Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Issues in Software Cost Estimation

Software Cost Estimation (SCE) is a process of predicting the efforts and cost in terms of money, schedule and staff for any software system, Software cost estimation is an old arts come with the beginning of computer industry in 1940s and it has been developed many times until formulating function points by Albrecht in 1979. Nowadays software cost of estimation become a complicated branched science hence many functional sizing techniques, sizing metrics, cost and effort models appeared which probably not exist in this volume in the rest of sciences, this paper shows the common techniques used in SCE in general in addition it highlights the most important trends in this field also it show the urgent topics to be investigated and the challenges in SCE process.
Financial Bubbles, Common Knowledge and Alternative Accounting Regimes: An Experimental Analysis of Artificial Spot Security Markets. Accounting for or from the Market?

We experimentally explore how common knowledge provided by accounting systems affects investors’ decision and shapes the formation of security prices over time. We design alternative accounting structures and run experiments in artificial security markets framed by these structures. In sessions where investors receive exogenous accounting information about ultimate earnings, prices converge to the fundamental levels derived from those earnings through backward induction. Accounting plays a role for the market. In sessions where investors receive endogenous accounting information about earnings that are linked to the ongoing clearing price of the security, market price levels and paths become indeterminate and lose earnings anchor; investors tend to form their expectations of future prices by forward, not backward, induction. Accounting plays its role from the market, and loses its relevance in financial decision-making. These laboratory results suggest that accounting information and its overarching structure are important to prevent market exuberance, excess volatility and the formation of financial bubbles. They further have relevant effects on market allocative efficiency, and revenue and wealth distribution among investors.
Surgical management of coccidioidomycosis in children.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Operations for Coccidioides immitis infection in children have received little study. The authors perceived an increase in the number of patients requiring operations for coccidioidomycosis at Phoenix Children's Hospital. The authors therefore reviewed the surgical management of children with C immitis infection in Phoenix, Arizona. METHODS The medical records of all children hospitalized from 1994 to 1999 with a confirmed laboratory diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis were reviewed. Age, gender, race, immune status, laboratory data, operations, and outcome were recorded. RESULTS Of 39 children with proven coccidioidomycosis, 21 patients (54%) underwent a total of 49 operations. Boys represented 72% of all children reviewed. Sixteen patients (29% of the operative cohort) were immunocompromised. Thoracic procedures (19 cases) were most frequent. CONCLUSIONS Over half the children hospitalized for coccidioidomycosis required at least 1 operation. Most were immunocompetent boys with thoracic disease. Pediatric surgeons, who provide the bulk of operative care, should expect to encounter coccidioidomycosis in endemic areas, and increasingly in nonendemic areas.
Amodal Completion, Depth Stratification, and Illusory Figures: A Test of Kanizsa's Explanation

Subjective contours have been explained by Kanizsa as being a consequence of amodal completion of incomplete figures. According to the theory of amodal completion, figural incompleteness triggers the emergence of an illusory object superimposed on the gaps in the inducers, which in turn hide parts of the pattern, thus suggesting that the plane of the illusory object must always be seen to be above the plane of the inducers. A figure was created in which subjective contours are seen despite the fact that the perceived depth relationships run counter to that required by the theory of amodal completion. In four experiments, this depth relationship is confirmed by using direct and indirect measures which assess both registered and apprehended depth. By emphasizing a logical inconsistency in the explanation based on amodal completion, the results show that amodal completion, at least in Kanizsa-like patterns, cannot be considered as a causal factor for subjective contour figures.
RAPT: Rare Class Prediction in Absence of True Labels

Many real-world problems involve learning models for rare classes in situations where there are no gold standard labels for training samples but imperfect labels are available for all instances. In this paper, we present RAPT, a three step predictive modeling framework for classifying rare class in such problem settings. The first step of the proposed framework learns a classifier that jointly optimizes precision and recall by only using imperfectly labeled training samples. We also show that, under certain assumptions on the imperfect labels, the quality of this classifier is almost as good as the one constructed using perfect labels. The second and third steps of the framework make use of the fact that imperfect labels are available for all instances to further improve the precision and recall of the rare class. We evaluate the RAPT framework on two real-world applications of mapping forest fires and urban extent from earth observing satellite data. The experimental results indicate that RAPT can be used to identify forest fires and urban areas with high precision and recall by using imperfect labels, even though obtaining expert annotated samples on a global scale is infeasible in these applications.
Interorganizational Networks And The Changing Employment Contract / Доклад на конференции "International Social Network Conference", Лондон, июль 1995 г.

Many companies are dismantling their internalized system of mutual obligations between employees and the firm, relying more on external labor markets to provide labor power in the form of contingent workers and training services. Our primary focus is on changes in the ego-centered networks of relations connecting employers to those organizations from which they recruit and train employees. We will conduct a 1996-98 national panel survey of U.S. establishments to track these change. Our project is grounded in a network perspective on organizations, labor contracting, and job training. This section reviews the theoretical and empirical literatures relevant to formulating our research design and specifying testable hypotheses.
Doppler sonographic evaluation of infliximab therapy for rheumatoid arthritis

To the Editor: In a previous issue of Modern Rheumatology, we demonstrated the usefulness of sonographic evaluation for determining the therapeutic effect of infliximab in six patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Both color flow signals and resistance index (RI) (vascular resistance) in the knee joints of patients demonstrated significant improvements on Doppler sonography (P < 0.05 each) after three injections at the 6-week evaluation of infliximab treatment. The present study of 12 RA patients (including the previously reported six patients) treated using infliximab confirms the previous results. Furthermore, more significant indications of improvement were obtained in several clinico-sonographic findings compared with the previous study. All 12 RA patients satisfied the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) revised 1987 criteria for RA and received pharmacotherapy in accordance with the official Japanese guidelines for infliximab treatment of RA. Patients were injected with infliximab on days 0, 14, and 42 at a dose of 3mg/kg per injection. Clinical and sonographic evaluations were per-
Examining the business case of voluntary emissions reductions: a robust optimisation approach

Climate change is an important issue both for society and for companies which invest in long term projects. However, climate change futures are inherently uncertain, and this raises important questions about how companies should take account of such climate effects and uncertainties in choosing investment projects. In some circumstances voluntary emissions reductions, that is reductions in emissions not directly mandated by predictable financial returns, can be privately beneficial for the firm on a net basis, in addition to generating broader social benefits not directly captured by the firm. This thesis develops methods by which firms can include these future climate effects and uncertainties into capital budgeting and investment appraisal, and uses these methods to explore the conditions in which voluntary emissions reductions might provide net benefits to firms.
Strategic Planning, Issues, Prospects and the Future of the Malaysian Herbal Industry

The importance of Strategic planning to business organizations either big or small has been emphasized in strategic management literature. Not many researches were conducted to study the applicability of strategic planning in the herbal industry. This article attempts to provide insight to the strategic planning in the herbal industry as well as identifying issues, prospect and future of the Malaysian herbal industry. Herbal industry was classified in two major streams that are culinary herbs, medicinal herbs. The issues identified are such as regulatory issues, consumption of herbal products, product quality, research and development, side effect, imported herbal medicine, pricing, current market status, technology and human resources. Besides that the Malaysian government supported the herbal industry by providing incentives through SME Corporation and other ministries and government agencies. Thus the Malaysian herbal industry has a good potential to grow.
Potentiation/Antagonism of Pyrethroids with Organophosphate Insecticides inBemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

Abstract The binary mixtures of pyrethroids cypermethrin, α-cypermethrin, ζ-cypermethrin, bifenthrin, fenpropathrin, λ-cyhalothrin, and deltamethrin plus organophosphates ethion, profenofos, chlorpyrifos, quinalphos, acephate, methamidophos, methyl parathion, and triazophos were evaluated on putatively resistant field populations ofBemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) from Pakistan using a leaf-dip bioassay. Ethion exhibited good potentiation with all the pyrethroids. Quinalphos potentiated cypermethrin, fenpropathrin, and λ-cyhalothrin but not bifenthrin. Acephate was potentiating with bifenthrin and fenpropathrin but antagonistic with ζ-cypermethrin. A potentiation effect was also found when methamidophos was mixed with bifenthrin and fenpropathrin. However, profenofos was antagonistic with cypermethrin, bifenthrin, and λ-cyhalothrin. Similarly, bifenthrin + methyl parathion and deltamethrin + triazophos mixtures were antagonistic when tested on several populations ofB.tabaci. Chlorpyrifos was antagonistic with cypermethrin but had an additive effect with fenpropathrin.
ChaMilk Biodiversity: Future Perspectives of Milk and Dairy Products from Autochthonous Dairy Cows Reared in Northern Italy

The United Nations is alerting worldwide population: our planet will undergo a drastic change in less than 40 years. Human population will increase to reach 9 billion inhabitants; consequently, cereal annual production should increase to be about 3 billion tons compared to current 2.1tons. According to a Food and Agriculture Organization’s report FAO, “FAO 2050”, human birthrate is expected to prevail in developing countries. Thus, food resources, such as wheat, corn, barley, and others, will be used to ensure people survival in these countries, which will reduce availability of silage and concentrates addressed to cattle breeding. This redistribution of primary resources will force bovine species to a diet based on forage biomass with low energy and water consumption, associated with the use of less productive areas such as foothills, forests and pastures, thus implementing availability of cereals for human consumption. Noticeably, climate changes will persist and modify any environment where plants grow. In this context, farmers and breeders will be faced with new challenges. Maintaining genetic biodiversity in plants including some wild peculiarities may help to solve some of current agricultural problems and protecting such biodiversity appear therefore crucial to increase a sustainable and efficient use of land. According to 'Europe 2020' protocol established by United Nations, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 20%, energy efficiency increased by 20% with a reduction in consumption, and energy from renewable sources pushed up by 20%. Therefore, it is expected that in certain areas long-term and perennial crops will be implemented; energy consumption for sowing, harvesting, and drying products for livestock consumption will be reduced; availability of mature manure to improve soil fertilization, reducing easily washable nitrogen, will be increased. In the coming decades, an actually thorny scenario will affect future generations: processes such as steady population and consumption growth will cause a reduction in the response capacity of ecosystems, and a consequent decrease in food resources, water and
THE IDENTIFICATION OF FILAMENTS ON FAR-INFRARED AND SUBMILLIMITER IMAGES: MORPHOLOGY, PHYSICAL CONDITIONS AND RELATION WITH STAR FORMATION OF FILAMENTARY STRUCTURE

Observations of molecular clouds reveal a complex structure, with gas and dust often arranged in filamentary, rather than spherical geometries. The association of pre- and proto-stellar cores with the filaments suggests a direct link with the process of star formation. Any study of the properties of such filaments requires representative samples from different environments for an unbiased detection method. We developed such an approach using the Hessian matrix of a surface-brightness distribution to identify filaments and determine their physical and morphological properties. After testing the method on simulated, but realistic, filaments, we apply the algorithms to column-density maps computed from Herschel observations of the Galactic plane obtained by the Hi-GAL project. We identified ∼500 filaments, in the longitude range of l = 216. °5 to l = 225. °5, with lengths from ∼1 pc up to ∼30 pc and widths between 0.1 pc and 2.5 pc. Average column densities are between 1020 cm−2 and 1022 cm−2. Filaments include the majority of dense material with > 6 × 1021 cm−2. We find that the pre- and proto-stellar compact sources already identified in the same region are mostly associated with filaments. However, surface densities in excess of the expected critical values for high-mass star formation are only found on the filaments, indicating that these structures are necessary to channel material into the clumps. Furthermore, we analyze the gravitational stability of filaments and discuss their relationship with star formation.
Effect of Dietary Selenium on Small Intestine Villus Integrity in Reovirus-Challenged Broilers †

Enteric Avian Reoviruses (ARV), associated with malabsorption, lower weight gains and increased mortality in broiler chickens, target enterocytes on intestinal villi causing villus dysfunction and decreased digestion and absorption of nutrients. This investigation examined whether enteric ARV infection with or without dietary Selenium (Se) (organic or inorganic) affected small intestinal integrity. Eggs from Cobb 500® broiler breeders fed low-Se semi-purified diets with no supplemental Se, or with 0.3 ppm supplemental Se provided by organic Se (Se-yeast, Sel-Plex®, Alltech, Inc., Nicholasville, KY, USA), or by sodium selenite, were hatched and the chicks were subjected to the same three dietary Se treatments as their respective parents. At hatch, 30 chicks per dietary Se treatment were placed into either control or ARV-infected groups in heated batteries in separate isolation rooms. ARV-infected chickens were given orally ARV-CU98 (10 pfu/chick in 4.2 0.5 mL) and control chickens received medium only. Intestinal tracts from 21-d-old chickens were examined histomorphometrically revealing longer and more narrow villi, greater surface perimeter, more shallow crypt depth and significantly greater height to crypt depth (H:D) ratios in Sel-Plex-fed control and infected birds, compared with respective values from birds fed no supplemental Se or sodium selenite. The differences in H:D ratios between Se treatments indicates that Sel-Plex is more effective than either no Se or sodiu m selenite supplementation in protecting the integrity of the small intestine villi.
Structural analysis of slipped-strand DNA (S-DNA) formed in (CTG)n. (CAG)n repeats from the myotonic dystrophy locus.

The mechanism of disease-associated trinucleotide repeat length variation may involve slippage of the triplet-containing strand at the replication fork, generating a slipped-strand DNA structure. We recently reported formation in vitro of slipped-strand DNA (S-DNA) structures when DNAs containing triplet repeat blocks of myotonic dystrophy or fragile X diseases were melted and allowed to reanneal to form duplexes. Here additional evidence is presented that is consistent with the existence of S-DNA structures. We demonstrate that S-DNA structures can form between two complementary strands containing equal numbers of repeats. In addition, we show that both the propensity for S-DNA formation and the structural complexity of S-DNAs formed increase with increasing repeat length. S-DNA structures were also analyzed by electron microscopy, confirming that the two strands are slipped out of register with respect to each other and confirming the structural polymorphism expected within long tracts of trinucleotide repeats. For (CTG)50. (CAG)50 two distinct populations of slipped structures have been identified: those involving </=10 repeats per slippage, which appear as bent/kinked DNA molecules, and those involving >10 repeats, which have multiple loops or hairpins indicative of complex alternative DNA secondary structures.
Rem-GTPase regulates cardiac myocyte L-type calcium current

Rationale: The L-type calcium channels (LTCC) are critical for maintaining Ca2+-homeostasis. In heterologous expression studies, the RGK-class of Ras-related G-proteins regulates LTCC function; however, the physiological relevance of RGK–LTCC interactions is untested. Objective: In this report we test the hypothesis that the RGK protein, Rem, modulates native Ca2+ current (ICa,L) via LTCC in murine cardiomyocytes. Methods and Results: Rem knockout mice (Rem−/−) were engineered, and ICa,L and Ca2+-handling properties were assessed. Rem−/− ventricular cardiomyocytes displayed increased ICa,L density. ICa,L activation was shifted positive on the voltage axis, and β-adrenergic stimulation normalized this shift compared with wild-type ICa,L. Current kinetics, steady-state inactivation, and facilitation was unaffected by Rem−/−. Cell shortening was not significantly different. Increased ICa,L density in the absence of frank phenotypic differences motivated us to explore putative compensatory mechanisms. Despite the larger ICa,L density, Rem−/− cardiomyocyte Ca2+ twitch transient amplitude was significantly less than that compared with wild type. Computer simulations and immunoblot analysis suggests that relative dephosphorylation of Rem−/− LTCC can account for the paradoxical decrease of Ca2+ transients. Conclusions: This is the first demonstration that loss of an RGK protein influences ICa,L in vivo in cardiac myocytes.
Listening to patients: cultural and linguistic barriers to health care access.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Full access to medical care includes cultural and linguistic access as well as financial access. We sought to identify cultural and linguistic characteristics of low-income, ethnic minority patients' recent encounters with health care organizations that impede, and those that increase, health care access. METHODS We conducted four focus groups with ethnically homogeneous African American, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander patients. Study participants were "walked" through the stages of a medical encounter and asked to identify physician and staff behaviors that made the patient feel more comfortable (a surrogate for increasing access) and behaviors that made the patient feel less comfortable (a surrogate for decreasing access). RESULTS African American and Native American patients in particular expressed overall satisfaction with their physicians' services. Patients from all groups saw nonphysician staff as frequently impeding access. Based on perceptions of negative stereotypes, Native American and Pacific Islander patients reported hostility toward physicians' efforts at prevention and patient education. CONCLUSIONS For the ethnic minority patients in our study, most perceived that cultural impediments to access involved nonphysician staff. Closer collaborations between health care organizations and ethnic minority communities in the recruitment and training of staff may be needed to improve cultural and linguistic access to care.
Urinary constituents and renal function in rats administered with adenine.

In adenine-administered rats, urine volume increased gradually with the progress of renal dysfunction to polyuria, but the amounts of urea, creatinine (Cr), guanidinosuccinic acid (GSA) and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) excreted into the urine showed a significant decrease throughout the experimental period. In contrast, excretion of methylguanidine (MG) was markedly increased. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR), renal plasma flow (RPF) and renal blood flow (RBF) decreased progressively as the renal impairment increased due to prolonged administration of adenine.