Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in Colombian electricity distribution utilities

The electricity reform in Colombia has exhibited gains in terms of reliability but its effects on firms efficiency and service quality have not been clear. Previous studies evaluating the performance of distribution companies after the reform have not found evidence of improvements, although large differences in efficiency have been found among firms. This suggests high inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in the Colombian distribution sector. In this paper, we propose an extension of dynamic stochastic frontier models that accounts for unobserved heterogeneity in the inefficiency persistence and in the technology. The model incorporates total expenses, service quality and energy losses in an efficiency analysis of Colombian distributors over fifteen years after the reform. We identify the presence of high inefficiency persistence in the sector, and important differences between firms. In particular, rural companies and firms with small customers present low persistence and evidence the largest gains in efficiency during the period. However, increases in efficiency are only manifested during the last five years when the main improvements in service quality and energy losses are presented. Overall, inefficiency persistence, customer density and consumption density are found to be important criteria to be considered for regulatory purposes.
The UML 2 . 0 Testing Profile

Testing often accounts for more than 50% of the required effort during system development. However, testing is often not well integrated with other development phases. One reason for this is that designers, developers and testers all use different languages and tools, making it difficult to communicate with each other and to exchange documents. The UML 2.0 Testing Profile bridges the gap between designers and testers by providing a means to use UML for test specification and modeling. This allows the reuse of UML design documents for testing and enables test development in an early system development phase. The testing profile provides support for UML based model-driven testing. This paper presents the concepts defined in the UML 2.0 Testing Profile and explains their usage by applying those to an example of a simplified Automated Teller Machine (ATM).
2 Promoting Technological Standards through IPRs Management : Taking Advantage of Licenses

Very strong incentives for developing proprietary technological platforms in ICT markets are a consequence of the possibility of gaining market power and high profits. With these aims, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Matsushita, Ericsson, Philips, Sony, Dolby Laboratories, etc. all compete in promoting their own system specifications. Indeed, the techno-economic characteristics of these markets, the patent system and the customer desire for compatibility create effects (network externalities, band wagon effect, high switching costs) which are unlikely lead to a competitive scenario where many platforms coexist. Through four case studies on coding and decoding (codec) technologies for compressing the digital audio (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA and ACC) the strategic use of intellectual property rights in promoting and spreading platforms will be analysed. While open licensing strategies seem to be essential in involving complementary product producers, Digital Right Management system (DRM) is a key asset in attracting content producers. Both of them should also balance the users demand of complementarity and portability.
Partitioning and mapping of mesh-based applications onto computational grids

Mesh-based applications, such as those that involve the numerical solution of partial differential equations, may be able to take advantage of the performance of computational grids. We require mesh partitioners that take the heterogeneity of the computational platform into account. Recent work in our group led to the creation of a heterogeneous mesh partitioner, PaGrid. We present a redesigned version of PaGrid, which uses estimated execution time as a cost function in all levels of multilevel refinement. It takes into account the characteristics of the application (computational complexity and size of messages) and of the computing platform (processor and network speeds), and balances the estimated execution time of processors. This results in partitions with up to 60% lower estimated execution times than METIS, a homogeneous partitioner, and similar improvements over JOSTLE, a heterogeneous partitioner. PaGrid achieves this in a reasonable amount of time, taking only two to three times longer than METIS.
A Survey of General‐Purpose Computation on Graphics Hardware

The rapid increase in the performance of graphics hardware, coupled with recent improvements in its programmability, have made graphics hardware a compelling platform for computationally demanding tasks in a wide variety of application domains. In this report, we describe, summarize, and analyze the latest research in mapping general‐purpose computation to graphics hardware.
Intergroup Resource Distribution Among Children Living in Segregated Neighborhoods Amid Protracted Conflict

Even after a peace agreement, children often grow up within societies characterized by division and simmering intergroup tensions. In Northern Ireland, segregated Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods occur side by side, separated by “peace walls” or physical barriers that demarcate “interface” areas, which have higher levels of violence compared with non-interface areas. The study explored the impact of living in interface and non-interface neighborhoods, the strength of ingroup identity, and outgroup attitudes on intergroup resource distributions of 88 children aged between 5 and 9 years old, growing up in Belfast. The findings revealed that compared with those in non-interface areas, children living in interface neighborhoods distributed more resources to an ingroup member than an outgroup member. This effect was accentuated for those children that more strongly identified with their community group, either Protestant or Catholic. At the same time, children with more positive outgroup attitudes distributed more resources to an outgroup member, but only in non-interface neighborhoods. By applying a framework that incorporates converging social and developmental processes, the study adds to a mounting body of research that aims to understand the impact of living in divided societies on children’s intergroup attitudes and behaviors. The implications for promoting resource sharing across group lines within post-accord Northern Ireland are discussed.
Autoantibodies from Synovial Lesions in Chronic, Antibiotic Treatment-Resistant Lyme Arthritis Bind Cytokeratin-101

Although the causative agent of Lyme disease is definitively known to be the tick-borne spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiology of chronic joint inflammation that ensues in a subset of patients remains less well understood. Persistence of arthritis after apparent eradication of the spirochete suggests an autoimmune reaction downstream of the original bacterial infection. We have generated recombinant Ab probes from synovial lesions within affected arthritic joints in an attempt to recapitulate disease-relevant Ag-binding specificities at the site of injury. Using this panel of intra-articular probes, as well as Ab fragments derived from patient peripheral blood, we have identified cytokeratin 10, present in synovial microvascular endothelium, as a target ligand and a putative autoantigen in chronic, antibiotic treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis. Furthermore, there is cross-reactivity between cytokeratin 10 and a prominent B. burgdorferi Ag, outer surface protein A. Release of the self protein in the context of inflammation-induced tissue injury and the resulting in situ response to it could set in motion a feed-forward loop, which amplifies the inflammatory process, thereby rendering it chronic and self-perpetuating, even in the absence of the inciting pathogen.
TGF-beta induced transdifferentiation of mammary epithelial cells to mesenchymal cells: involvement of type I receptors

The secreted polypeptide transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) exerts its multiple activities through type I and II cell surface receptors. In epithelial cells, activation of the TGF-beta signal transduction pathways leads to inhibition of cell proliferation and an increase in extracellular matrix production. TGF-beta is widely expressed during development and its biological activity has been implicated in epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, e.g., in branching morphogenesis of the lung, kidney, and mammary gland, and in inductive events between mammary epithelium and stroma. In the present study, we investigated the effects of TGF-beta on mouse mammary epithelial cells in vitro. TGF-beta reversibly induced an alteration in the differentiation of normal mammary epithelial NMuMG cells from epithelial to fibroblastic phenotype. The change in cell morphology correlated with (a) decreased expression of the epithelial markers E- cadherin, ZO-1, and desmoplakin I and II; (b) increased expression of mesenchymal markers, such as fibronectin; and (c) a fibroblast-like reorganization of actin fibers. This phenotypic differentiation displays the hallmarks of an epithelial to mesenchymal transdifferentiation event. Since NMuMG cells make high levels of the type I TGF-beta receptor Tsk7L, yet lack expression of the ALK-5/R4 type I receptor which has been reported to mediate TGF-beta responsiveness, we evaluated the role of the Tsk7L receptor in TGF-beta- mediated transdifferentiation. We generated NMuMG cells that stably overexpress a truncated Tsk7L type I receptor that lacks most of the cytoplasmic kinase domain, thus function as a dominant negative mutant. These transfected cells no longer underwent epithelial to mesenchymal morphological change upon exposure to TGF-beta, yet still displayed some TGF-beta-mediated responses. We conclude that TGF-beta has the ability to modulate E-cadherin expression and induce a reversible epithelial to mesenchymal transdifferentiation in epithelial cells. Unlike other transdifferentiating growth factors, such as bFGF and HGF, these changes are accompanied by growth inhibition. Our results also implicate the Tsk7L type I receptor as mediating the TGF-beta-induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition.
Brain Correlates of Language Learning: The Neuronal Dissociation of Rule-Based versus Similarity-Based Learning

Language learning is one of the mysteries of human cognition. One of the crucial questions is the following: Does acquisition of grammatical knowledge depend primarily on abstract rules or on item-specific information? Although there is evidence that both mechanisms contribute to language acquisition, their relative importance during the process of language learning is unknown. Using an artificial grammar paradigm, we show by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging that the brain dissociates the two mechanisms: the left anterior hippocampus supports similarity-based learning, whereas the left ventral premotor cortex is selectively engaged by abstract rule processing. Moreover, data analysis over time on learning suggests that similarity-based learning plays a nonobligatory role during the initial phase, and that rule-based abstraction plays a crucial role during later learning.
A Mechanized Theory of Communication Analysis in CML

A Mechanized Theory of Communication Analysis in CML Thomas Logan, M.S. Rochester Institute of Technology, 2019 Supervisor: Dr. Matthew Fluet For this master’s thesis, I have developed a formal semantics of a language with concurrent processes (or threads), an initial formal analysis, along with related theorems and formal proofs. The language under analysis is a very simpli ed version of Concurrent ML. The formal analysis recasts an analysis with informal proofs developed by Reppy and Xiao. It categorizes communication described by programs into simple topologies. One description of topologies is static; that is, it describes all static topologies of a program in a nite number of steps. Another description is dynamic; that is, it describes topologies in terms of running a program for an arbitrary number of steps. The main formal theorem states that the static analysis is sound with respect to the dynamic analysis. Two versions of the static analysis have been developed so far; one with lower precision, and one with higher precision. The higher precision analysis is closer to the work by Reppy and Xiao, but contains many more details making it more challenging to prove formally than the lower precision analysis. The proofs for the soundness theorems of the lower precision analysis have been mechanically veri ed using Isabelle/HOL, while the higher precision
SymDroid : A Symbolic Executor to Identify Activity Permission in Android Application

Mobile development is expanding widely over the past few years. Amongst the top operating platforms for Smartphones, Google Android platform has been discovered with known privilege escalation attacks. Many of the known privilege escalation attacks are related to the permission system used by the Android platform. This paper will introduce SymDroid, a tool using symbolic execution to explore permissions used in Android applications.
Polymorphonuclear Leukocyte Apoptosis Is Accelerated by Sulfatides or Sulfatides-Treated Salmonella Typhimurium Bacteria

Neutrophils die by apoptosis following activation and uptake of microbes or enter apoptosis spontaneously at the end of their lifespan if they do not encounter a pathogen. Here we report that sulfatides or sulfatides-treated Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria accelerated human neutrophil apoptosis. Neutrophil apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry. Sulfatides caused prominent increase in percentage of apoptotic cells after 2.5 hrs of incubation. Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria by themselves did not affect the basal level of apoptosis in neutrophil population. When neutrophils were added to S. Typhimurium “opsonized” by sulfatides, apoptotic index significantly increased, whereas the number of phagocyting cells was not influenced. Sulfatides' proapoptotic effect was strongly dependent on the activity of β-galactosidase; inhibition of this enzyme impaired its potency to accelerate apoptosis. These data support the mechanism of neutrophil apoptosis triggering based on sulfatides' ability to accumulate in intracellular compartments and mediate successive increase in ceramide content resulting from β-galactosidase activity.
Integrated modelling: Compatibility of state variables, processes and parameters in sewer and waste water treatment models

All the parts of an urban drainage system, i.e. the sewer system, the waste water treatment plant (WWTP) and the river, should be integrated into one single model to assess the performance of the overall system and for the development of design and control strategies assisting in its sustainable and cost effective management. Existing models for the individual components of the system have to be merged in order to develop the integrated tool. One of the problems arising from this methodology is the incompatibility of state variables, processes and parameters used in the different modelling approaches. Optimisation of an urban drainage system and of the waste water treatment process in particular requires a good knowledge of the waste water composition. As important transformations take place between the emission from the household and the arrival at the treatment facility, sewer models should include these transformations in the sewer system. At present, however, research is still needed in order to increase our knowledge concerning these in-sewer processes. A comparison of the state variables, processes and parameters has been carried out in both sewer models (SMs) and activated sludge models (ASMs). An ASM approach is used for the description of reactions in sewer models. However, a difference is found in the expression for organic material (expressed in terms of BOD) and heterotrophic biomass is absent as a state variable, resulting in differences in processes and parameters. Reconciliation of both the models seems worthwhile and a preliminary solution is suggested in this paper.
PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES TO NEGOTIATE ENGLISH TEACHING PRACTICES IN THE REMOTE AREA

Conditions and facilities of English language classes in the remote area encourage the negotiation of learning to solve problems. This narrative research aims to reveal strategies of pre-service teachers of the SM3T program in the process of the negotiation of English language learning. The study used diaries and interview transcripts from four teachers from Pidie Jaya and Sumba. The findings showthat teachers use interpersonal (IPS) and instructional (IS) strategies in the negotiation process. In Pidie Jaya, IPS strategies consist of the use of local languages and the help of local people. Meanwhile, IS strategies comprise learning groups and introduction to learning activities. In Sumba, teachers make language adjustment and establish rapport and informal communication as IPS strategies and they carry out buddy teaching and assign homework as IS strategies. This study contributes to the intercultural approach to designing English Language Education programs for remote areas. Keywords: EFL, remote areas, negotiation of learning STRATEGI GURU PRAJABATAN DALAM NEGOSIASI PEMBELAJARAN BAHASA INGGRIS DI DAERAH TERPENCIL Abstrak Kondisi dan fasilitas kelas Bahasa Inggris di daerah terpencil mendorong adanya negosiasi pembelajaran untuk menyelesaikan masalah. Penelitian naratif ini bertujuan untuk mengungkapkan strategi-strategi guru prajabatan program SM3T dalam proses negosiasi pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris. Studi ini menggunakan diary dan transkrip wawancara milik empat guru dari Pidie Jaya dan Sumba. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa guru menggunakan strategi Interpersonal (IPS) dan Instruksional (IS) dalam proses negosiasi. Di Pidie Jaya, IPS terdiri dari penggunaan bahasa lokal dan bantuan orang lokal. Sedangkan IS terdiri dari grup belajar dan pengenalan aktivitas-aktivitas pembelajaran. Di Sumba, guru melakukan penyesuaian bahasa dan membangun keakraban dan komunikasi informal sebagai IPS dan melakukan pengajaran dengan teman dan memberikan tugas rumah sebagai IS. Studi ini berkontribusi pada pendekatan antarkultur dalam merancang program Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris untuk daerah terpencil. Kata kunci: EFL, daerah terpencil, negosiasi pembelajaran
Comparison of Quantitative Traits in Latitudinal Populations of Drosophila Kikkawai : Wild Vs Lab Populations

The quantitative characters in Drosophila such as body size or fecundity, are very sensitive to environmental changes e.g. temperature or larval nutrition under laboratory conditions. In nature, the same situation is found where changes in annual temperature or humidity affect the type of flora as well as the size of Drosophila, fauna. In the present studies, we found that latitudinal clines exist in natural populations of Drosophila kikkawai for the quantitative traits; thorax length and wing length and wing/thorax ratio i.e the values of wing length, and thorax length and wing to thorax ratio are smaller for southern populations while higher for northern populations in both wild caught and laboratory reared populations.
Photoconverter with luminescent concentrator. Matrix material

Materials, promising for production of luminescent solar energy concentrators were considered. It is known that the silicon oxide matrix is transparent within the spectral range where Sun emits light. Up to date, the low-temperature sol-gel method for synthesizing SiO2 coatings with the simultaneous doping of the material with quantum dots (QDs) is developed. The transmission spectrum of borosilicate glasses (BK7) is narrower than that of SiO2. Typically, the doping of BK7 with the quantum dots of the group A II B VI is carried out using the method of condensation at high temperatures, which results in a low value of the quantum yield of luminescence. Minimal losses of luminescent quanta through the leakage cone will be in the matrix of glass LASF35 022291.541, which refractive index is 2.022. In the research of the properties of photoconductors with a luminescent concentrator, the matrix is most often made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Its doping with QDs and dyes is well developed. The quantum yield of luminescence of luminophores when doping PMMA with dyes and QDs is close to unity. The magnitude of losses of luminescent quanta in matrices of glass, PMMA and silica has been estimated. Dependence of these losses in the wave range, which should be taken into account in the study of stacked fluorescent concentrators, has been analyzed.
Fast edge-preserving depth image upsampler

In this paper, a new image upsampler is proposed to increase depth image resolution fast while preserving edge information. The proposed upsampler is based on a common edge region of color and depth images. In particular, if a vacant pixel in a higher resolution image grid belongs to the common edge region, it is assigned by a pixel selected from five candidates in a local window. A candidate is chosen by minimum cost evaluation; cost is computed by spatial, color, and range weighting functions. Otherwise, the vacant pixel is replaced with a pixel estimated using bilinear interpolation to speed up the process. In terms of a trade-off between depth image quality and computational complexity, experimental results show that the proposed upsampler outperforms other conventional methods, such as the bilinear interpolator and joint bilateral upsampler.
Joint resource optimization in decode and forward multi-relay cognitive network with direct link

An OFDM based cognitive radio (CR) network is considered in this paper. The goal is to maximize the total sum rate of the CR system while ensuring that no excessive interference is induced to the primary system. The optimal scheme adopts the dual decomposition technique and in order to reduce the computational complexity of the optimal scheme, a greedy suboptimal algorithm is proposed. Selected numerical results is discussed to reveal the near-optimal performance of the suboptimal scheme and the superiority of the proposed algorithm over the random and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) based schemes.
Classification of Known and Unknown Environmental Sounds Based on Self-Organized Space Using a Recurrent Neural Network

Our goal is to develop a system to learn and classify environmental sounds for robots working in the real world. In the real world, two main restrictions pertain in learning. (i) Robots have to learn using only a small amount of data in a limited time because of hardware restrictions. (ii) The system has to adapt to unknown data since it is virtually impossible to collect samples of all environmental sounds. We used a neuro-dynamical model to build a prediction and classification system. This neuro-dynamical model can self-organize sound classes into parameters by learning samples. The sound classification space, constructed by these parameters, is structured for the sound generation dynamics and obtains clusters not only for known classes, but also unknown classes. The proposed system searches on the basis of the sound classification space for classifying. In the experiment, we evaluated the accuracy of classification for both known and unknown sound classes.