Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF

approved: Kagan Tumer Air traffic flow management over the U.S. airpsace is a difficult problem. Current man­ agement approaches lead to hundreds of thousands of hours of delay, costing billions of dollars annually. Weather and airport conditions may instigate this delay, but rout­ ing decisions balancing delay with congestion contribute significantly to the propagation of delays throughout the US airspace. The task of managing delay may be seen as a multiagent congestion problem. In this problem there are many tightly coupled agents whose actions collectively impact the system, making it difficult for agents to learn how they individually affect the system. Reward shaping is effective at improving agent learning for soft constraint problems by reducing noise caused by interactions with other agents, so we extend those results to hard constraints that cannot be easily learned, and must be enforced algorith­ mically. Additionally, congestion must be removed from the system in order to ensure a safe environment for all aircraft. This can be done through the use of a greedy scheduler, enforcing a ground delay on each plane to remove congestion from the system, at the cost of delay. Reward shaping reduces noise caused by agent interactions, and a greedy scheduler removes congestion from the system, but these two approaches cannot be simply com­ bined without a large increase in computational complexity. Agent partitioning can be used to alleviate this complexity by treating each partition of agents as an indepen­ dent set of agents from other partitions, thus simplifying the computation during each learning step. Our approach is based on the combination of three different methods to perform hard constraint optimization: a greedy scheduler, reward shaping and agent partitioning. We present two agent partitioning algorithms in conjunction with this approach to simplify the learning domain. The first partitioning algorithm uses system features to compute similarities between agents. This is then used to partition agents into small subsets. To remove the assumption of having domain knowledge, we introduce the Reward/Utility Based Impact (RUBI) algorithm. This algorithm develops an effective similarity matrix while requiring no prior domain knowledge. This similarity matrix can then be used in any similarity based partitioning algorithm. Our results show that autonomous parti­ tioning of the agents using system features leads to up to 450x speed over simple hard constraint enforcement, as well as up to a 37% improvement in performance over a greedy scheduling solution, while using RUBI to partition agents led to a better partitioning of agents, as well as a 510x speed up. Both results correspond to hundreds of hours of delay saved in a single day. c ©Copyright by William Curran June 4, 2013 All Rights Reserved Using RUBI to Partition Agents in Air Traffic Problems with Hard Constraints and Reward Shaping
A Fully Automatic k-means-based Algorithm for Image Segmentation

The aim of this paper is to create a fully automatic adaptive k-means segmentation algorithm. In particular we model the gray scale values of the volume image with a White Gaussian Process and we superimpose a prior model on the region process in the form of Markov Random Field. These assumptions require the use of estimators for the parameters of the two functions. The estimation of the mean and the standard deviation of the White Gaussian Process is adaptive, and this has been achieved using rectangular windows of decreasing size which delimits the region where the mean has to be computed. The initial estimation is computed over the whole image and then it is refined decreasing the size of the window. The Hammersley-Clifford theorem allows us to model the region process in term of a Gibbs Distribution. The Gibbs parameter β is estimated using a correlation-based technique. The segmentation is obtained maximizing the a poster density function (MAP estimation) using an Iterated Conditional Modes (ICM) technique. Unlike other techniques our algorithm is fully automatic, in the sense that all the parameters of the model are estimated during the segmentation process, and there is no need to fix a priori values that, as we will prove, can effect the outcome of the segmentation. Keywords—k-means, Automatic Image Segmentation, Adaptive Estimation, Gibbs Distribution, Statistical Image Segmentation.
Conquering Malaria

Malaria is the most important of the parasitic diseases of humans, with 107 countries and territories having areas at risk of transmission containing close to 50 percent of the world’s population (Hay and others 2004; WHO 2005). More than 3 billion people live in malarious areas and the disease causes between 1 million and 3 million deaths each year (Breman, Alilio, and Mills 2004; Snow and others 2003). Recent estimates of the global falciparum malaria morbidity burden have increased the number to 515 million cases, with Africa suffering the vast majority of this toll (Snow and others 2005). In addition, almost 5 billion clinical episodes resembling malaria occur in endemic areas annually, with more than 90 percent of this burden occurring in Africa (Breman 2001; Breman, Alilio, and Mills 2004; Carter and Mendis 2002; Snow and others 1999, 2003; Snow, Trape, and Marsh 2001). The disease has resurged in many parts of the tropics, and nonmalarious countries face continual danger from importation. Contributing to this resurgence are the increasing problems of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to drugs and of the Anopheles vectors’ resistance to insecticides. The recent findings that insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are extremely cost-effective in preventing malaria and overall deaths and that intermittent preventive therapy (IPT) (treatment doses given during periods of vulnerability) is effective for protecting pregnant women and their fetuses, along with the discovery of new drugs (artemisinins) and their use in combination with other antimalarials and promising vaccine trials, have given great impetus to the battle against this scourge (Alonso and others 2004; Armstrong-Schellenberg and others 2001; Lengeler 2004; Newman and others 2003; Yeung and others 2004). CAUSES, EPIDEMIOLOGY, MANIFESTATIONS, AND DIAGNOSIS
Projecting Macroeconomic Outcomes: How Well has the IMF Done?

In the process of designing of IMF-supported programs, IMF staff members prepare projections of the evolution of key macroeconomic variables for the participating country. These projections are based on countries' initial situations, and are conditioned on the implementation of reforms and policy measures agreed in the context of programs. In this paper, we examine the accuracy of projections in 291 programs approved in the period 1993-2009. We focus on the projections of two macroeconomic aggregates (the ratios of the fiscal surplus to GDP and of external current account surplus to GDP) during the years immediately following the initiation of an IMFsupported program. We identify five potential reasons for divergence of projected from actual values: (i) mismeasured data on initial conditions; (ii) country-specific differences in forming projections, (iii) projections that do not reflect the dynamic time-series process of the actual data; (iv) policy forecast error; and (v) random errors in the actual data. Our data analysis suggests that the incomplete information on initial conditions and the country-specific differences in projection error are the largest contributors to discrepancies between projection and actual. We also consider whether the IMF’s forecasts have gotten more accurate in recent years; there is evidence that they have for the shortest horizons, but the quantitative impact on forecast error is small. JEL classifications: F32, F41, F47, F53
Geographia Polonica Vol. 92 No. 1 (2019), Resuscitating the African giant: Urban renewal and inner city redevelopment initiatives along the ‘Corridors of Freedom’ in downtown Johannesburg

After more than two decades of attempting to redevelop the inner city of Johannesburg, it is still perceived by scholars, the popular media and the general public as a crime-ridden area of decay. This paper looks at a public transport system, as well as the redevelopment of parks and the provision of housing in the inner city. The Rea Vaya BRT serves as the ’backbone’ for the redevelopment strategy of the City of Johannesburg’s ’Corridors of Freedom’ which aims to mitigate inequality in the city. This research analyses the success and shortcomings of the BRT system, as well as the redevelopment of inner city parks and the provision of housing for the poor in the inner city and along these development axes. Although large amounts of money have been allocated to the redevelopment of the inner city parks and to tracts of land along these so-called Corridors of Freedom, these parks are still proving to be user-unfriendly owing to a lack of maintenance. Although the redevelopment projects appear to be worthy attempts to improve the inner city of Johannesburg these have as yet not proved themselves to be very effective.
A Study on Some Treatments Which Mitigate Drought Effects on Barrani Grapevines cv

This investigation was carried out during two successive seasons 2008&2009 to study the effect of (pruning, vapor-guard at 4,6%, paraffin wax at 8,10 % (as antitranspirants), PP333 at 500,1000 ppm and CCC at 500,1000 ppm (as growth retardants)) treatments on mitigate drought effect on vegetative growth, yield and fruit quality of Barrani grapevines. Pruning treatments at two methods had in significant effect on vegetative growth, yield and fruit quality compared with other treatments. All other treatments i.e. vapor-guard at 4 and 6 %, paraffin wax at 8 and 10 %, CCC at two rats 500 and 1000 ppm and PP333 at two rats 500 and 1000 ppm inhibited vegetative growth . On the other hand, all spraying treatments with vapor-guard at 4 and 6%, paraffin wax at 8 and 10%, CCC at two rats 500 and 1000ppm and PP333 at two rate 500 and 1000ppm increased yield and fruit quality and increased proline accumulation in leaves of Barrani grapevines.CCC and PP333 treatments sprayed at 500 or 1000 ppm gave the highest values of fruit physical and chemical properties. In addition, CCC spraying at 500ppm gave the highest values of total sugars percentage as compared with other treatments.
Doing Repair in Native-Non-Native Talk: A Conversation Analytic Study of Thai-English Interaction

Using conversation analysis (CA), the study examines the occurrences of conversational repair activity on grammatical trouble-sources and comprehension checks in interactions between three native speakers of English (NS) and three Thai non-native speakers (NNS) of English in a casual language setting outside the language classroom they were attending at York St John University. The Thai non-native speakers of English were selected among the beginning English learners at the university level and the three native speakers are also chosen based on their non-linguistic teaching background. The three pairs of NS/NNS interactions were audio-taped to explore 1) the main types of ungrammatical utterances produced by each Thai non-native speaker, 2) the dealing procedures of each native speaker with ungrammatical trouble-sources, and 3) the occurrence of repair patterns used by the native speakers for comprehension checks in NS/NSS interactions. The analysis disclosed that the repair activity was only initiated in the case of grammatical errors that did not affect comprehension in native – non-native talk. The finding indicates that the English native users generally accept the grammatical mistakes made by the English learners only if the meaning appeared understandable in natural talk. This study raises the language awareness of how natural conversation in English-speaking society is practically used to assist non-native English teachers in focusing on how communicative language approach should be used in the language classroom.
Alfabetización mediática e informacional: proyecciones didácticas

Este articulo presenta una vision general del Curriculum UNESCO de Alfabetizacion Mediatica e Informacional (MIL) para profesores, mostrando las areas clave y temas relevantes del programa, asi como las competencias necesarias para desarrollar estrategias didacticas de alfabetizacion mediatica. Las areas incluyen: un marco conceptual y organizativo; produccion y uso de la informacion; textos mediaticos y fuentes de informacion; su evaluacion y analisis; audiencias mediaticas; debate y participacion social; los modelos de adaptacion del curriculum, y los modelos pedagogicos a utilizar en el aula (analisis de texto, analisis del contexto, estudios de caso, traduccion, simulacion y produccion). Una vez presentadas las areas clave del programa, se presenta una serie de recomendaciones para el desarrollo, adaptacion e implementacion del Curriculum UNESCO con exito. Asi se destaca que la importancia de la formacion de los lideres; la importancia de los soportes y el asesoramiento; la promocion de redes de profesores implicados; inclusion de la alfabetizacion en los documentos oficiales educativos; el analisis de las necesidades de los estudiantes antes de la implementacion de los modulos en el curriculum; la urgencia de facilitar recursos on-line al profesorado; de profesionalizar el profesorado; de promover la colaboracion entre los miembros de la comunidad (familias, profesorado, estudiantes, y otros agentes), y finalmente promover la investigacion en alfabetizacion mediatica para identificar las mejores practicas y las nuevas tendencias en el campo de estudio.
Personal and Psychosocial Risk Factor for Low Back Pain among Automotive Manual Handling Workers in Selangor, Malaysia

IntroductionIt is well known that low back pain among working population is a global problem throughout the world. However, the current situation of occupational low back pain in Malaysia is still vague due to limited number of studies conducted locally.ObjectiveA cross sectional study was conducted among three automotive industry workers in Selangor, Malaysia from October 2010 to April 2011.Methods This study aims to determine the prevalence and risk factors of low back pain among automotive industry workers performing manual material handling tasks using self-administered questionnaire survey.ResultsA modified Standardised Nordic Questionnaire was used to assess low back pain problem, to obtain personal and psychosocial risk factors information. The prevalence of low back pain showed increment in the point prevalence of 57.9%, 49.5%, and 35.1 % for 12 months, one month, and of 7 days respectively. Working hour, frequency of overtime, stress at work, work pace, and faster movement were found to be significantly associated with the 12 months prevalence for low back pain.ConclusionsThis finding indicates that psychosocial risk factors are associated to the occurrence of low back pain.
Faktor-faktor yang berhubungan dengan perilaku Pencegahan kanker serviks pada wanita usia subur

This research aims to determine the influence factors of cervical cancer prevention behavior of childbearing woman. Methodology on this research was a survey design with cross sectional approach. The sample in this research were 99 respondents who live in Rejosari with snowball sampling technique. Measuring instruments used was a questionnaire. The analysis used was univariate and bivariate analysis using Chi-Square test and Fisher Exact test. The results showed there were relations between knowledge (ρ=0.045) and social support (ρ=0.000) toward behavior cervical cancer prevention. While age (ρ=0.306), education (ρ=1.000), and economy (ρ=0.561) there were not the relations toward behavior cervical cancer prevention. Based on the results of this research, it is recommended for health care institutions especially for public health center staff to increased a health education of cervical cancer prevention and extend a health promotion target. Keyword: Cervical cancer, childbearing woman, prevention behavior
The dependence of tornadogenesis on terrain roughness: historical record

Recent research suggests that terrain variability may influence tornado activity, though separating this effect from reporting biases is difficult to do in observations. Here we employ Bayes’ Law to calculate the empirical joint dependence of tornado probability on population density and terrain roughness in the vicinity of Arkansas for the period 1950-2015. This approach is based purely on data, exploits terrain and population information explicitly in the vicinity of each tornado, and enables an explicit test of the dependence of results on terrain roughness length scale. A simple log-link linear regression fit to this empirical distribution yields a 10% decrease in tornado probability per 10-meter increase in terrain roughness at fixed population density for large terrain length scale (15 20 km). This effect increases by at least a factor of two moving towards smaller length scales down to 1 km. The terrain effect exhibits no time trend, while the population bias effect decreases systematically in time consistent with the improvement of reporting practices. Results are robust across time periods and the exclusion of EF1 tornadoes and are consistent with recent county-level analyses. This work highlights the need for a deeper physical understanding of how terrain heterogeneity affects tornadogenesis and also provides the foundation for a general Bayesian tornado probability model that integrates both meteorological and non-meteorological parameters. 10
Capital Budgeting and Idiosyncratic Risk

Using an NPV-based revealed-preference strategy, I find that idiosyncratic risk materially affects the discount rate that firms use in their capital budgeting decisions. I exploit quasi-exogenous within-region variation in project-specific idiosyncratic risk and find that, on average, firms inflate their discount rate by 5 percentage points (pp) in response to an 18 pp increase in idiosyncratic risk. Moreover, these discount rate adjustments are negatively associated with various measures of firm profitability. I then explore how proxies for costly external financing and agency frictions relate to discount rate adjustments. I find that firms appear to adjust their discount rate upward as a form of risk management when facing costly external financing frictions. Also, I provide evidence that firms partially insure managers against project-specific underperformance to mitigate discount rate adjustments due to agency frictions.
V9-No.1 E.indd

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between deansʼ’ transformational leadership styles and organizational culture as perceived by faculty members and teaching assistants in colleges of physical education in Jordan. Seventy two faculty members and teaching assistants participated in this study. Data were collected using a modified version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ; Bass & Avolio, 1995), and the Organizational Culture Assessment Questionnaire (OCAQ; Sashkin, 1990). The findingsof the study indicated that transformational leadershipbehaviors were moderately practiced in colleges of physical education. The results also showed a significant correlation between transformational leadership styles and institution culture. Perceived leadership behavior of intellectual stimulation was found to be the most important contributor to the institution culture. Furthermore, the findings showed that “coordinating teamwork” was the most affected organizational cultural function by the deanʼ’s transformational leadership behaviors defined by the overall MLQ score. Key words: transformational leadership, organizational culture. Prof. Ibrahim Wezermes Coaching & Sport Management Dept The Hashemite University Dr. Ziad L. Altahayneh Coaching & Sport Management Dept The Hashemite University 37 Journal of Educational & Psychological Sciences V ol um e 9 N um be r 1 M ar ch 2 00 8 á«a«¶æàdG áaÉ≤ãdGh á«∏jƒëàdG IOÉ«≤dG ÚH ábÓ©dG ¿OQC’G ‘ á«°VÉjôdG á«HÎdG äÉ«∏c ‘
Abnormalities in the mechanical properties of red blood cells caused by Plasmodium falciparum

Although changes in the mechanical properties of infected red cells may contribute to the pathophysiology of malaria, such changes have not previously been described in detail. In this study, the physical properties of individual cells from both clinical and cultured samples infected with Plasmodium falciparum were tested using micropipette aspiration techniques. Cells containing ring forms took about 50% longer to enter 3 microns pipettes compared with nonparasitised cells, and there was a similar increase in the critical pressure required to induce cell entry. These abnormalities were similar in clinical and cultured samples. More mature cultured parasites (ie, trophozoites and schizonts containing pigment) caused much greater loss of deformability, with entry time and pressure increased four to sixfold. The decrease in deformability of the ring forms was attributable to a deficit in cell surface area/volume ratio (based on micropipette measurement of the surface area and volume of individual cells) and slight stiffening of the cell membrane (shear elastic modulus increased 13%, as measured by pipette aspiration of small membrane tongues). Measurement of the rate of cell shape recovery indicated that the membrane of parasitised cells was not more viscous. The main factor in the drastic loss of deformability of the trophozoites and schizonts was the presence of the large very resistant parasite itself. Otherwise, the cell surface area/volume deficit was slightly less and membrane rigidification slightly greater compared with ring forms. The above abnormalities should cause the trophozoites and schizonts to have great difficulty in traversing splenic or marrow sinuses and could contribute to microvascular occlusion and sequestration. On the other hand, the ring forms may be expected to circulate relatively unhindered.
β-Selection Is Associated With the Onset of CD8β Chain Expression on CD4+CD8+ Pre-T Cells During Human Intrathymic Development

T-cell precursors that undergo productive rearrangements at the T-cell receptor (TCR) beta locus are selected for proliferation and further maturation, before TCRalpha expression, by signaling through a pre-TCR composed of the TCRbeta chain paired with a pre-TCRalpha (pTalpha) chain. Such a critical developmental checkpoint, known as beta-selection, results in progression from CD4(-) CD8(-) double negative (DN) to CD4(+) CD8(+) double positive (DP) TCRalphabeta(-) thymocytes. In contrast to mice, progression to the DP compartment occurs in humans via a CD4(+) CD8(-) intermediate stage. Here we show that the CD4(+) CD8(-) to CD4(+) CD8(+) transition involves the sequential acquisition of the alpha and beta chains of CD8 at distinct maturation stages. Our results indicate that CD8alpha, but not CD8beta, is expressed in vivo in a minor subset of DP TCRalphabeta(-) thymocytes, referred to as CD4(+) CD8alphaalpha(+) pre-T cells, mostly composed of resting cells lacking cytoplasmic TCRbeta chain (TCRbeta(ic)). In contrast, expression of CD8alphabeta heterodimers was selectively found on DP TCRalphabeta(-) thymocytes that express TCRbeta(ic) and are enriched for cycling cells. Interestingly, CD4(+) CD8alphaalpha(+) pre-T cells are shown to be functional intermediates between CD4(+) CD8(-) TCRbeta(ic)(-) and CD4(+) CD8alphabeta(+) TCRbeta(ic)(+) thymocytes. More importantly, evidence is provided that onset of CD8beta and TCRbeta(ic) expression are coincident developmental events associated with acquisition of CD3 and pTalpha chain on the cell surface. Therefore, we propose that the CD4(+) CD8alphaalpha(+) to CD4(+) CD8alphabeta(+) transition marks the key control point of pre-TCR-mediated beta-selection in human T-cell development.