Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Techniques for requirements elicitation

The authors survey and evaluate techniques for eliciting requirements of computer-based systems, paying particular attention to dealing with social issues. The methods surveyed include introspection, interviews, questionnaires, and protocol, conversation, interaction, and discourse analyses. The last three techniques grew out of ethnomethodology and sociolinguistics. They can elicit tacit knowledge by observing actual interactions in the workplace, and can also be applied to the system development process itself. <<ETX>>
The Deferrable Server Algorithm for Enhanced Aperiodic Responsiveness in Hard Real-Time Environments

Most existing scheduling algorithms for hard real-time systems apply either to periodic tasks or aperiodic tasks but not to both. In practice, real-time systems require an integrated, consistent approach to scheduling that is able to simultaneously meet the timing requirements of hard deadline periodic tasks, hard deadline aperiodic (alert-class) tasks, and soft deadline aperiodic tasks. This paper introduces the Deferrable Server (DS) algorithm which will be shown to provide improved aperiodic response time performance over traditional background and polling approaches. Taking advantage of the fact that, typically, there is no benefit in early completion of the periodic tasks, the Deferrable Server (DS) algorithm assigns higher priority to the aperiodic tasks up until the point where the periodic tasks would start to miss their deadlines. Guaranteed alert-class aperiodic service and greatly reduced response times for soft deadline aperiodic tasks are important features of the DS algorithm, and both are obtained with the hard deadlines of the periodic tasks still being guaranteed. The results of a simulation study performed to evaluate the response time performance of the new algorithm against traditional background and polling approaches are presented. In all cases, the response times of aperiodic tasks are significantly reduced (often by an order of magnitude) while still maintaining guaranteed periodic task deadlines. >
Monoclonal antibodies specific for Shigella flexneri lipopolysaccharides: clones binding to type IV, V, and VI antigens, group 3,4 antigen, and an epitope common to all Shigella flexneri and Shigella dysenteriae type 1 stains

Monoclonal antibodies reactive with Shigella flexneri O antigens were generated in both mouse and rat systems. Antibody-producing hybridomas were screened in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using chemically defined lipopolysaccharides as antigens, and the epitope specificities were determined with a panel of lipopolysaccharides and synthetic O-antigen-specific glycoconjugates as antigens. To verify the specificity seen in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the antibodies were used in agglutination against a large number of S. flexneri strains. Monoclonal antibodies with the following specificities were identified: type, antigen IV (reactive with serotype 4a and 4b bacteria); type antigen V (reactive with serotype 5a and 5b bacteria); type antigen VI (reactive with serotype 6 bacteria); group antigen 3,4(reactive with serotype 1a, 2a, 3b, 4a, 5a, and Y bacteria); and group antigen 1 (reactive with an epitope present on all S. flexneri and Shigella dysenteriae type 1 bacteria). Furthermore, a monoclonal antibody defining a new O-antigenic epitope present on some S. flexneri strains of serotypes 4a, X, and Y was characterized (4X). The monoclonal antibodies analyzed in this study define epitopes described by polyclonal antisera (type antigens IV, V, and VI), define a hitherto uncharacterized epitope (group antigen 1), and finally identify new epitopes in what has previously been considered as one epitope (group antigen 3,4 and type antigen IV). These immunochemically characterized monoclonal antibodies may have a powerful potential in studies of the importance of humoral immunity in shigellosis.
Attachment and problem behavior of adolescents during residential treatment

Attachment theory suggests that representations of previous attachment experiences may explain differences in psychosocial functioning. However, the nature of the association in clinical populations is unclear. Attachment representations were classified on the basis of Adult Attachment Interviews with 61 adolescents (13–20 years old; 70% female) admitted to a residential treatment institution. Group care workers rated their problem behavior. Compared to dismissing and autonomous adolescents and adolescents unresolved/disorganized with respect to trauma, adolescents with preoccupied attachment representations showed the highest levels of truancy and rule breaking, according to the institution's records, and externalizing behaviour, according to the group care workers. Unresolved/disorganized adolescents displayed lower levels of violence to staff than dismissing and autonomous adolescents. The effectiveness of residential treatment might be enhanced by taking account of the attachment strategies with which adolescents enter institutions.
Effects of Probiotic and Antibiotic on Performance and Growth Attributes of Broiler Chicks

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of commercial probiotic mixtures (Liptosafe-L) via drinking water of broiler chickens in comparison with Antibiotic (Newmycin) on performance of Broiler Chicks and growth attributes. 120 broiler chicks (Ross 308) day old, and average weight of 41 grams, were subjected to a 41-day experimental period. The chick's were randomly divided into three experimental treatment groups; probiotic, antibiotic, and control group. Each group with four replicates (10 chicks per replicate). Birds in the first group were supplied with 0.5 ml of probiotic per one liter of water for the whole growth period while the antibiotic mixture is administrated at a rate of 0.20 gm per liter of water along the growth period. In these two cases the growth promoters were stopped at 7days before slaughtering (safety period). Birds in the control group received water without growth promoter. Results of the experiment showed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) in body weight gain (gm), feed conversion ratio and final body weight (gm). For Feed intake (gm), and mortality rate (%) there is no significant difference between probiotic and antiboitic (p>0.05) but both differ significantly if compared with control (p<0.05). Broilers fed probiotic statistically consumed more feed over the entire experimental periods. In contrast feed conversion efficiency did not improved in different periods in growth promoter supplemented groups compared to control birds. In conclusion the results obtained in this study indicated that dietary inclusion of probiotic and antibiotic supported a superior performance of chicks and can be applied as antibiotic growth promoter substitutions in broilers diet.
The Demand for Alcohol: A Meta-Analysis of Elasticities

Numerous studies have estimated elasticities of alcohol demand using different procedures. Because of widespread differences in demand estimates, however, it is difficult to synthesise the literature into coherent meaning. This study improves our understanding of alcohol demand by reporting results from a meta-analysis of 132 studies. Specifically, regressing estimated price, income and advertising elasticities of alcohol on variables accounting for study characteristics, we find alcohol elasticities to be particularly sensitive to demand specification, data issues and various estimation methods. Furthermore, compared to other alcoholic beverages, beer elasticities tend to be more inelastic.
Independent factors and predictive score for extrahepatic metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma following curative hepatectomy.

BACKGROUND Postoperative extrahepatic metastasis (EHM) contributes to a poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy. This study was aimed to develop a practical method that can be used to predict postoperative EHM. METHODS In total, 578 patients were enrolled. We analyzed the clinicopathological features of the tumors and did a long-term follow-up to observe HCC recurrence. Postoperative EHM was detected in 136 patients, and multivariate analysis was used to confirm independent risk factors for postoperative EHM. After the factors were identified, a predictive scoring system was constructed as a weighted sum of these factors. The cutoff value that determines a high risk for EHM was defined by maximizing the Youden's index of the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS Microvascular invasion, incomplete capsule, and larger tumor diameter were the three independent factors predictive for a high risk for EHM. The scoring system was derived with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.81 for postoperative 10-year EHM prediction. A cutoff value of 43 was derived and validated with a sensitivity >90% and specificity >60% to predict the development of EHM. This system was further verified in a subgroup of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage 0-A patients with an AUC of 0.82. When the cutoff value was set at 43, the sensitivity and specificity were 90.38% and 64.88%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our predictive scoring system may be used to identify HCC patients who have a high risk for EHM following curative hepatectomy.
Influence of Oxidation and Multimerization on the Immunogenicity of a Thioredoxin-L2 Prophylactic Papillomavirus Vaccine

ABSTRACT Current commercial prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are based on virus-like particles assembled from the major capsid protein L1 and show excellent safety and efficacy profiles. Still, a major limitation is their rather narrow range of protection against different HPV types. In contrast, the minor capsid protein L2 contains a so-called major cross-neutralizing epitope that can induce broad-range protective responses against multiple HPV types. This epitope is conserved among different papillomaviruses (PV) and contains two cysteine residues that are present in the L2 proteins of all known PV types. The main challenge in developing L2-directed vaccines is to overcome the intrinsically low immunogenicity of the L2 protein. Previously, we developed a recombinant L2-based prototype vaccine by inserting peptide epitopes spanning the cross-neutralizing L2 sequence into a bacterial thioredoxin (Trx) scaffold. These antigens induced high-titer neutralizing antibodies in mice. Here, we address the question of whether Trx scaffold multimerization may further enhance the immunogenicity of the TrxL2 vaccine. We also demonstrate that the oxidation state of the conserved cysteine residues is not essential for vaccine functionality, but it contributes to immunogenicity.
Information requirements for strategic decision making: energy market

Over the last two decades, the electricity sector has been involved in a challenging restructuring process in which the vertical integrated structure (monopoly) is being replaced by a horizontal set of companies. The growing supply of electricity, flowing in response to free market pricing at the wellhead, led to increased competition. In the new framework of deregulation, what characterizes the electric industry is a commodity wholesale electricity marketplace. This new environment has drastically changed the objective of electricity producing companies. In the vertical integrated industry, utilities were forced to meet all the demand from customers living in a certain region at fixed rates. Then, the operation of the Generation Companies (GENCOs) was centralized and a single decision maker allocated the energy services by minimizing total production costs. Nowadays, GENCOs are involved not only in the electricity market but also in additional markets such as fuel markets or environmental markets. A gas or coal producer may have fuel contracts that define the production limit over a time horizon. Therefore, producers must observe this price levels in these other markets. This is a lesson we learned from the Electricity Crisis in California. The Californian market’s collapse was not the result of market decentralization but it was triggered by other decisions, such as high natural gas prices, with a direct impact in the supply-demand chain. This dissertation supports generation asset business decisions –from fuel supply concerns to wholesale trading in energy and ancillary services. The forces influencing the value chain are changing rapidly, and can become highly controversial. Through this report, the author brings an integrated and objective perspective, providing a forum to identify and address common planning and operational needs. The purpose of this dissertation is to present theories and ideas that can be applied directly in algorithms to make GENCOs decisions more efficient. This will decompose the problem into independent subproblems for each time interval. This is preferred because building a complete model in one time is practically impossible. The diverse scope of this report is unified by the importance of each topic to understanding or enhancing the
1.5-V-Operation Ultralow Power Circuit of Poly-Si TFTs Fabricated Using the NAOS Method

We have fabricated thin-film transistors (TFTs) and liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) with monolithic drivers on glass substrates and achieved ultralow power consumption by operating with a low power-supply voltage at 3 V. The gate insulator of the TFTs has a stack structure with an ultrathin interfacial SiO2 layer formed by nitric acid oxidation of silicon and a 40-nm-thick SiO2 layer formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Owing to the TFTs with the thin gate insulator, the driving circuits of the LCDs can be operated at a supply voltage of 1.5 V, which is much lower than that of conventional LCDs of 10-15 V.
Community Capacity Building for Tourism Development

Abstract Community capacity building is widely acknowledged as an important tourism development strategy. Building capacity of communities to effectively address our problematic issues and planning of community development is often required to analyze current status of community development with respect to tourism development. Community capacity building is a necessary ingredient for success of community development. Tourism development and building the capacity for local communities need to progress hand in hand. Community capacity building programs help underdeveloped communities to improve their ability to participate in the tourism decision-making processes. They encourage community involvement, and provide the tools that enable them to do so. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contributions of community capacity building to achieving tourism development. In this study, community capacity building represents the potential of a community to act in tourism development.
IFRS Adoption and the Predictive Power of Earnings Components

This study aims to analyze the predictive power of current accruals and cash flows for future earnings and how IFRS adoption have affected this power, for general firms and for firms with relative higher and lower levels of accruals. Using a sample of 10 countries that have adopted IFRS in 2005, we found that IFRS seems to have significantly increased the predictive power of both accruals and cash flows from operations, while the latter present higher information content for future earnings. When analyzing firms with higher and lower levels of accruals, we found that the predictive power of cash flows is associated with this level and that IFRS appears to have substantially increased its intensity for firms with higher levels of accruals. For firms with the lower levels, the effect of IFRS on the accruals component is the one highlighted, which power have significantly increased after adopting the international standards.
Optimal Linear Quadratic Digital Tracker for the Discrete-Time Proper System with an Unknown Disturbance

Abstract—In this paper, we first construct a new state and disturbance estimator using discrete-time proportional plus integral observer to estimate the system state and the unknown external disturbance for the discrete-time system with an input-to-output direct-feedthrough term. Then, the generalized optimal linear quadratic digital tracker design is applied to construct a proportional plus integral observer-based tracker for the system with an unknown external disturbance to have a desired tracking performance. Finally, a numerical simulation is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new application of our proposed approach.
Selective area heteroepitaxy of InP nanopyramidal frusta on Si for nanophotonics

InP nanopyramidal frusta on InP and InP precoated Si substrates were grown selectively from nano-imprinted circular openings in silicon dioxide mask using a low pressure hydride vapor phase epitaxy reactor. The grown InP nanopyramidal frusta, octagonal in shape, were characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Photoluminescence. The growth is extremely selective and uniform over the entire patterned area on both substrates. The measured diagonal of the top surface is 30 nm and 90 nm for the nanopyramidal frusta grown from 120 nm and 300 nm diameter openings, respectively. The size and morphology as well as the optical quality of these pyramidal frusta make them suitable templates for quantum dot structures for nano photonics and silicon photonics.
Early bactericidal activity of delamanid (OPC-67683) in smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients.

BACKGROUND Delamanid (OPC-67683) is a novel mycolic acid biosynthesis inhibitor active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis at a low minimum inhibitory concentration. METHODS Forty-eight patients with smear-positive tuberculosis (63% male; 54.7 ± 9.9 kg; 30.7 ± 10.8 years) were randomly assigned to receive delamanid 100, 200, 300 or 400 mg daily for 14 days. Colony forming units (cfu) of M. tuberculosis were counted on agar plates from overnight sputum collections to calculate early bactericidal activity (EBA), defined as fall in log(10) cfu/ml sputum/day. RESULTS The EBA of delamanid was monophasic and not significantly different between dosages; however, more patients receiving 200 mg (70%) and 300 mg (80%) experienced a response of ≥0.9 log(10) cfu/ml sputum decline over 14 days than those receiving 100 mg (45%) and 400 mg (27%). The average EBA of all dosages combined (0.040 ± 0.056 log(10) cfu/ml sputum/day) was significant from day 2 onward. Delamanid exposure was less than dosage-proportional, reaching a plateau at 300 mg, likely due to dose-limited absorption. Moderate but significant correlation was found between C(max) and EBA, indicating exposure dependence. Delamanid was well tolerated without significant toxicity. CONCLUSIONS Delamanid at all dosages was safe, well tolerated and demonstrated significant exposure-dependent EBA over 14 days, supporting further investigation of its pharmacokinetics and anti-tuberculosis activity.
Towards the Development of a Transferable Set of Value Estimates for Environmental Attributes

Estimates of environmental values are frequently required as inputs to cost-benefit analyses when evaluating alternative resource use options. One strategy to avoid the high cost of conducting empirical work when non-market values are involved is to use value estimates from an existing study and to transfer them to the context of interest (a practice known as ‘benefit transfer’). However, the transfer of values is subject to a host of potential errors and could lead to poor policy recommendations. This paper reports the results of an Australian Choice Modelling study that was designed to address the issue of benefit transfer. The Choice Modelling technique is amenable to benefit transfer because, unlike the Contingent Valuation Method, it produces values for resource use outcomes that can be ‘decomposed’ into component values associated with particular attributes of resource use change. These attribute values have the potential to be ‘reconstructed’ according to the scenario changes under investigation in the new policy context. In this study, tests are conducted to examine the validity of transferring estimates derived in a national context to different regional contexts and inferences are made about the impact that differing frames of reference and population characteristics have on value estimates.
Synchronization of National Business Cycles in Europe

This paper explores the extent to which co-movement in business cycles in European countries has changed over the last fifty years. Several complementary methods are applied to check the robustness of the findings. The most important result is that the correlation between the national business cycles was already quite high during the fifties and early sixties of the last century, declined in the late sixties to in some cases even negative values and reached a peak after the first oil price shock. Since the eighties we observe a stable or even steadily increasing co-movement of the national business cycles. JEL Classification Numbers: C20, E32, F02
Ultra-low-power Wireless Streaming Cameras

Wireless video streaming has traditionally been considered an extremely power-hungry operation. Existing approaches optimize the camera and communication modules individually to minimize their power consumption. However, the joint redesign and optimization of wireless communication as well as the camera is what that provides more power saving. We present an ultra-low-power wireless video streaming camera. To achieve this, we present a novel "analog" video backscatter technique that feeds analog pixels from the photo-diodes directly to the backscatter hardware, thereby eliminating power consuming hardware components such as ADCs and amplifiers. We prototype our wireless camera using off-the-shelf hardware and show that our design can stream video at up to 13 FPS and can operate up to a distance of 150 feet from the access point. Our COTS prototype consumes 2.36mW. Finally, to demonstrate the potential of our design, we built two proof-of-concept applications: video streaming for micro-robots and security cameras for face detection.
TGN38 is maintained in the trans‐Golgi network by a tyrosine‐containing motif in the cytoplasmic domain.

Sorting of proteins destined for different plasma membrane domains, lysosomes and secretory pathways takes place in the trans‐Golgi network (TGN). TGN38 is an integral membrane protein found in this intracellular compartment. We show that TGN38 contains an autonomous targeting signal within its cytoplasmic domain which determines its intracellular location. Deletion analysis and site‐directed mutagenesis of this domain demonstrate that a tyrosine motif homologous to the internalization signal of surface receptors is necessary and sufficient for correct localization. These findings suggest that TGN38 is maintained in the TGN by retrieval from the plasma membrane and employs a different mechanism for retention from that of the transferase enzymes of the trans‐Golgi.