Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Success factors in public-private partnerships

Acknowledgments The author would like to express his deepest gratitude to the supervisor of this thesis – Ms. Renée Speijcken of the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance / UNU-Merit at the University of Maastricht-for the time, effort and willingness to navigate the whole process of preparation of this research. Her openness and comments on public-private partnerships, policy-making and lobbying were indispensable and it was only through this close collaboration that the thesis gained direction and value. The author would hereby like to thank Mr. Jeroen van Wijk at Maastricht School of Management for his readiness to participate in the defence committee. The author would like to express thanks to the 60 anonymous respondents to the questionnaire for their time and honest answers expressed in the conducted survey and especially to the ones who wrote letters with recommendations and additional thoughts on PPPs. The author owes gratitude to his family and closest friends for the understanding and support during the whole Master programme and in specific during the finalisation of this paper. Abstract This paper stems from the theory of critical success factors in a project – a limited set of factors which ought to be taken into due consideration when preparing, implementing and analysing projects. There have been several studies on these success factors which telate them to public-private partnerships, presenting various issues that if managed properly, the PPP initiative is likely to achieve its goals. However, what the literature review showed is that lobbying is not considered as one of these factors for success. Interest groups play a major role in aiding governments into providing information and project ideas, without which a certain PPP may never be accomplished. This thesis paper dwells upon the hypothesis that while lobby practices can indeed have negative influence on the realization of a particular project, it is also valid that positive (pro-active) advocacy should be considered as a success factor. This concept is proven through an online survey among 55 experts in PPP from around the world who were asked to assess the importance of a set of 32 success factors. Further demonstration of positive lobbying was demonstrated using a case-study: the initial stages of the PPP at Balchik Airport in Bulgaria. As conclusion, the paper underlines that (positive) lobbying should be further analysed as a factor influencing PPPs and that under certain conditions it can be accepted as a success factor in …
LMI-Based Synthesis of Robust Iterative Learning Controller with Current Feedback for Linear Uncertain Systems

This paper addresses the synthesis of an iterative learning controller for a class of linear systems with norm-bounded parameter uncertainties. We take into account an iterative learning algorithm with current cycle feedback in order to achieve both robust convergence and robust stability. The synthesis problem of the developed iterative learning control (ILC) system is reformulated as the γ -suboptimal H ∞ control problem via the linear fractional transformation (LFT). A sufficient convergence condition of the ILC system is presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Furthermore, the ILC system with fast convergence rate is constructed using a convex optimization technique with LMI constraints. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
A Suite of ID-Based Threshold Ring Signature Schemes with Dierent Levels of Anonymity

Since the introduction of Identity-based (ID-based) cryptography by Shamir in 1984, numerous ID-based signature schemes have been proposed. In 2001, Rivest et al. introduced ring signature that provides irrevocable signer anonymity and spontaneous group formation. In recent years, ID-based ring signature schemes have been proposed and all of them are based on bilinear pairings. In this paper, we propose the first ID-based threshold ring signature scheme that is not based on bilinear pairings. We also propose the first ID-based threshold ‘linkable’ ring signature scheme. We emphasize that the anonymity of the actual signers is maintained even against the private key generator (PKG) of the ID-based system. Finally we show how to add identity escrow to the two schemes. Due to the different levels of signer anonymity they support, the schemes proposed in this paper actually form a suite of ID-based threshold ring signature schemes which is applicable to many real-world applications with varied anonymity requirements.
A parallel evolutionary algorithm for circuit partitioning

As general-purpose parallel computers are increasingly being used to speed up different VLSI applications, the development of parallel algorithms for circuit testing, logic minimization and simulation, HDL-based synthesis, etc. is currently a field of increasing research activity. In some of these applications the circuit partitioning problem occurs. That implies dividing a circuit into non-overlapping subcircuits while minimizing the number of cuts after the division and balancing the load associated to each one. Very effective heuristic algorithms have been developed in order to solve this problem, but it is unknown how good the partitions are since the problem is NP-complete. In these cases the use of parallel processing can be very useful. This paper describes a parallel evolutionary algorithm for circuit partitioning, where parallelism improves the solutions found by the corresponding sequential algorithm, which indeed is quite effective compared with other previously proposed procedures.
Lazy Query Expansion

EQUIVALENCE OF SOME STRINGS. THESE ARE LOWERCASE VERUS UPPERCASE MATCHING, MORPHOLOGICAL INFLECTION, DERIVATION, AND SYNONYMY OF WORDS: E.G. GIVE A QUERY COMPUTER, FIND COMPUTER COMPUTING, WORKSTATION. THE LATTER PROBLEMS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN LANGUAGES WITH RICHER MORPHOLOGY AND LESS STABLE TERMINOLOGY THAN IN ENGLISH. ALSO MUCH BETTER RECALL IS ACHIEVED BY MATCHING HYPONYMS AND HYPERNYMS USING THIS CON BE HANDLED AT THE TIME OF INDEXING BY REDUCING RELATED STRINGS TO A COMMON FORM, OR AT THE TIME OF QUERY PROCESSING BY EXPANDING THE QUERY WITH THE WHOLE SET OF THE RELATED FORMS. WE ARGUE FOR THET THE LATTER WAY ALLOWS FOR GREATTER FLEXIBILITY AND EASIER MAINTENACE, WHITE BEING MORE AFFORDABLE THAT IT IS USUALLY CONSIDERED. WE PROPOSE TO EXP
Planning ahead: eliciting intentions and beliefs in a public goods game

In a two-person i¬ nitely repeated public goods experiment, we use intentions data to interpret individual behavior. Based on a random-utility model specii¬ cation, we develop a relationship between a player's beliefs about others' behavior and his contributions' plans, and use this relationship to identify the player's most likely preference "type". Our estimation analysis indicates that players are heterogeneous in their preferences also at the intentional level. Moreover, our data show that deviations from intended actions are positively related to changes in beliefs, thereby suggesting that people are able to plan.
Integration and Weighing of Omics Data for Obesity

Objective: OMICs research has become of great interest over the last years and enabled the research community to acquisition an increasing amount of data. In a prior study by our group, we have employed a novel positional integrative approach. For this second study we utilized the same integration method but weighed each individual data source trying to verify our already found regions and/or identify new gene regions of interest for obesity. Method: In contrast to previous methodologies employed for integration of heterogeneous OMIC data, we based the integration on genomic positions of alterations in human disease and employed an additional weighing step.A data search for various types of studies on Obesity (genome-wide association, meta-analysis, transcriptomic,proteomic studies and epigenetic studies) was conducted to establish the initial data set. For this study, five different weighing settings were used, to individually double the input of genomic data, transcriptomic data, proteomic data,microRNA data and epigenetic data in comparison to all the other data sources. Results and discussion: The analysis identified ten gene regions (ATP5O, ALK7, GAPDH, IFFO1, NCAPD2, DDX50, MAOB, ATM, STOX1 and PRRC2A). ATP5O, ALK7 and GADPH were also identified in our prior study as the highest scoring gene regions and prove to be consistent in our data set. Even though, the ten high ranked and discussed genes could not be directly linked to obesity nine of them are associated with Type 2 Diabetes or a neurodegenerative disease. Both disorders show a higher prevalence in obese individuals compared to lean. Conclusion: In this study, we applied a new method of positional integrational analysis of different OMIC-layers and an additional validation step through weighing. our study provides a basis for further research to elucidate underlying mechanisms of these associations and identify new targets for preventive and therapeutic interventions.
Analysis of discrete-to-discrete imaging models for iterative tomographic image reconstruction and compressive sensing

Discrete-to-discrete imaging models for computed tomography (CT) are becoming increasingly ubiquitous as the interest in iterative image reconstruction algorithms has heightened. Despite this trend, all the intuition for algorithm and system design derives from analysis of continuous-to-continuous models such as the X-ray and Radon transform. While the similarity between these models justifies some crossover, questions such as what are sufficient sampling conditions can be quite different for the two models. This sampling issue is addressed extensively in the first half of the article using singular value decomposition analysis for determining sufficient number of views and detector bins. The question of full sampling for CT is particularly relevant to current attempts to adapt compressive sensing (CS) motivated methods to application in CT image reconstruction. The second half goes in depth on this subject and discusses the link between object sparsity and sufficient sampling for accurate reconstruction. Particularly, it is pointed out that, because CS motivated image reconstruction is object dependent, there is a need to consider the imaging task so that test phantoms are employed with a similar sparsity level as what might be encountered.
Working Memory and Response Inhibition as One Integral Phenotype of Adult ADHD? A Behavioral and Imaging Correlational Investigation

Objective: It is an open question whether working memory (WM) and response inhibition (RI) constitute one integral phenotype in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: The authors investigated 45 adult ADHD patients and 41 controls comparable for age, gender, intelligence, and education during a letter n-back and a stop-signal task, and measured prefrontal oxygenation by means of functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Results: The authors replicated behavioral and cortical activation deficits in patients compared with controls for both tasks and also for performance in both control conditions. In the patient group, 2-back performance was correlated with stop-signal reaction time. This correlation did not seem to be specific for WM and RI as 1-back performance was correlated with go reaction time. No significant correlations of prefrontal oxygenation between WM and RI were found. Conclusion: The authors’ findings do not support the hypothesis of WM and RI representing one integral phenotype of ADHD mediated by the prefrontal cortex.
Sentiment Analysis on YouTube: A Brief Survey

Sentiment analysis or opinion mining is the field of study related to analyze opinions, sentiments, evaluations, attitudes, and emotions of users which they express on social media and other online resources. The revolution of social media sites has also attracted the users towards video sharing sites, such as YouTube. The online users express their opinions or sentiments on the videos that they watch on such sites. This paper presents a brief survey of techniques to analyze opinions posted by users about a particular video.
Media aware FEC for Scalable Video Coding transmission

Scalable video coding (SVC) is an extension to H.264/AVC that enables encoding a video sequence once and using it subsequently at multiple operations points by different devices and applications. Forward Error Correction techniques may then be applied to the encoded video in order to enhance the robustness against transmission errors. Media aware FEC code construction caters for scalable video streams by adjusting the protection level for each video layer. In this paper, we discuss different approaches for media aware Forward Error Correction using Scalable Video Coded video that is transmitted over error prone channels. We describe two recent solutions for Unequal Error Protection and then evaluate those through multiple simulations.
Geo-placement : Geo-replicated Database Placement

Geo-replication is the process of maintaining copies of data at geographically dispersed datacenters for better availability and fault-tolerance. The distinguishing characteristic of geo-replication is the large wide-area latency between datacenters that varies widely depending on the location of the datacenters. Thus, choosing which datacenters to deploy a cloud application has a direct impact on the observable response time. We propose an optimization framework that automatically derives a georeplication placement plan with the objective of minimizing latency. By running the optimization framework on real placement scenarios, we learn a set of placement principles for geo-replication. In this paper, we highlight the geo-replication placement principles.
Micro inverter with a front-end current-fed converter

The reliability of micro inverters is an important factor as it would be necessary to reduce cost and maintenance of the small and medium scale distributed PV power conversion systems. Electrolytic capacitors and active power decouple circuits can be avoided in micro inverters with the use of a medium voltage DC-link. Such a DC-link based micro inverter is proposed with a front-end dual inductor current-fed push-pull converter. The primary side power switches of the front-end converter have reduced switching losses due to multi-resonant operation. In addition, the voltage and current stresses on the diodes of the secondary diode voltage doubler rectifier are reduced due to the presence of a series resonant circuit in the front-end converter. The operation of the proposed micro inverter is explained using an in-depth analysis of the switching characteristics of the power semiconductor devices. The theoretical analysis of the proposed micro inverter is validated using simulation results.
Please Scroll down for Article Journal of Sports Sciences Countermovement Jump Performance Assessment Using a Wearable 3d Inertial Measurement Unit Countermovement Jump Performance Assessment Using a Wearable 3d Inertial Measurement Unit

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Abstract The aim of this study was to validate a wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU), containing a 3D accelerometer and gyroscope, for the estimation of countermovement jump height. The absolute vertical acceleration of the IMU positioned on the back of the participant at L5 level, compensated for trunk rotations, was used to obtain jump height by applying the equation of free-fall to the motion of the IMU. The methodology was tested on 28 participants performing five countermovement jumps each. A reference value for this quantity was obtained using stereophotogrammetry (35.4 cm, s ¼ 4.9). Jump height scores obtained using the proposed methodology (35.9 cm, s ¼ 5.5) presented no significant difference with respect to stereophotogrammetry (P ¼ 0.61). A low bias of 0.6 cm confirmed the accuracy of the estimate, which also showed a high (r ¼ 0.87) and significant (P 5 0.0001) correlation with reference values. Furthermore, without compensating accelerations for trunk rotation, jump height was largely underestimated (P 5 0.0001) (bias: 712.7 cm) and poorly associated (r ¼ 0.31) with stereophotogrammetry. The results of this study show that the estimation of jump height using inertial sensors leads to accurate results when the measured accelerations are corrected for trunk rotations.
Twitter Language Use Reflects Psychological Differences between Democrats and Republicans

Previous research has shown that political leanings correlate with various psychological factors. While surveys and experiments provide a rich source of information for political psychology, data from social networks can offer more naturalistic and robust material for analysis. This research investigates psychological differences between individuals of different political orientations on a social networking platform, Twitter. Based on previous findings, we hypothesized that the language used by liberals emphasizes their perception of uniqueness, contains more swear words, more anxiety-related words and more feeling-related words than conservatives’ language. Conversely, we predicted that the language of conservatives emphasizes group membership and contains more references to achievement and religion than liberals’ language. We analysed Twitter timelines of 5,373 followers of three Twitter accounts of the American Democratic and 5,386 followers of three accounts of the Republican parties’ Congressional Organizations. The results support most of the predictions and previous findings, confirming that Twitter behaviour offers valid insights to offline behaviour.
Expression of COX2 and p53 in Rat Esophageal Cancer Induced by Reflux of Duodenal Contents

Aim. Reflux of duodenal contents can induce mucosal injury, stimulate cell proliferation, and promote tumorigenesis. We examined the expression of COX2 and p53 in rat esophageal lesions induced by duodenal content reflux. Methods. Thirty 8-week-old male Wistar rats were exposed to duodenal content esophageal reflux. All animals underwent an esophagoduodenal anastomosis (EDA) with total gastrectomy in order to produce chronic esophagitis. Ten rats were the sham. Control. They were sacrificed at the 40th week. Their esophagi were examined for HE, COX2, p53, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Results. After 40 weeks of reflux, dysplasia, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and adenocarcinoma (ADC) were found. PCNA labeling index was higher in dysplastic and cancer tissue than that in normal. Overexpression of COX2 was shown in ADC and SCC. Wild-type p53 accumulation was found in ADC, and not in SCC. Conclusion. Reflux of duodenal contents into the esophagus led to ADC and SCC in rats. COX2 may play an important role in esophageal cancer by duodenal content reflux. Our present results suggest an association between wild-type p53 accumulation and COX2 expression in ADC, with no such relation seen in SCC.
Institute of Physics Publishing Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering a Mould-and-transfer Technology for Fabricating Scanning Probe Microscopy Probes

We report a general fabrication technology for realizing singular or arrayed probes for scanning probe microscopy (SPM) applications. This method allows SPM probes to be made of a variety of materials, including metal, polymer (e.g., polyimide, SU-8), elastomer and silicon nitride. The probe shank and tip may be made of different materials. The mould-and-transfer fabrication process can realize arrayed tips with uniform geometries across a wafer, a feature that is especially useful for the development of large arrayed SPM probes. For example, an array with 1 M probes has been made with good uniformity of tip geometries and tip-to-tip spacing of 50 µm. Several specific SPM probe applications based on this process have been demonstrated to illustrate the utility of this general fabrication method. We discuss SPM probes with tips made of metal or polymer materials (polyimide, SU-8 and elastomer), for surface characterization and nanolithography. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)
Setting Decision Process Optimization into Stochastic vs. Petri Nets Contexts

IN THIS WORK WE INTRODUCE A NEW MODELING PARADIGM FOR DEVELOPING DECISION PROCESS REPRESENTATION FOR SHORTEST-PATH PROBLEM AND GAMES. WHEREAS IN PREVIOUS WORK, ATTENTION WAS RESTRICTED TO TRACKING THE NET USING AS A UTILITY FUNCTION BELLMAN'S EQUATION, THIS WORK USES A LYAPUNOV-LIKE FUNCTION. IN THIS SENSE, WE ARE CHANGING THE TRADITIONAL COST FUNCTION BY A TRAJECTORY-TRACKING FUNCTION WHICH IS ALSO AN OPTIMAL COST-TO-TARGET FUNCTION FOR TRACKING THE NET. THIS MAKES A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE PROBLEM DOMAIN, ALLOWING THE REPLACEMENT OF THE NASH EQUILIBRIUM POINT BY THE LYAPUNOV EQUILIBRIUM POINT IN SHORTEST-PATH GAME THEORY. TWO DIFFERENT FORMAL THEORETIC APPROACHES ARE EMPLOYED TO REPRESENT THE PROBLEM DOMAIN: I) MARKOV DECISION PROCESS AND, II) PLACE-TRANSITIONS PETRI NETS HAVING AS A FEATURE A MARKOV DECISION PROCESS, CALLED DECISION PROCESS PETRI NETS (DPPN). THE MAIN POINT OF THIS PAPER IS ITS ABILITY TO REPRESENT THE SYSTEM-DYNAMIC AND TRAJECTORY-DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF A DECISION PROCESS. WITHIN THE SYSTEM-DYNAMIC PROPERTIES FRAMEWORK WE PROVE NEW NOTIONS OF EQUILIBRIUM AND STABILITY. IN THE TRAJECTORY-DYNAMIC PROPERTIES FRAMEWORK, WE OPTIMIZE THE TRAJECTORY FUNCTION VALUE USED FOR PATH PLANNING VIA A LYAPUNOV-LIKE FUNCTION, OBTAINING AS A RESULT NEW CHARACTERIZATIONS FOR FINAL DECISION POINTS (OPTIMUM POINTS) AND STABILITY. WE SHOW THAT THE SYSTEM-DYNAMIC AND LYAPUNOV TRAJECTORY-DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF EQUILIBRIUM, STABILITY AND FINAL DECISION POINTS (OPTIMUM POINTS) MEET UNDER CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS. MOREOVER, WE GENERALIZE THE PROBLEM TO JOIN WITH GAME THEORY. WE SHOW THAT THE LYAPUNOV EQUILIBRIUM POINT COINCIDES WITH THE NASH EQUILIBRIUM POINT UNDER CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS. AS A CONSEQUENCE, ALL THE PROPERTIES OF EQUILIBRIUM AND STABILITY ARE PRESERVED IN GAME THEORY UNDER CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION OF THIS WORK. THE POTENTIAL OF THIS APPROACH REMAINS IN ITS FORMAL PROOF SIMPLICITY FOR THE EXISTENCE OF AN EQUILIBRIUM POINT. TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE THE APPROACH SEEMS TO BE NEW IN DECISION PROCESS, GAME THEORY AND PETRI NETS.