Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Network coding for cognitive radio systems

We consider a cognitive radio network where secondary users (SUs) employ network coding for data transmissions. SU transmission time is reduced due to network coding. And it increases spectrum availability to SUs. Our results show that compared to the existing approaches based on retransmission, SUs can achieve higher stable throughput, and the probability that SU has confliction with the primary user (PU) due to sudden appearance of a PU is smaller.
Using Evolutionary Based Approaches to Estimate Software Development Effort

Software development effort estimation is a critical activity for the competitiveness of a software company; it is crucial for planning and monitoring project development and for delivering the product on time and within budget. In the last years, some attempts have been made to apply search-based approaches to estimate software development effort. In particular, some genetic algorithms have been defined and some empirical studies have been performed with the aim of assessing the effectiveness of the proposed approaches for estimating software development effort. The results reported in those studies seem to be promising. The objective of this chapter is to present a state of the art in the field by reporting on the most significant empirical studies undertaken so far. Furthermore, some suggestions for future research directions are also provided. © 2010, IGI Global.
Between accomodation and resistance: Upper Egyptian migrants in Cairo

Abstract This article analyzes processes of dialectal accommodation among Upper Egyptian migrants in Cairo-Egypt. Rural and provincial migration have played an important role in the demographic growth of the capital from the mid-nineteenth century up to the 1970s. Although migration is today receding, the social and cultural integration of the migrants is far from being completed, and it has raised a number of socioeconomic challenges. Due to underdevelopment, poverty, and religious traditionalism, Upper Egypt is often described as a problematic area, and this perception reflects on the relationship between Cairene and Upper Egyptian migrants. Cairene Arabic and Upper Egyptian varieties are linguistically quite distinct and they do not have the same status, Cairene being a national prestige variety. Based on data recorded among seven adult speakers, this article analyzes the realization of 21 features, taking into account not only Cairo and Upper Egyptian variants but also the influence of fus̥ḥā (Classical Arabic). It shows that the degree of accommodation to Cairo Arabic among the first migrant generation varies according to type of linguistic features (phonological, morphological, lexical), as well as type of interaction/topics and individual personal profile.
Identifying Male Sexual Offender Subtypes Using Cluster Analysis and the Static-2002R

This study examines whether clinically meaningful subgroups could be identified within a large, undifferentiated group of convicted adult male sex offenders. Of eight cluster analyses, a reliable three-cluster solution emerged based on the subscores of the Static-2002R with 345 sex offenders. To establish the validity of the emergent clusters, the three groups of offenders were compared on four domains: criminal history, psychosexual development, sexual attitudes and interests, and recidivism. The findings revealed meaningful differences among the group, and the implications of subgroup membership is discussed in terms of risk, treatment, and supervision.
(How) Can a Man Do Feminist Ethnography of Education?

The author attempts to work through the epistemological, methodological, and ethical questions involved when a man attempts to contribute to feminist theory and practice with ethnographic knowledge. He discusses the precursors to such a project by recounting the history of male contributions to feminist anthropological scholarship and reviewing current debates about the problems of interpretation and praxis in feminist ethnography. Drawing on fieldwork at a Mexican secondary school, the author presents the dilemmas he faced and insights he garnered in focusing his inquiry on Mexican schoolgirls and their mothers. He also discusses the problematic nature of his inquiry with sexist schoolboys and the ways this inquiry may still contribute to feminist knowledge. Reflecting on these experiences, he establishes the centrality of feminist educational ethnography in the outlook for feminist social change and argues for a pluralistic conception of feminist educational ethnography that might find a valuable place for male contributions.
The Recruitment and Radicalisation of Western Citizens: Does Ostracism Have a Role in Homegrown Terrorism?

Humans have a consuming desire for social interaction. Consequently, if a member is ostracised from a group, this can have huge implications for their well-being. Once ostracised, individuals may try to fortify their social needs by seeking out accepting groups. Research suggests that this makes individuals prone to social influence and joining negative groups. This paper evaluates current ostracism research, and discusses its implications with regard to identity and the radicalisation process. The aim was to highlight the risk factors that arose from the societal exclusion of Muslims through Islamophobia following 9/11, and the increase in homegrown terrorism with regards to ostracism research. It concludes that future research and counter-terrorism strategies must consider ostracism as a factor in the radicalisation process.
Enhancement of boundary condition relaxation method for 3D hopping motion planning of biped robots

Boundary condition relaxation (BCR) method proposed by the authors (2005) is enhanced to enable 3D hopping motion plannings from arbitrary initial conditions. The original BCR has an advantage that stepwise legged motion planning is realized in online by accepting an error from the desired goal state of the center of mass (COM) and discontinuity of the trajectory of the zero-moment point (ZMP). The main difficulty of the enhancement lies on that heterogeneous piecewise equations of motions have to be handled at once, and seamless conditioning about the angular-momentum conservation and the body attitude before/after contact phase changing have to be achieved. For the former issue, multiple boundary conditions of piecewise differential equations are set up and solved in the same way with the original BCR. They are based on an approximately mass-concentrated biped model, so that contact state transition and severe time constraints are dealt with at low computational cost. Vertical-horizontal interference of COM trajectory is also taken into account by applying numerical solution of the initial value problem of differential equations. For the latter, a Jacobian-based inverse kinematics with a continuously-varying weight-blending in accordance with the shift of the contact state is presented.
Thinking through the diaspora

This article re-examines some current theoretical trends through which concepts such as diaspora and hybridity have been theorized in cultural studies in the western academy. It argues that these concepts are being rearticulated in new ways in neoliberal globalization, which has implications for rethinking the politics of race and colonialism. Through an analysis of call centers in India, this article theorizes how the cultural politics of Indian call centers, and global flows of information technology, manifest new and emerging frameworks of hybridity and diaspora. Such frameworks point to new relations of race, belonging, and colonialism and unsettle many of the prevailing assumptions through which diaspora and hybridity have been typically understood.
Choosing Criteria to Judge Program Success

What we expect from public programs determines how the programs will be judged. This article presents a systematic values inquiry used to examine how much importance citizens and stakeholders attached to specific indicators in determining the success of a public preschool program. Four groups were surveyed: teachers, administrators, parents and the public. All four groups showed significant differences with respect to the importance of 29 possible indicators. The four groups agreed on the importance of high-quality services and about the lack of importance associated with economic benefits for families and certain educational outcomes for the preschoolers. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the opinions of the groups were shown to have similar underlying structures; however, teachers made greater distinctions between the groups of potential outcomes and the public distinguished between outcomes the least. Systematic values inquiry can be an important tool in designing evaluations that will produce information that can influence the judgments of citizens and stakeholders about a program's value.
Suppression of EBNA1 expression inhibits growth of EBV-positive NK/T cell lymphoma cells

Extranodal nasal-type NK cell lymphoma (ENKL) is a high-grade malignancy and associated with EBV latent infection. An optimal therapy has not been discovery. Here, we investigated whether cell proliferation was inhibited by silencing Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) using RNA interference (RNAi ) method in an EBV-positive ENKL cell line, HANK1 cells. We found that silencing EBNA1 expression by RNAi strategy inhibited cell growth and increased the expression of p27 protein and caused cell cycle arrest at G1- phase in HANK1 cells. In conclusions, low-level expression of p27 protein may partially attribute to latent EBV infection in ENKL. EBNA1 may be a good target for the treatment of EBV associated ENKL.
Processing Scalar Implicature: A Constraint-Based Approach

Three experiments investigated the processing of the implicature associated with some using a "gumball paradigm. " On each trial, participants saw an image of a gumball machine with an upper chamber with 13 gumballs and an empty lower chamber. Gumballs then dropped to the lower chamber and participants evaluated statements, such as "You got some of the gumballs. " Experiment 1 established that some is less natural for reference to small sets (1, 2, and 3 of the 13 gumballs) and unpartitioned sets (all 13 gumballs) compared to intermediate sets (6-8). Partitive some of was less natural than simple some when used with the unpartitioned set. In Experiment 2, including exact number descriptions lowered naturalness ratings for some with small sets but not for intermediate size sets and the unpartitioned set. In Experiment 3, the naturalness ratings from Experiment 2 predicted response times. The results are interpreted as evidence for a Constraint-Based account of scalar implicature processing and against both two-stage, Literal-First models and pragmatic Default models.
Implantable Microimagers

Implantable devices such as cardiac pacemakers, drug-delivery systems, and defibrillators have had a tremendous impact on the quality of live for many disabled people. To date, many devices have been developed for implantation into various parts of the human body. In this paper, we focus on devices implanted in the head. In particular, we describe the technologies necessary to create implantable microimagers. Design, fabrication, and implementation issues are discussed vis-à-vis two examples of implantable microimagers; the retinal prosthesis and in vivo neuro-microimager. Testing of these devices in animals verify the use of the microimagers in the implanted state. We believe that further advancement of these devices will lead to the development of a new method for medical and scientific applications.
Emerging Paths of Family Entrepreneurship Research**

This futuristic commentary reviews family business research since its beginning more than 30 years ago. Prior to 2000, disciplinary roots, professional organizations, and early milestones are identified. More recent books, journals, and special issues are noted, and conceptualizations, theories, and databases are compared and contrasted. Lastly, current and future research paths or directions are identified and discussed, and researchers are challenged to move ahead into new and different research arenas.
Single-user and multiuser adaptive maximal ratio transmission for Rayleigh channels

In maximal ratio transmission, the base station adjusts the complex weights of its transmit antennas to compensate for downlink channel gains in order to produce signal reinforcement-diversity-at a desired mobile that may have only a single antenna. To make the method adaptive, the complex weights are obtained from the instantaneous complex gains in the uplink; however, delay and frequency offset between uplink measurements and downlink transmission reduce the correlation between the gains in the two directions. This paper provides an analysis of the effects of gain decorrelation and of the number of antennas, and an assessment of the effect of fading when the method supports multiple users. It demonstrates that large reductions in downlink transmit power are achievable, and it examines simple transmission models to see how well they support the technique.
Low Correspondence Between K-ras Mutations in Pancreatic Cancer Tissue and Detection of K-ras Mutations in Circulating DNA

Objective: K-ras is the most frequently mutated gene in pancreatic cancer; reported rates range from 70% to 90%. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correspondence between K-ras mutations in pancreatic cancer tissue and in circulating DNA and the value of K-ras mutations as serological marker. Methods: The research was conducted in 30 patients with pancreatic cancer in whom both plasma and neoplastic tissues were available. Such research was extended to circulating DNA isolated from 40 patients with chronic pancreatitis. Mutations in codon 12 were examined by mutant allele-specific amplification method and by direct sequencing. Serum values of routinely used tumor markers such as carbohydrate antigen (Ca) 19.9, carcinoembryonic antigen, Ca 50, and Ca 242 have been tested in all the patients enrolled in this study. Results: K-ras mutations were detected in 70% of neoplastic tissue samples, but no mutated DNA resulted in circulating DNA samples. The 60% of patients with tissue K-ras mutation showed elevation of some tumor markers among Ca 19.9, carcinoembryonic antigen, Ca 50, and Ca 242. As a whole, these last showed low sensitivity (20%-56.67%) and specificity (56.67%-77.5%) when compared with chronic pancreatitis. Conclusion: Over the years, there has been no change in the direction of an earlier diagnosis by serological markers, and also, these data indicate that K-ras mutation in serum is an unsatisfactory method for the detection in patients with pancreatic cancer as well as in patients with high risk of progression toward neoplastic pancreatic disease.
Infant Coping and Maternal Interactive Behavior Predict Attachment in a Portuguese Sample of Healthy Preterm Infants

In this longitudinal study of a Portuguese sample of healthy preterm infants, the aim was to identify specific, independent predictors of infant-mother attachment status from a set of variables including maternal education, maternal representations’ of infant temperament, infant regulatory behavior (coping), and mothers’ interactive behavior in free play. The sample consisted of 48 medically low-risk preterm infants and their mothers who varied in education. When infants were 1 and 3 months (corrected age), mothers described their infants’ temperament using a Portuguese temperament scale (Escala de Temperamento do Bebe). At 3 months (corrected age), infants’ capacity to regulate stress (coping) was evaluated during Tronick’s Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (FFSF). At 9 months (corrected age), mothers’ interactive behaviors were evaluated during free play using the Crittenden’s Child-Adult Relationship Experimental Index (CARE-Index). At 12 months (corrected age), infants’ attachment security was assessed.
Stability analysis of switched nonlinear systems with an improved mode-dependent average dwell time method

This paper investigates the stability for a class of switched nonlinear systems. Firstly, an improved average dwell time (ADT) method is introduced, based on which an improved mode-dependent dwell time (MDDT) method is established. Then, several new results to the stability analysis are obtained. In comparison with the existing results, the obtained results have some advantages over those obtained by others. Finally, an illustrative example with numerical simulation is studied to show the correctness and validity of our results.
An Introduction to Chinese Psychology—Its Historical Roots Until the Present Day

Abstract In this article the authors review the historical development of Chinese psychology. China's long history as a country immersed in the study of psychological issues is well known and has had an influence on developments in the field of psychology around the world. Modern Chinese psychology, however, was imported from the West and the Soviet Union and has been closely linked with China's social environment and changes of national policy. Today Chinese psychology is still in a preliminary stage. Despite difficulties that may impede its future development, the importance of psychology in the modernization of China has been widely recognized.
Can party competition amplify mass ideological polarization over public policy? The case of ethnic exclusionism in Denmark and Sweden

It is commonplace to see political parties as fundamentally constrained by public opinion. By contrast, this paper argues that party competition amplifies mass ideological polarization over public policy. Specifically, the investigation concerns the relationship between mass-level ideology and ethnic exclusionism (the call for harsh immigration policies). As party competition intensifies, this relationship strengthens. The party competition thesis is tested by performing a comparative study of Denmark and Sweden. Unlike their Danish counterparts, Swedish political parties have, most of the time, refused to take opposed stands on immigration policy. In effect, the empirical data show that the individual-level association between self-reported ideology and ethnic exclusionism is considerably stronger in Denmark than in Sweden. To investigate the party competition effect in depth, both longitudinal analyses and a cross-sectional analysis are performed. Data cover the period 1990-2008.
Social networks, ethnicity and public home-care utilisation

This article examines the relationships between support networks, ethnicity and the utilisation of formal care services, taking into account background characteristics and functional health status among 3,403 older people in Israel. Data were drawn from a national survey in 1997 of people aged 60 or more years. The outcome variable was the use of publicly-financed personal care or homemaking services. About 15 per cent of the study population made use of such home care. Six informal support network constellations were identified by applying cluster analysis to key criterion variables that reflect the inter-personal milieu. The resultant network types were: community-clan, family-focused, diverse, friend-focused, neighbour-focused, and restricted networks. Binary logistic regression revealed that the use of formal home-care services was significantly associated with a respondent's age, gender, functional level and informal support network type (Nagelkerke R2=0.39). No association was found between home-care utilisation and a respondent's ethnicity (Arab, Jew, and new Russian immigrant), income or education. The results show that publicly-financed formal care services were utilised more frequently by older-old persons, women, functionally impaired individuals and people embedded in the neighbour-focused and restricted networks (and to a lesser degree, in the diverse and friend-focused networks). Neighbour-focused and restricted network types were characterised by fewer informal support resources at their disposal than the other types. Thus, formal home care was sought more often in cases in which the informal sources of support had less capacity to provide ongoing informal care.
The Development and Validation of the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale.

The present study developed and assessed reliability and validity of a new instrument, the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES). Based on a review of the literature, 76 items important for intercultural effectiveness were generated. A total of 653 college students rated these items in two separate stages and generated a 20item final version of the instrument which contains six factors. An assessment of concurrent and predictive validity from 246 participants in the final stage indicates that the IES was significantly correlated with other related scales. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed as well.
Ultrastructure and phylogeny of Philasterides dicentrarchi (Ciliophora, Scuticociliatia) from farmed turbot in NW Spain

Several species of opportunistic histophagous scuticociliates have been implicated in systemic infections of farmed fish. In turbot, scuticociliatosis is an emerging disease, and the identification of the parasite species involved is controversial. We have previously isolated Philasterides dicentrarchi from farmed turbot scuticociliatosis outbreaks in northwest Spain. In the present study, we report detailed ultrastructural studies of this parasite, and investigate phylogenetic relations with other members of the order Philasterida on the basis of sequence comparison of the small-subunit rRNA (SSUrRNA) gene. Ultrastructural study indicates the presence of dikinetids in the anterior two-thirds of the body; micronucleus closely associated with the macronucleus, though not physically connected; numerous mitochondria located below the cell cortex, parallel to the surface; numerous spherical and fusiform extrusomes located close to the plasma membrane. We consider that these characteristics are useful for diagnosis of infections by this parasite. A nested 350-bp nucleotide sequence of the SSUrRNA gene of the turbot P. dicentrachi isolate showed high identity with previously reported SSUrRNA gene sequences from 2 scuticociliates isolated from olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus in Korea, namely P. dicentrarchi (98%) and Miamiensis avidus (99%); conversely, our P. dicentrarchi sequence showed low identity (86%) with that of Uronema marinum, a scuticociliate that has also been implicated in scuticociliatosis outbreaks in turbot in Europe and olive flounder in Asia. Phylogenetic tree construction on the basis of the SSUrRNA gene sequences, using the neighbour-joining method, confirm that the different P. dicentrarchi isolates and M. avidus are closely related and a possible synonymy between both ciliates species should be considered.
Using Meta-inference with Prolog to Preserve Accuracy in Numerical Equation Solving

In this paper, we explore the powerful bidirectional interface between Prolog and C to build an equation solver that mixes infinite precision and numerical methods. Meta-inference rules in Prolog control the numerical process in C, so that exact methods of solution are used preferably to numerical approximations, leading to the preservation of as much significant digits as possible during the computations. On the other hand, the possibility to access numerical resources when symbolic treatment fails allowed us to handle a much wider range of equations than with a purely symbolic system. Another advantage of this hybrid approach is the possibility of recording previous results to aid in future computations.