Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
When can competition for resources lead to ecological equivalence

Question: Under what conditions do species using distinct niches evolve and converge to become ecologically equivalent? Does evolution in a community context affect functional group diversity? Mathematical methods: We simulated the population dynamics and evolution of multiple species competing for discrete, substitutable resources. Key assumptions: Species’ competitive effect and response are based on resource-use overlap. Evolution occurs via selection on mutations of small effect. Intraspecific genetic variation is the same for each species. Predictions: Evolution of equivalence is possible when species evolve in a community context. A combination of convergence, divergence, and extinctions occurs when the number of species exceeds the number of resources. Species avoid competitive exclusion via convergence or divergence in their resource use. Ecological and evolutionary outcomes depend on an interaction between the rate of evolution and the initial similarity of competitors. The evolution of equivalence determines diversity within functional groups, but niche processes drive diversity among groups.
Evaluating Flexibility in Embedded Automotive Product Lines Using Real Options

Embedded automotive architectures and software need to support a large number of vehicle product lines over many years of production. This leads to a complexity and many uncertain factors when developing such systems and a need for support in the design process. An evaluation method using real options provides the opportunity to analyze the cost of designing for flexibility to cope with a future growth of a product line, based on the estimated value of the future functionality. In this paper real options is applied on a case within the automotive industry. To improve the usability an evaluation process is defined to aid engineers. This process provides a way of valuing system designs and enables the engineer to think about the future in a systematic manor. The value of a flexible design can thereby be quantified and the proposed process shows how it can be accepted by practitioners.
Auditing communication in design: a maturity grid-inspired approach

Communication is a critical success factor in design. How communication processes can best be captured, analysed and assessed, as a preliminary step to suggestions for improvement of communication practices, remains a challenge for researchers and practitioners. This paper critically reflects on the construction and application of a structured group interview in software design inspired by a maturity grid approach. Such an approach yields dual benefit: as a research method and tool to gather insight into communication and as a guide to plan improvements in practice. Initial results of an empirical study are presented. Conclusions are drawn for the process of auditing communication in design.
Design of Low Phase-Noise Microwave Oscillator and Wideband VCO Based on Microstrip Combline Bandpass Filters

This paper presents a new low phase-noise microwave oscillator and wideband voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) based on microstrip combline bandpass filters. For this type of oscillator, the passband filter is embedded into the feedback loop to treat as a frequency stabilization element. Instead of designing the oscillator at the group-delay-peak frequency of the filter to achieve a good phase-noise performance, in this paper, the peak frequency of the complex quality factor Qsc is adopted for oscillator design. To demonstrate the effectiveness of using Qsc-peak frequency, two filter-based oscillators are implemented at the Qsc-peak and group-delay-peak frequencies, respectively. The oscillator designed at the Qsc-peak frequency improves the phase-noise about 10 dB as compared with that realized at the group-delay-peak frequency. The developed oscillator with the three-pole combline filter is experimentally demonstrated at 2.05 GHz with -148.3-dBc/Hz phase noise at 1-MHz offset frequency. Moreover, by attaching a varactor on each resonator of the combline filter, the oscillator can be extended to a wideband VCO. The developed VCO has a frequency tuning range from 1.3 to 2.2813 GHz with a 54.8% bandwidth. Over this frequency range, all the phase noises measured at 1-MHz offset frequency are better than -117.19 dBc/Hz.
Sealed-Bid Auction of Dutch Mussels: Statistical Analysis

This article presents an econometric analysis of the many data on the sealed-bid auction that sells mussels in Yerseke town, the Netherlands. The goals of this analy- sis are obtaining insight into the important factors that determine the price of these mussels, and quantifying the performance of an individual purchase manager. Be- sides a case-study, the article is a general study on the role of auctions in supply chains and hedonic price factors.
Real-time 3D tracking using multiple sample points

In this paper, we propose a method for robust and real-time estimation of 3D motion. In our method, we use multiple sample points that are on an object before and after moving. Point correspondences between frames are not necessary. 3D motion is reliably estimated by using sample points with image positions, image features and 3D spatial positions, from both images. Our method achieves real-time performance due to usage of just sample points. We present the effectiveness of our method by means of experimental results and compare its performance with that of other methods.
A Linked Data Driven Semantic Model for Interpreting English Queries in Question Answering System

This paper introduces the Linked Data Driven Semantic Model for Interpreting English Queries (SMIQ) which is proposed to interpret the semantics of English queries used in our linked data based question answering system. SMIQ models the meanings of English queries by using a linked data driven approach, interprets the semantic presentation of English queries into linked data queries, and connects with many linked data sources to query useful data for question-answering system. SMIQ is evaluated by the keywords of the testing questions of the Task 1 of QALD-4. Three evaluation scores of SMIQ are <0.90, 0.82, 0.85>.
A Fast Time Series Classification using Shapelets

over time. One of the most recent approaches to classification of time series data is to find shapelets within a data set. Time series shapelets are time series subsequences which represent a class. To classify time series data, the shapelets are identified which represent a particular class and discriminates it from other classes. Since one shapelet is not sufficient to classify entire data, two or more shapelets are identified which clearly distinguishes one class from other. The decision tree is used as classifier and each non leaf node of the decision tree contain shapelet and leaf nodes contain class label. To overcome the problem of overfitting the data in decision tree, we have used reduced error pruning. We show that by pruning the decision tree, a good increase in speed can be achieved without affecting the accuracy of classifier.
SMILE: a joint ESA/CAS mission to investigate the interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a collaborative science mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). SMILE is a novel self-standing mission to observe the coupling of the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere via X-Ray imaging of the solar wind -- magnetosphere interaction zones, UV imaging of global auroral distributions and simultaneous in-situ solar wind, magnetosheath plasma and magnetic field measurements. The SMILE mission proposal was submitted by a consortium of European, Chinese and Canadian scientists following a joint call for mission by ESA and CAS. It was formally selected by ESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) as an element of the ESA Science Program in November 2015, with the goal of a launch at the end of 2021. In order to achieve its scientific objectives, the SMILE payload will comprise four instruments: the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), which will spectrally map the Earth's magnetopause, magnetosheath and magnetospheric cusps; the UltraViolet Imager (UVI), dedicated to imaging the auroral regions; the Light Ion Analyser (LIA) and the MAGnetometer (MAG), which will establish the solar wind properties simultaneously with the imaging instruments. We report on the status of the mission and payload developments and the findings of a design study carried out in parallel at the concurrent design facilities (CDF) of ESA and CAS in October/November 2015.
Strategies for Performance Improvement in the Chinese Chemical Industry: Evidence from Case Study Investigations

Purpose – This paper sets out to explore the proposition that building competences is more effective than privatisation and restructuring to improve performance in the Chinese chemical industry. Design/methodology/approach – Case study research has been undertaken in the Chinese chemical industry. The two case companies provide representative data on the factors under investigation. The case investigations that are described were complemented by a survey, the results of which have been reported elsewhere. Findings – Results obtained from the research show that privatisation of Chinese state-owned enterprises is not always an effective strategy to improve performance. In the case study companies, the development of core competences was more effective in enhancing performance. Research limitations/implications – The research results are limited by the scope of the study, which was carried out in the Chinese chemical industry. They are also based on in-depth case investigations in only two companies, but are supported by a large-scale survey reported elsewhere. The results have implications for academic researchers interested in China's privatisation programme. Practical implications – The research has practical implications for companies outside China that are considering collaborative operations with Chinese companies or investing in joint ventures. It also has implications for suppliers or customers of Chinese companies. Originality/value – The paper is based on original case study investigations carried out in Chinese enterprises and is supported by a survey of representative companies in China's chemical sector. Value is derived from understanding the basis of improved performance in the companies studied.
Pedestrian crossing prediction using multiple context-based models

In inner-city, most vehicle-pedestrian collisions occur when a pedestrian is crossing the road and the driver does not see or pay attention to him. Current ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) warn the driver or apply the brakes shortly before the collision, but in some situations the collision cannot be fully avoided because most systems react only when the pedestrian is already in front of the vehicle. To fully avoid a collision, a driver should be warned earlier. Behavior prediction is a solution that can be used to warn a driver before the pedestrian starts crossing. In this paper, we propose a generic context based model to predict crossing behaviors of pedestrians in inner-city. We will show that our model provides accurate prediction at an early time. However, there are specific locations such as zebra crossings, where based on expert driving experience, one would expect that a prediction can be done even earlier. Therefore, we have developed an additional specific model fitted to the context of zebra crossings. The experiments show that this model produces both, better and earlier predictions in this specific context. Because our goal is to build a generic crossing prediction system, we finally apply the framework of the `Context Model Tree' to combine the two models. We demonstrate that this multi-model system is well suited to provide early predictions for realistic data, including both, generic inner-city situations and zebra crossings.
Solving Large, Irregular Graph Problems Using Adaptive Work-Stealing

Solving large, irregular graph problems efficiently is challenging. Current software systems and commodity multiprocessors do not support fine-grained, irregular parallelism well. We present XWS, the X10 work stealing framework, an open-source runtime for the parallel programming language X10 and a library to be used directly by application writers. XWS extends the Cilk work-stealing framework with several features necessary to efficiently implement graph algorithms, viz., support for improperly nested procedures, global termination detection, and phased computation. We also present a strategy to adaptively control the granularity of parallel tasks in the work-stealing scheme, depending on the instantaneous size of the work queue. We compare the performance of the XWS implementations of spanning tree algorithms with that of the hand-written C and Cilk implementations using various graph inputs. We show that XWS programs (written in Java) scale and exhibit comparable or better performance.
Computationally Efficient Solution and Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Nonlinear Rational Expectations Models

This paper presents new, computationally efficient algorithms for solution and estimation of nonlinear dynamic rational expectations models. The innovations in the algorithms are as follows: (1) The entire solution path is obtained simultaneously by taking a small number of Newton steps, using analytic derivatives, over the entire path; (2) The terminal conditions for the solution path are derived from the uniqueness and stability conditions from the linearization of the model around the terminus of the solution path; (3) Unit roots are allowed in the model; (4) Very general models with expectational identities and singularities of the type handled by the King-Watson (1995a,b) linear algorithms are also allowed; and (5) Rank-deficient covariance matrices that arise owing to the presence of expectational identities are admissible. Reasonably complex models are solved in less than a second on a Sun Sparc20. This speed improvement makes derivative-based estimation methods feasible. Algorithms for maximum likelihood estimation and sample estimation problems are presented.
Materials, materiality, and media

In HCI, and especially in interaction design, the material aspect of interactions is currently emphasized. Nevertheless, it is challenging to theoretically frame the variety of digital or immaterial, and physical materials. In order to contribute to this materiality discourse, we reflect on McLuhan's work on media analysis and on Latour's Actor-Network Theory in this paper. Both emphasize the active role of the material - be it media or any other kind of non-human actors - in the interplay with the human. Thus, we establish junctures between their findings and materials, as used in interaction design in HCI. We discuss McLuhan's claim to focus on new sensory effects and ways of interaction brought forth by new media. Furthermore, we illustrate how describing the connections between materials, designers, and users in terms of Latour's Actor-Networks can be beneficial for interaction design. Finally, we discuss the respective methodology and its relation to research through design.
Power-area tradeoff in subthreshold SRAM designs EE 241 Midterm Report

— Increasing area overhead is a major design concern in low-power subthreshold SRAM designs, due to stability considerations. Since power and delay performance can only improve at the expense of a large area penalty, this project will evaluate the power-area trade-off for some representative subthreshold SRAM designs. Power and area models for the subthreshold SRAMs in deep submicron technology will be developed to characterize each design. Using this model, we can also forecast performance trends of each design as technology scales.
Spatio‐temporal complexity of slip on a fault

Three-dimensional analyses are reported of slip on a long vertical strike-slip fault between steadily driven elastic crustal blocks. A rate- and state-dependent friction law governs motion on the fault; the law includes a characteristic slip distance L for evolution of surface state and slip weakening. Because temperature and normal stress vary with depth, frictional constitutive properties (velocity weakening/ strengthening) do also. Those properties are taken either as uniform along-strike at every depth or as perturbed modestly from uniformity. The governing equations of quasi-static elasticity and frictional slip are solved on a computational grid of cells as a discrete numerical system, and a viscous radiation damping term is included to approximately represent inertial control of slip rates during earthquakelike instabilities. The numerical results show richly complex slip, with a spectrum of event sizes, when solved for a grid with oversized cells, that is, with cell size h that is too large to validly represent the underlying continuous system of equations. However, in every case for which it has been feasible to do the computations (moderately large L only), that spatio-temporally complex slip disappears in favor of simple limit cycles of periodically repeated large earthquakes with reduction of cell size h. Further study will be necessary to determine whether a similar trhnsition occurs when the elastodynamics of rupture propagation is treated more exactly, rather than in the radiation damping approximation. The transition from complex to ordered fault response occurs as h is reduced below a theoretically derived nucleation size h* which scales with L but is 2 x 104 to 105 larger in cases considered. Cells larger than h* can fail independently of one another, whereas those much smaller than h* cannot slip unstably alone and can do so only as part of a cooperating group of cells. The results contradict an emergent view that spatio-temporal complexity is a generic feature of mechanical fault models. Such generic complexity does apparently result from models which are inherently discrete in the sense of having no well-defined continuum limit as h diminishes. Those models form a different class of dynamical systems from models like the present one that do have a continuum limit. Strongly oversized cells cause the model developed here to mimic an inherently discrete system. It is suggested that oversized cells, capable of failing independently of one another, may crudely represent geometrically disordered fault zones, with quasi-independent fault segments that join one another at kinks or jogs. Such geometric disorder, at scales larger than h*, may force a system with a well-defined continuum limit to mimic an inherently discrete system and show spatio-temporally complex slip at those larger scales.
Post-Editing Evaluations: Trade-offs between Novice and Professional Participants

The increasing use of post-editing in localisation workflows has led to a great deal of research and development in the area, much of it requiring user evaluation. This paper compares some results from a post-editing user interface study carried out using novice and expert translator groups. By comparing rates of productivity, edit distance, engagement with the research, and qualitative findings regarding each group‟s attitude to post-editing, we find that there are trade-offs to be considered when selecting participants for evaluation tasks. Novices may generally be more positive and enthusiastic and will engage considerably with the research while professionals will be more efficient, but their routines and attitudes may prevent full engagement with research objectives.
The Side Population in Human Lung Cancer Cell Line NCI-H460 Is Enriched in Stem-Like Cancer Cells

Lung cancer is among the most lethal malignancies with a high metastasis and recurrence rate. Recent studies indicate that tumors contain a subset of stem-like cancer cells that possess certain stem cell properties. Herein, we used Hoechst 33342 dye efflux assay and flow cytometry to isolate and characterize the side population (SP) cells from human lung cancer cell line NCI-H460 (H460). We show that the H460 SP cells harbor stem-like cells as they can readily form anchorage-independent floating spheres, possess great proliferative potential, and exhibit enhanced tumorigenicity. Importantly, the H460 SP cells were able to self-renew both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we show that the H460 SP cells preferentially express ABCG2 as well as SMO, a critical mediator of the Hedgehog (HH) signaling, which seems to play an important role in H460 lung cancer cells as its blockage using Cyclopamine greatly inhibits cell-cycle progression. Collectively, our results lend further support to the existence of lung cancer stem cells and also implicate HH signaling in regulating large-cell lung cancer (stem) cells.
The Spectrum of $BPS$ Branes on a Noncompact Calabi-Yau

We begin the study of the spectrum of BPS branes and its variation on lines of marginal stability on 2(? 3), a Calabi-Yau ALE space asymptotic to 3/3. We show how to get the complete spectrum near the large volume limit and near the orbifold point, and find a striking similarity between the descriptions of holomorphic bundles and BPS branes in these two limits. We use these results to develop a general picture of the spectrum. We also suggest a generalization of some of the ideas to the quintic Calabi-Yau.
Neuronal cell surfaces: distinctive glycoproteins of cultured adrenergic and cholinergic sympathetic neurons

Cell surface components which are candidates for a role in nerve-target interactions specific for neurons of particular transmitter types in the sympathetic nervous system have been identified. Neurons of superior cervical ganglia of neonatal rats were dissociated and cultured in the virtual absence of non-neuronal cells under conditions previously found to control their choice of neurotransmitter. When raised in medium conditioned by heart cells, the neurons become cholinergic; when raised in medium which depolarizes them, the neurons remain in their original adrenergic state. The cell surface proteins of the neurons were labeled by either metabolic or surface-specific methods, separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and visualized by autoradiography. A total of approximately 35 glycoproteins can be resolved, of which at least 14 are exposed on the cell surface. We evaluated glycoproteins of neurons raised under conditions which differ in their potency for inducing cholinergic properties: medium conditioned by skeletal muscle, liver, or heart cells or medium containing 1 mM butyric acid. The expression of three neuronal glycoproteins was correlated with the ability of a given culture condition to induce the synthesis and accumulation of acetylcholine or catecholamines. Two of these proteins are exposed on the cell surface, and the third appears to be identical with a protein previously shown to be secreted into the culture medium.