver uma estrategia para verificar JCircus, um Gerador Automatico de Codigo de um amplo sub-conjunto de Circus para Java. O interesse em Circus vem do fato de que ele permite a especificacao dos aspectos concorrentes e de estado de um Sistema de maneira direta. A estrategia de verificacao consiste nos seguintes passos: (1) extensao da Semântica Operacional de Woodcock e prova de que ela e solida com respeito a Semântica Denotacional existente de Circus na Teoria Unificada de Programacao (UTP), que e um framework que permite prova e unificacao entre diferentes teorias; (2) desenvolvimento e implementacao de uma estrategia que verifica o refinamento do codigo gerado por JCircus, atraves de uma toolchain que engloba um Gerador de Sistema de Transicoes Rotuladas com Predicado (LPTS) para Circus e um Gerador de Modelos que aceita como entrada (I) o LPTS e (II) o codigo gerado por JCircus, e gera um modelo em Java Pathfinder que verifica o refinamento do codigo gerado por JCircus. Atraves da aplicacao do passo (2) combinada com tecnicas baseadas em cobertura no codigo fonte de JCircus, nos visamos aumentar a confiabilidade do codigo gerado de Circus para Java.
SEISMIC RESPONSE OF LEVEL GROUND SUBJECTED TO EXTREME SHAKING by

Prediction of seismic site responses has been one of the most important tasks in geotechnical earthquake engineering. Since Kanai used the multiple wave reflection theory to compute horizontal ground movements against seismic shaking, a number of researchers have extended the basic concept proposed by Kanai. Performance of seismic site response methods, however, has always invited open questions for problems involving extreme seismic shaking and large deformation of soils due, for example, to liquefaction and lateral spreading. A new numerical method SRANG3D (Site Response Analysis of Non-linear Ground in 3 Dimensions) has been developed to improve our prediction capabilities for seismic site responses. SRANG3D computes seismic site responses that involve vertical propagation of two horizontally polarized S waves and one P wave. The most distinct feature of SRANG3D is that the stress-strain relationships of soil can be represented by a combination of various elasto-plastic constitutive soil models and discrete element models. This paper introduces the new site-response analysis method SRANG3D and the paper highlights results obtained from this new method. Our study demonstrated that SRANG3D yields improved predictions of the large-scale experimental data than currently available siteresponse analysis methods.
Learning, Game Play, and Convergence of Behavior in Evolving Social Networks

I study information dissemination and opinion formation in a framework of evolving social networks. Individuals take weighted averages repeatedly to update their opinions. They also update their assessments on others’ opinions, represented by an influence weight matrix. It is proven that both opinions and the influence weights are convergent. In the steady state, consensus is reached where all individuals hold the same opinion. Convergence occurs with an extended model as well, which indicates the tremendous influential power possessed by a minority group. Then I impose a dual network structure, where individuals not only collect information, but also use the information to play a coordination game with a selected group of opponents that one is connected with. All individuals update their strategies based on a naive learning process within a separate influence network in which information is disseminated. The selection of opponents also gets updated over time. I calculate the critical values of costs associated with connections for different network structures and strategies to occur in the steady state. Finally, I investigate the outcomes of social learning under various exogenous network structures. Individuals use an algorithm that takes into account both proximity of opinions and impact of neighbors. Results also show consensus, with convergence speed correlated with the network structure. In addition, an endogenous network formation in two stages that utilizes network and distance between agents’ opinions is proposed. The resulting networks show power-law patterns in degree distribution.
A CMOS 0.25-μm continuous-time FIR filter with 125 ps per tap delay as a fractionally spaced receiver equalizer for 1-gb/s data transmission

This paper presents a CMOS 0.25-/spl mu/m continuous-time 6-tap FIR filter that is used as a fractionally spaced receiver equalizer for 1-Gb/s data transmission. Each tap of the FIR filter delay line is realized with a second-order low-pass filter. Simulations show that the tap delay can be tuned from 100 ps to 300 ps while keeping a constant group delay within the bandwidth of 2.1 GHz and 800 MHz correspondingly. Experimental results show that the FIR filter can successfully recover a 1-Gb/s differential digital signal that has been transmitted over a 220-inch PCB trace which causes -31.48-dB attenuation at the symbol rate frequency of 1 GHz. The measured bit error rate after equalization is less than 10/sup -12/ over a 750-ps sampling range, compared to a 10/sup -2/ bit-error rate before equalization. Also presented are the measurement results comparing the horizontal and the vertical openings of the signals before and after equalization for PCB traces with different length. The chip dissipates 45 mW from a 2.5-V supply and occupies 0.33/spl times/0.27 mm/sup 2/ in a 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS process.
Towards a Unified Semantic Model for Online Social Networks to Ensure Interoperability and Aggregation for Analysis

The Online Social Networks (OSN) have a positive evolution due to the diversity of social media and the increase in the number of users. The revenue of the social media organizations is generated from the analysis of users’ profiles and behaviors, knowing that surfers maintain several accounts on different OSNs. To satisfy its users, the social media organizations have initiated projects for ensuring interoperability to allow for users creating other accounts on other OSN using an initial account, and sharing content from one media to others. Believing that the future generations of Internet will be based on the semantic web technologies, multiple academic and industrial projects have emerged with the objective of modeling semantically the OSNs to ensure interoperability or data aggregation and analysis. In this chapter, we present related works and argue the necessity of a unified semantic model (USM) for OSNs; we introduce a kernel of a USM using standard social ontologies to support the principal social media and it can be extended to support other future social media. Towards a Unified Semantic Model for Online Social Networks to Ensure Interoperability and Aggregation for Analysis
Can This Marriage Be Saved: Is an English Department a Good Home for Technical Communication?

In partial answer to the many questions that have been raised about the definition and location of technical writing programs, a random sample of full-time teachers of professional writing was conducted. The results indicate that those located in English departments do not receive the respect and support they need. Those located in other departments are significantly more satisfied. Some strategies for improving the situation are suggested.
Effects of Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum ) Bark Powder on Growth Performance , Carcass Fat and Serum Cholesterol Levels of Broiler Chicken

Abstract: Objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary cinnamon bark powder (CNPW) on growth performance, carcass fat and serum cholesterol levels of broiler chicken. Giving a completely randomize design, ninety broiler chicks in 30 pens received broiler finisher diets containing either 0% (control), 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 0.4 or 0.5% CNPW ad libitum from day 23-43. Dietary CNPW tend (p=0.09) to increase the feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) but had no effects on final live weight, weight gain, visceral organ weight, and gizzard, cloaacl and total fat contents or serum cholesterol level. Dietary CNPW at 0.1 and 0.4% increased the abdominal fat content compared to control. It was concluded that dietary CNPW used has no growth promoting or fat reducing effects in broiler chicken.