Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reaching a Consensus in the Face of Measurement Delays

An oil spill skimmer is disclosed. The skimmer is designed to be arranged quickly on an oil-spilled area upon an oil spill accident, thereby quickly recovering oil from water while restricting a spread of oil over a wide area. In the skimmer, upper and lower housings are arranged in the top and bottom of the skimmer, with a plurality of anteflex wings being regularly arranged in a space formed between the two housings. A power chamber is concentrically positioned inside the lower housing and acts as a main buoyancy chamber of the skimmer. In the operation of the skimmer, an oil slick and an oil-water mixture are introduced into the interior of the lower housing through associated suction pipes while being pumped by associated pumps, thus individually forming a jet allowing the skimmer to be rotatable. In addition, an external blade, mounted to the outside end of one anteflex wing, allows the skimmer to eccentrically rotate and move around within an oil-spilled area when the skimmer rotates due to the jet. In the lower housing, oil is separated from water by a plurality of separation panels capable of separating the oil from the water using a difference in volume ratio between the oil and the water.
Strategies of Nucleus Formation in Agglomerative Clustering Techniques

Strategies de formation des noyaux dans les techniques de classification. Les techniques de classification sont largement reconnues dans les sciences sociales et biologiques. De nombreuses techniques basées sur des algorithmes variés ont été diffusées. Malheureusement, peu d'attention a été portée à la manière dont les noyaux sont formés. C'est un enjeu important: le choix des noyaux initiaux peut grandement affecter la constitution des classes finales. Dans cet article sont présentées les effets de quatre techniques de formation des noyaux: une méthode objective et une méthode subjective de minimalisation de la variance inter-cluster; une méthode objective et une méthode subjective de maximalisation de la variance inter-cluster. Je conclue que la pratique habituelle d'initialisation du cluster avec une paire réciproque pour minimiser la variance intra à la fois pour les méthodes de liens uniques et de liens complets. Pour les techniques centrées sur la variance inter-cluster c'est une méthode subjective de formation des noyaux pour les analyses en termes de liens uniques. Les méthodes de formation de noyaux par maximisation de la variance inter-cluster, qu'elles soient objectives ou subjectives, se sont montrées insuffisantes pour la classification par liens complets car elles privilégient des noyaux qui ne sont pas suffisamment centraux pour engendrer le cluster et qui peuvent même être extérieurs.
Gay men's self-defined sexual problems, perceived causes and factors in remission

Three hundred gay men (41% single, 59% in a current relationship) participated in a survey exploring self-defined sexual problems, their perceptions of causes and factors in remission. Over one-third of the sample (35%) were currently experiencing a sexual problem, with 70% having had either a current or previous sexual problem. Overall, the majority of problems described were psychological and related to the context of sexual behaviour, whether in masturbation, in relationships or in casual sexual encounters. In current relationships the problems included discrepancies between partners, such as in the type of relationship wanted (closed or open), the sexual practices desired and loss of sexual interest in the partner. In casual sex negative psychological states after the encounter or inhibiting ones preceding it were described, as well as a number of practical concerns such as fear of arrest or assault. Traditional sexual disorders (e.g. DSM-IV disorders) were less frequently reported, accounting for only 16% of the problem descriptions given. Of these, problems getting or maintaining an erection were the most common, having a lifetime prevalence of 8.4% in the sample. However, erectile problems were mostly confined to casual sexual encounters. The limitations of applying mainstream models of sexual functioning and associated classification systems for sexual disorders in gay men are discussed.
The loess regression relationship between age and BMI for both Sydney World Masters Games athletes and the Australian national population

Abstract — Thousands ofmasters athletes participate quadrennially in the World Masters Games (WMG), yet this cohort of athletes remains proportionately under-investigated. Due to a growing global obesity pandemic in context of benefits of physical activity across the lifespan, the BMI trends for this unique population was of particular interest. The nexus between health, physical activity and aging is complex and has raised much interest in recent times due to the realization that a multifaceted approach is necessary in order to counteract the obesity pandemic. By investigating age based trends within a population adhering to competitive sport at older ages, further insight might be gleaned to assist in understanding one of many factors influencing this relationship.BMI was derived using data gathered on a total of 6,071 masters athletes (51.9% male, 48.1% female) aged 25 to 91 years (=51.5, s =±9.7), competing at the Sydney World Masters Games (2009). Using linear and loess regression it was demonstrated that the usual tendency for prevalence of higher BMI increasing with age was reversed in the sample. This trend in reversal was repeated for both male and female only sub-sets of the sample participants, indicating the possibility of improved prevalence of BMI with increasing age for both the sample as a whole and these individual sub-groups.This evidence of improved classification in one index of health (reduced BMI) for masters athletes (when compared to the general population) implies there are either improved levels of this index of health with aging due to adherence to sport or possibly the reduced BMI is advantageous and contributes to this cohort adhering (or being attracted) to masters sport at older ages.
Social Control Behavior: The Effects of Social Situations and Personal Implication on Informal Social Sanctions

Social control is the generic term used to refer to reactions to counter-normative behaviors and to informal social sanctions that can be attributed to deviant individuals. This review of theories and experimental findings addresses the determinants of social control reactions. First, we examine researches in experimental social psychology that show how people’s reactions can be inhibited by the presence of others; a phenomenon known as the ‘Bystander effect’. Next, we examine the extent to which group membership factors affect social control. According to the ‘Black Sheep effect’, people are more severe with a deviant when they share their social identity than when he is a member of an out-group. Even though these processes appear as good predictors for social control reactions, other findings highlight that social control and the previous processes could be associated to selfrelated motivations that are encouraging people to defend themselves through the protection of their group’s norms.
A Simple Algorithm for Merging Two Disjoint Linearly-Ordered Sets

In this paper we present a new algorithm for merging two linearly ordered sets which requires substantially fewer comparisons than the commonly used tape merge or binary insertion algorithms. Bounds on the difference between the number of comparisons required by this algorithm and the information theory lower bounds are derived. Results from a computer implementation of the new algorithm are given and compared with a similar implementation of the tape merge algorithm.
Contemporary Mathematics Cocyclic Butson Hadamard matrices and Codes over Z n via the Trace Map

Over the past couple of years trace maps over Galois fields and Galois rings have been used very successfully to construct cocyclic Hadamard, complex Hadamard and Butson Hadamard matrices and subsequently to generate simplex codes over Z4, Z2s and Zp and new linear codes over Zps . Here we define a new map, the trace-like map and more generally the weighted-trace map and extend these techniques to construct cocyclic Butson Hadamard matrices of order nm for all n and m and linear and non-linear codes over Zn.
The talented language learner: some preliminary findings

This paper examines a new and essentially unexplored area of research in second language acquisition, that of talent. Talent is distinct from foreign language aptitude (Carroll, 1981)’ and is defined as an exceptional ability to achieve native-like competence in a second language after puberty. It is manifested only by a minority of individuals who, according to some estimates, comprise about 5070 of the adult population (Selinker, 1972; Seliger, Krashen and Ladefoged, 1975). The failure by the majority of adults to achieve native-like competence in a second language has often been contrasted with the relative success of child acquirers. This has led a number of researchers to accept the view that there is a ’critical period’ for successful language acquisition (Lenneberg, 1967; Penfield, 1965). This critical period has been variously attributed to factors associated with neural and cognitive maturation (Felix, 1984, 1985; Krashen, 1982; Scovel, 1969, 1977), suggesting that talented learners can be distinguished from untalented learners on the basis of certain neuropsychological criteria. These criteria would in turn make up a neuropsychological substrate for talent in second language learning. The present paper reports on a study which tested a number of hypotheses concerning such a substrate.
Design of bandgap reference and current reference generator with low supply voltage

A design of a CMOS bandgap voltage reference and reference current generator is described and the measurement results are presented in wide temperature range. Using by the resistive subdivision method, the reference circuit is operated with low supply. The measured reference voltage is 630 mV and temperature coefficient of bandgap reference is 29 ppm/°C from -10°C to 100°C with 1.2 V supply voltage. The reference current of generator which uses the reference voltage is 50.2 uA in that temperature range.
The Practice and Ethics of Design

This chapter presents the results of a virtual dialogue about the practice and ethics of design. The dialogue was between statements acting as surrogates for their authors. The virtual conversations were accomplished through a modified method of paired comparisons. Each statement was, in effect, compared on a one-to-one basis to every other standard (cf. Bausch, 1999, 1999a).
Risk and anxiety: Polyvalence of ethics in high-tech antenatal care

This paper is a case study on abortion problems engendered by the implementation of the advanced technology of fetal diagnosis and antenatal screening in Finnish maternity care. The analysis of the case focuses on 'ethical' concerns regarding high-tech reproductive medicine, which are seen as responses to controversies in medicine and public health care caused by the introduction of the new technology. The ethical concerns are articulated in three contexts: first, in the ethicalization of the problems of public health policy regarding antenatal screenings and fetal diagnosis in terms of general 'bioethics'; second, in the elementary ethical split that comes into being when the machinery of reproductive health care withdraws into a position of purely technical responsibility and leaves the choice, i.e. ethical responsibility, concerning any medical operation to the pregnant woman; and third, in the situation in which an individual woman is both free and compelled to give her 'informed consent' on the basis of risk assessment. The paper concentrates on the third aspect and underlines the existential character of the situation and the mode of relation to self manifested by this form of individualizing the risk . Related to this aspect, the role of the medico-psychological 'anxiety management' of pregnant women in high-tech reproductive health care is discussed.
Randomised controlled trial of CD–ROM-based cognitive–behavioural self-care for bulimia nervosa

Background Cognitive–behavioural self-care is advocated as a first step in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. Aims To examine the effectiveness of a CD–ROM-based cognitive–behavioural intervention in bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (NOS) (bulimic type) in a routine setting. Method Ninety-seven people with bulimia nervosa or eating disorder NOS were randomised to either CD–ROM without support for 3 months followed by a flexible number of therapist sessions or to a 3-month waiting list followed by 15 sessions of therapist cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) (ISRCTN51564819). Clinical symptoms were assessed at pre-treatment 3 months and 7 months. Results Only two-thirds of participants started treatment. Although there were significant group × time interactions for bingeing and vomiting, favouring the CD–ROM group at 3 months and the waiting-list group at 7 months, post hoc group comparisons at 3 and 7 months found no significant differences for bingeing or vomiting. CD–ROM-based delivery of this intervention, without support from a clinician, may not be the best way of exploiting its benefits.
Stimulation of uric acid release from the perfused rat liver by platelet activating factor or potassium.

The stimulation of hepatic glycogenolysis by platelet activating factor (AGEPC) or increased perfusate potassium concentration ([K+]o), but not phenylephrine, causes a transient increase in uric acid release into the effluent perfusate of perfused rat livers. Uric acid was identified in chromatograms of perfusate samples using reversed-phase h.p.l.c. , which show a peak which co-elutes with authentic uric acid, and by the fact that the A293 of perfusate samples decreases in the presence of uricase. Uric acid release is dose-dependent with respect to both AGEPC and [K+]o, and is blocked completely by prior exposure of the perfused liver to 5 mM-allopurinol, a specific inhibitor of xanthine oxidase (XOD). Allopurinol inhibits the increase in portal vein pressure induced by AGEPC, increased [K+]o or phenylephrine; the inhibitory effect increases with increasing concentrations of the agents. Also, allopurinol inhibits the second phase of O2 uptake and glucose release characteristic of concentrations of AGEPC or increased [K+]o equal to or greater than their reported half-maximal concentration for glucose release. The ratio of xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) to XOD activity in extracts of freeze-clamped perfused livers is not affected by treatment of the livers with AGEPC or increased [K+]o. The results suggest that uric acid production may be an indicator of ischaemia within localized hepatic sinusoids, and that allopurinol partially protects the hepatocyte from the effects of AGEPC or increased [K+]o by inhibiting XOD-dependent superoxide production. We propose that the second phase of the glycogenolytic response to these agents results from ischaemia and subsequent reperfusion. Activation of XOD in vivo and hence O2-derived free radical production may be involved in the response of the liver to vasoactive agonists under a variety of pathophysiological conditions.
Consumer (goal) satisfaction: A means‐ends chain approach

This study investigates the role that service attributes, customer subgoals, and goals play in forming the satisfaction judgment. Drawing on means-ends chain theory, and on satisfaction research, satisfaction is conceptualized as the result of a process in which customers activate multiple comparative referents. In a pilot study, a paper-and-pencil laddering technique was used to collect attributes and goals connected to the satisfaction judgment. These elements were then used as items in a satisfaction survey of 200 customers. A mixture regression model revealed that both attribute-related dimensions and goal-related dimensions determine overall satisfaction, albeit not homogeneously among customers. Two customer segments were identified: Socializers, whose satisfaction is driven primarily by the goal of well-being, and Achievers, whose satisfaction is generated mainly by the goal of efficiency. Two directed graphs describe the satisfaction path of the two groups of customers, illustrating how service attributes are connected to the satisfaction of lower-order and higher-order goals. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Attitudes of Master's-Level Counseling Students toward Gay Men and Lesbians

The authors examined variables that could be predictive of attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. A survey was conducted with 132 counselors-in-training in a program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2001). Participants attended a medium-size, regional university in the southwestern portion of the United States. Religiosity, political views, and previous experience with lesbians were the strongest predictors of attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Future research ideas and implications for counselor education programs are discussed.
DBGlobe: a service-oriented P2P system for global computing

The challenge of peer-to-peer computing goes beyond simple file sharing. In the DBGlobe project, we view the multitude of peers carrying data and services as a superdatabase. Our goal is to develop a data management system for modeling, indexing and querying data hosted by such massively distributed, autonomous and possibly mobile peers. We employ a service-oriented approach, in that data are encapsulated in services. Direct querying of data is also supported by an XML-based query language. In this paper, we present our research results along the following topics: (a) infrastructure support, including mobile peers and the creation of context-dependent communities, (b) metadata management for services and peers, including location-dependent data, (c) filters for efficiently routing path queries on hierarchical data, and (d) querying using the AXML language that incorporates service calls inside XML documents.
The Big Five of school leadership competences in the Netherlands

School leaders have been given an important role in initiating and implementing school improvement, which demands new forms of leadership. This invokes the question of the basic competences for leadership that are presently required. This article focuses on the formulation of competences for school leaders in the Netherlands with the aim of supporting them in their personal and team development. The school leaders’ union for secondary education in the Netherlands set up a working group of academics, consultants and school leaders to define these competences. Taking the research evidence of effective leadership as point of departure, the working group formulated a set of five general basic competences. The competences were placed in a general model of effective leadership. An action plan was developed as a tool for individual school leaders and leadership teams to translate the five core competences into context-specific competences for their own school.
Inducing Cost-Sensitive Non-Linear Decision Trees

This paper presents a new decision tree learning algorithm that takes account of costs of misclassification. The algorithm is based on the hypothesis that non-linear decision nodes provide a better basis for cost-sensitive induction than axis-parallel decision nodes and utilizes discriminant analysis to construct non-linear cost-sensitive decision trees. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated by applying it to seven data sets and the results compared with those obtained by two well known cost-sensitive algorithms, ICET and MetaCost. MetaCost is applied both with a base learner that uses axis-parallel spits and a base learner that uses non-linear splits, thereby enabling an evaluation of the value of non-linear decision nodes. The results show that the new algorithm displays a better profile than ICET as the ratio of costs of misclassification departs from unity and that it provides a better base learner for MetaCost than an axis-parallel learner.
Constellation design and mapping for partially coherent correlated channel with coding

Space-time (ST) constellation design problem and bit mapping schemes for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems in correlated Rayleigh fading channels with imperfect channel estimation at the receiver are considered. The channel coefficients are assumed to be correlated in space and uncorrelated in time from one coherence interval to another after which they change to another independent realization according to the spatial correlation model. We further assume the channel error estimation variance, as well as transmit and receive correlation matrices are perfectly known both at the transmitter and at the receiver. We derive the cutoff rate (CR) and an upper bound on the average bit error probability (BEP) expression for spatially correlated channels and propose them as the constellation design criteria subject to average power constraint. Additionally, to use the resulting constellations together with forward error correction (FEC) codes requires efficient bit mapping schemes. Because these constellations lack geometrical symmetry in general the Gray mapping is not always possible. Moreover, different mapping schemes may lead to different error rate performances. Thus, an efficient bit mapping scheme called binary switching algorithm (BSA) is proposed to use in order to find the optimal bit mappings. The Monte Carlo simulation results show that the designed constellation and its optimized bit mapping together with turbo codes outperform the earlier ones and the conventional constellations.
Interactive Visualization and Tuning of SIFT Indexing

Indexing image data for content-based image search is an important area in Computer Vision. The state of the art uses the 128-dimensional SIFT as low level descriptors. Indexing even a moderate collection involves several millions of such vectors. The search performance depends on the quality of indexing and there is often a need to interactively tune the process for better accuracy. In this paper, we propose a a visualization-based tool to tune the indexing process for images and videos. We use a feature selection approach to improve the clustering of SIFT vectors. Users can visualize the quality of clusters and interactively control the importance of individual or groups of feature dimensions easily. The results of the process can be visualized quickly and the process can be repeated. The user can use a ﬁlter or a wrapper model in our tool. We use input sampling, GPU-based processing, and visual tools to analyze correlations to provide interactivity. We present results of tuning the indexing for a few standard datasets. A few tuning iterations result in an improvement of over 4% in the ﬁnal classiﬁcation performance, which is signiﬁcant.
Using mobile phones to improve offline access to online information: Distributed Content Delivery

Mobile phones are now powerful and pervasive making them ideal information browsers. The Internet has revolutionized our lives and is a major knowledge sharing media. However, many mobile phone users cannot access the Internet (for financial or technical reasons) and so the mobile Internet has not been fully realized. We propose a novel content delivery network based on both a factual and speculative analysis of today's technology and analyze its feasibility. If adopted people living in remote regions without Internet will be able to access essential (static) information with periodic updates.