Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Energy Under-Reporting on Secular Trends of Dietary Patterns in a Mediterranean Population

Background Diet is an important factor in the prevention of chronic diseases. Analysis of secular trends of dietary patterns can be biased by energy under-reporting. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to analyse the impact of energy under-reporting on dietary patterns and secular trends in dietary patterns defined by cluster analysis. Design and methods Two cross-sectional population-based surveys were conducted in Spain, in 2000 and 2005, with 3058 and 6352 participants, respectively, aged 25 to 74 years. Validated questionnaire was used to collect dietary data. Cluster analysis was run separately for all participants, plausible energy reporters (PER), and energy under-reporters (EUR) to define dietary patterns. Results Three clusters, “healthy”, “mixed” and “western”, were identified for both surveys. The “mixed” cluster was the predominant cluster in both surveys. Excluding EUR reduced the proportion of the “mixed” cluster up to 6.40% in the 2000 survey; this caused secular trend increase in the prevalence of the “mixed” pattern. Cross-classification analysis of all participants and PER’ data showed substantial agreement in cluster assignments: 68.7% in 2000 and 84.4% in 2005. Excluding EUR did not cause meaningful (≥15%) changes in the “healthy” pattern. It provoked changes in consumption of some food groups in the “mixed” and “western” patterns: mainly decreases of unhealthy foods within the 2000 and increases of unhealthy foods within the 2005 surveys. Secular trend effects of EUR were similar to those within the 2005 survey. Excluding EUR reversed the direction of secular trends in consumption of several food groups in PER in the “mixed” and “western” patterns. Conclusions EUR affected distribution of participants between dietary patterns within and between surveys, secular trends in food group consumption and amount of food consumed in all, but not in the “healthy” pattern. Our findings emphasize threats from energy under-reporting in dietary data analysis.
Biodiversity Economics: International trade and its impact on biological diversity

Introduction For the past twenty-five years, the world has been moving towards a free trade regime. At the same time the concern for the impact of free trade on natural resources is increasing. There is debate among the environmentalists and the economists on the impact of trade on welfare and biodiversity (see Chapter 18 of this volume). Environmentalists ‘worry that trade will expand the scope of market failures, put added strain on the environment and lead to degradation of natural resource stocks in the long run’ (Karp et al . 2001, p. 617), which in turn will decrease the welfare of both import and export countries. Many economists argue, however, that free trade will improve social welfare and rectify environmental externalities provided markets function efficiently, property rights over biodiversity resources are well defined and non-market values of natural resources are accounted for in the production process. The fact that most of the world's biodiversity-rich land lies in the populated and poor South makes the situation even worse. The biodiversity-rich South is already overburdened to meet the demand of its own population for biodiversity-derived goods (such as agricultural products, timber and non-timber forest products), while free trade, it is argued, adds further pressure to overuse and overexploit biodiversity resources. Yet as incomes grow in Northern countries, their consumers are displaying an increasingly stronger preference for so-called ‘green products’.
Template protection for Dynamic Time Warping based biometric signature authentication

In this paper, we propose a protected on-line signature based biometric authentication system. The original signature templates are protected by transforming them in a non-invertible way. Recovering the original biometrics from the stored data is thus computationally as hard as random guessing. The transformed templates are compared employing a Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) matching strategy. The reported experimental results, evaluated on the public MCYT signature database, show that the recognition rates are only slightly affected by the proposed protection scheme, which is able to guarantee the desired security for the employed biometrics.
Continuous Parallel Coordinates

Typical scientific data is represented on a grid with appropriate interpolation or approximation schemes,defined on a continuous domain. The visualization of such data in parallel coordinates may reveal patterns latently contained in the data and thus can improve the understanding of multidimensional relations. In this paper, we adopt the concept of continuous scatterplots for the visualization of spatially continuous input data to derive a density model for parallel coordinates. Based on the point-line duality between scatterplots and parallel coordinates, we propose a mathematical model that maps density from a continuous scatterplot to parallel coordinates and present different algorithms for both numerical and analytical computation of the resulting density field. In addition, we show how the 2-D model can be used to successively construct continuous parallel coordinates with an arbitrary number of dimensions. Since continuous parallel coordinates interpolate data values within grid cells, a scalable and dense visualization is achieved, which will be demonstrated for typical multi-variate scientific data.
Least angle regression for time series forecasting with many predictors

Least Angle Regression (LARS) is a variable selection method with proven performance for cross-sectional data. In this paper, it is extended to time series forecasting with many predictors. The new method builds parsimonious forecast models, taking the time series dynamics into account. It is a flexible method that allows for ranking the different predictors according to their predictive content. The time series LARS shows good forecast performance, as illustrated in a simulation study and two real data applications, where it is compared with the standard LARS algorithm and forecasting using diffusion indices.
The Shapley value: The Aumann-Shapley prices: a survey

In a system for analyzing a fluid such as blood or blood plasma contained in capillaries, the capillaries, open at both ends, are filled with the fluid to be analyzed. These capillaries are carefully calibrated and serve as disposable pipets. The filled capillaries are disposed around a turntable or on a linear transport means and are brought to a work station. Fluid and air are pumped continuously by peristaltic action on flexible tubing through a by-pass tube. When a capillary is brought into position, connection is made with a fluid hose on both ends of the capillaries. Valve means is provided which closes the by-pass and opens the hose leading to the capillary. The fluid and air are now pumped through the capillary. After a predetermined time, the fluid hose leading to the capillary is closed and the capillary is removed. The valve in the by-pass system is now opened so that fluid now passes through the by-pass system. A second capillary is brought into place and the process is repeated until all the capillaries have been processed. The contents of the capillary are washed out, reagents are added, heating takes place if necessary, and finally the component being assayed is evaluated at a readout station.
Unexpected trends in termite survival

Survival in groups of termites is known to be socially facilitated since individual longevity is increased together with the size of the group. Here we report on experimental evidence that survival as a function of group size in Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar) does not increase asysmptotically but it peaks in a group size range at which individual longevity is maximal. Strinkly, this same effect in other social insects was noted more than fifty years ago, but it was regarded as “aberrant” since it has been generally assumed that individual survival should increase with the size of the group. We also provide evidence that individual activity –measured as mobility– is maximal at approximately the same group-size range as the observed survival.
Reverse-engineering the literature on design patterns and reverse-engineering

Since their inception in 1994, design patterns have been the subject of many papers. In the reverse-engineering community, several authors have proposed approaches to consider design patterns during reverse- and re-engineering. However, it has been recently put forward in the community that it is difficult to compare previous approaches due to the diversity of vocabulary and the lack of a general framework to map and relate these approaches. Consequently, we study 59 papers related to design patterns in the software engineering community at large (1) to identify and define common terms related to design patterns, (2) to identify recurring themes in the papers, and (3) to further characterise approaches for design pattern detection along several categories. Recurring themes allow us to provide the portrait of the \typical" paper on design patterns while categories draw the portrait of the \typical" approach in design pattern detection. We propose to the community to use a ¯x vocabulary, to diversify the approaches, and to build a common benchmark to assess the reverse engineering of design patterns.
The Low Power Study Based on ZigBee Network

In this paper we analyze the node's process of backoff countdown under working at star topology, discuss the access probability and power consume that all probability state of nodes during a superframe. The course of power consume showed that it's not feasible to reduce system power consumption by adjusting the TX power, the only way reducing the nodes in the receiving state and the sparing time to complete. Also pointed out that the following two methods can reduce power consumption of nodes, using a long frame, But long frame will increase the delay and increase the cost of system. The other is through a relatively reduced number of nodes to improve access probability to achieve the goal of reducing energy consumption.
Incumbency and Local Government Outcomes : Evidence from Peruvian Municipalities ∗

How important is incumbency for policy outcomes and government performance? This paper examines this question by using a sharp regression discontinuity design to compare incumbent versus non-incumbent mayors in Peruvian municipalities. We find evidence that political continuity has a significant, albeit small effect on spending composition and coverage of some public services such as electricity. However, there is no significant effect on other policy outcomes such as per capita spending and local taxes. The lack of an effect may reflect rapid learning-by-doing or reduced electoral incentives for incumbents. We find that differences in technical capacity and public investment implementation between incumbent and non-incumbent-led municipalities disappear over the mayors term. Moreover, incumbents are less likely to run for, and win, re-election. These findings suggest that incumbency matters but its returns are decreasing and its effect is dampened by low electoral accountability. ∗Aragón: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada. Email: faragons@sfu.ca. Pique: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Email: rpique@u.northwestern. edu. We thank Stephen Easton, Georgy Egorov and Krishna Pendakur for useful comments and suggestions.
The Effects of a Fee-Waiver Program on Health Care Utilization Among the Poor: Evidence from Armenia

This study examines the impact of a fee-waiver program for basic medical services on health care utilization in Armenia. Because of the reduction in public financing of health services and decentralization and increased privatization of health care provision, private out-of-pocket contributions are increasingly becoming a significant component of health costs in Armenia. To help poor families cope with this constraint, the Armenian government provided a free-of-charge basic package service to eligible individuals in vulnerable groups, such as the disabled and children from single parent households. Drawing on the 1996 and 1998-99 Armenia Integrated Survey of Living Standards (AISLS), which allows the identification of eligible individuals under this program, the authors estimate the impact of the fee-waiver program on utilization of health services, particularly among the poor. Across the two survey rounds utilization rates have indeed declined despite comparable levels of income, and this decline has occurred among both the poor and the rich, with average utilization falling by 12 percent between the two surveys. But families with four or more children, the largest beneficiary group under the"vulnerable population"program, have decreased their use of health care services in a disproportionate manner-21 percent reduction in use between the two survey rounds. This precipitous drop in health care use by this vulnerable group, despite being eligible for free medical services, suggests that the program was inadequate in stemming the decline in the use of health services. The authors further present evidence to suggest that the free-of-charge eligibility program acts more like an income transfer mechanism, particularly to disabled individuals.
An improved retrieval of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide from GOME

[1] We present a retrieval of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) columns from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) satellite instrument that improves in several ways over previous retrievals, especially in the accounting of Rayleigh and cloud scattering. Slant columns, which are directly fitted without low-pass filtering or spectral smoothing, are corrected for an artificial offset likely induced by spectral structure on the diffuser plate of the GOME instrument. The stratospheric column is determined from NO2 columns over the remote Pacific Ocean to minimize contamination from tropospheric NO2. The air mass factor (AMF) used to convert slant columns to vertical columns is calculated from the integral of the relative vertical NO2 distribution from a global 3-D model of tropospheric chemistry driven by assimilated meteorological data (Global Earth Observing System (GEOS)-CHEM), weighted by altitude-dependent scattering weights computed with a radiative transfer model (Linearized Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer), using local surface albedos determined from GOME observations at NO2 wavelengths. The AMF calculation accounts for cloud scattering using cloud fraction, cloud top pressure, and cloud optical thickness from a cloud retrieval algorithm (GOME Cloud Retrieval Algorithm). Over continental regions with high surface emissions, clouds decrease the AMF by 20– 30% relative to clear sky. GOME is almost twice as sensitive to tropospheric NO2 columns over ocean than over land. Comparison of the retrieved tropospheric NO2 columns for July 1996 with GEOS-CHEM values tests both the retrieval and the nitrogen oxide radical
Real-Time Tasks Oriented Energy-Aware Scheduling in Virtualized Clouds

Energy conservation is a major concern in cloud computing systems because it can bring several important benefits such as reducing operating costs, increasing system reliability, and prompting environmental protection. Meanwhile, power-aware scheduling approach is a promising way to achieve that goal. At the same time, many real-time applications, e.g., signal processing, scientific computing have been deployed in clouds. Unfortunately, existing energy-aware scheduling algorithms developed for clouds are not real-time task oriented, thus lacking the ability of guaranteeing system schedulability. To address this issue, we first propose in this paper a novel rolling-horizon scheduling architecture for real-time task scheduling in virtualized clouds. Then a task-oriented energy consumption model is given and analyzed. Based on our scheduling architecture, we develop a novel energy-aware scheduling algorithm named EARH for real-time, aperiodic, independent tasks. The EARH employs a rolling-horizon optimization policy and can also be extended to integrate other energy-aware scheduling algorithms. Furthermore, we propose two strategies in terms of resource scaling up and scaling down to make a good trade-off between task's schedulability and energy conservation. Extensive simulation experiments injecting random synthetic tasks as well as tasks following the last version of the Google cloud tracelogs are conducted to validate the superiority of our EARH by comparing it with some baselines. The experimental results show that EARH significantly improves the scheduling quality of others and it is suitable for real-time task scheduling in virtualized clouds.
MAP fusion method for superresolution of images with locally varying pixel quality

Superresolution is a procedure that produces a high‐resolution image from a set of low‐resolution images. Many of superresolution techniques are designed for optical cameras, which produce pixel values of well‐defined uncertainty, while there are still various imaging modalities for which the uncertainty of the images is difficult to control. To construct a superresolution image from low‐resolution images with varying uncertainty, one needs to keep track of the uncertainty values in addition to the pixel values. In this paper, we develop a probabilistic approach to superresolution to address the problem of varying uncertainty. As direct computation of the analytic solution for the superresolution problem is difficult, we suggest a novel algorithm for computing the approximate solution. As this algorithm is a noniterative method based on Kalman filter‐like recursion relations, there is a potential for real‐time implementation of the algorithm. To show the efficiency of our method, we apply this algorithm to a video sequence acquired by a forward looking sonar system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 18, 242–250, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
Energy efficiency optimization in relay-assisted MIMO systems with statistical CSI

The issue of energy-efficient resource allocation in a single-user relay-assisted MIMO system is considered. For this scenario, a great deal of research has focused on rate maximization or sum power minimization, whereas much fewer results are available when bits/Joule energy efficiency optimization is the goal. Here, the performance metric to optimize is the ratio between the system's achievable rate and the total consumed power. The optimization is carried out with respect to the source and relay precoding matrices, subject to QoS and power constraints. Such an optimization problem is a challenging non-concave problem. Moreover, unlike previous contributions, we consider the case in which only statistical CSI is available for resource allocation purposes, which makes the analysis even more involved. In such a challenging scenario, the tools of fractional programming and alternating maximization are employed to come up with a resource allocation algorithm for energy efficiency maximization. Moreover, a necessary and sufficient condition for the optimality of single-stream transmission is derived.
An overheard-based relay-assisted MAC protocol using symbol level network coding in vehicular networks

Many network coding schemes have been proposed so as to enhance the communication efficiency and security of wireless networks. To further enhance the communication efficiency, an overheard-based relay-assisted MAC protocols for vehicular networks is proposed in this paper. Since the symbol level network coding (SLNC) scheme has lower error probability than the packet level network coding (PLNC) scheme, SLNC is adopted in the proposed protocol so as to improve the transmission efficiency. An overheard relay vehicle is chosen to help the avoidance of different data multiplying with the same coefficient. When the original data cannot be decoded due to the lost of some symbols, the symbol acquisition process is initiated. Simulation results have shown that the proposed protocol performs better than the traditional network coding protocol. It can reduce packet delivery delay, improve throughput and the successful probability of transmissions.
Face recognition with kernel sparse representation on Gabor features

In this paper, we propose a novel face recognition framework in which the image Gabor features are used for kernel sparse representation based classification (KSRC), i.e., Gabor features based KSRC (GKSRC). At first, each face image is convolved with a series of Gabor filters to extract Gabor features. To avoid careful selection of parameters for kernels, we propose to learn an optimal kernel through multiple kernel learning method (MKL) from a group of base kernels which are constructed from Gabor features. Then with the learned kernel, the kernel discriminant analysis (KDA) is used for dimension reduction. Finally, the query face image is recognized by minimizing the reconstruction error between the original image and its approximation in the kernel space. Experiments on AR, ORL and FERET databases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed GKSRC algorithm comparing with other face recognition schemes.
APPROPRIATE COMMITMENT PLANNING FOR AUV CONTROL

We propose a method for reactive mission planning in dynamic environments that also allows for appropriate commitments to future actions and goals. We consider appropriate commitments to be those based on predictable features of the situation and environment that are unlikely to change. By organizing actions based on appropriateness, we hope to create a planner that is not only able to react quickly to unanticipated events, but also be able to coordinate its actions with other agents, handle newly-arising goals, and perform missions efficiently and effectively. This approach is currently being implemented in the Orca 3 AUV Mission Planner.
Real-time optimization technology and its application in terrain rendering

The tradeoff between real-time rendering of complex terrain and its high fidelity has been an important problem in many fields, such as computer graphics, virtual reality (VR), geographic information system (GIS), 3D games and so on. To efficiently solve the real-time rendering of realistic terrain, this paper first gives an overview of related real-time optimization technology and algorithms for terrain rendering, followed by the analysis of the necessity and feasibility of comprehensive application of real-time optimization technology in terrain rendering. Finally, using the Microsoft game framework XNA, a quadtree-based multi-resolution terrain rendering engine combined frustum culling optimization is designed and implemented. The performance analysis and comparisons are conducted through the final experimental evaluations, which show that the comprehensive application of real-time optimization in complex terrain rendering proposed in this paper has more outstanding performance gains.