Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Handling Uncertainty in Agile Requirement Prioritization and Scheduling Using Statistical Simulation

In the creation of a release plan developers must attempt to maximise business value while maintaining a high degree of certainty that the product will be completed on time and to budget. As a result of these constraints management is often forced to make the difficult decision as to which stories to complete and which to ignore. The difficulty of this decision is compounded by a high degree of uncertainty within the business value of each story, the story size and also the resources available. This paper proposes a relatively simple statistical methodology that allows for uncertainty in these areas. In so doing it provides key stakeholders with the opportunity to manage uncertainty in the planning of what functionality to include in upcoming releases. The technique is lightweight in nature and consistent with existing agile planning practices. A case study is provided to demonstrate how the method may be used.
Extending Q-Grams to Estimate Selectivity of String Matching with Low Edit Distance

There are many emerging database applications that require accurate selectivity estimation of approximate string matching queries. Edit distance is one of the most commonly used string similarity measures. In this paper, we study the problem of estimating selectivity of string matching with low edit distance. Our framework is based on extending q-grams with wildcards. Based on the concepts of replacement semi-lattice, string hierarchy and a combinatorial analysis, we develop the formulas for selectivity estimation and provide the algorithm BasicEQ. We next develop the algorithm Opt EQ by enhancing BasicEQ with two novel improvements. Finally we show a comprehensive set of experiments using three benchmarks comparing Opt EQ with the state-of-the-art method SEPIA. Our experimental results show that Opt EQ delivers more accurate selectivity estimations.
Boundary Layer Effects in a Finite Linearly Elastic Peridynamic Bar

The peridynamic theory is an extension of the classical continuum mechanics theory. The peridynamic governing equations involve integrals of interaction forces between near particles separated by finite distances. These forces depend upon the relative displacements between material points within a body. On the other hand, the classical governing equations involve the divergence of a tensor field, which depends upon the spatial derivatives of displacements. Thus, the peridynamic governing equations are valid not only in the interior of a body, but also on its boundary, which may include a Griffith crack, and on interfaces between two bodies with different mechanical properties. Near the boundary, the solution of a peridynamic problem may be very different from the classical solution. In this work, we investigate the behavior of the displacement field of a unidimensional linearly elastic bar of length L near its ends in the context of the peridynamic theory. The bar is in equilibrium without body force, is fixed at one end, and is subjected to an imposed displacement at the other end. The bar has micromodulus C, which is related to the Young's modulus E in the classical theory and is given by different expressions found in the literature. We find that, depending on the expression of C, the displacement field may be singular near the ends, which is in contrast to the linear behavior of the displacement field observed in the classical linear elasticity. In spite of the above, we show that the peridynamic displacement field converges to its classical counterpart as a length scale, called peridynamic horizon, tends to zero.
A multiobjective hybrid ant colony optimization approach applied to the assignment and scheduling problem

The assignment and scheduling problem is inherently multiobjective. It generally involves multiple conflicting objectives and large and highly complex search spaces. The problem allows the determination of an efficient allocation of a set of limited and shared resources to perform tasks, and an efficient arrangement scheme of a set of tasks over time, while fulfilling spatiotemporal constraints. The main objective is to minimize the project makespan as well as the total cost. Finding a good approximation set is the result of trade-offs between diversity of solutions and convergence toward the Pareto-optimal front. It is difficult to achieve such a balance with NP-hard problems. In this respect, and in order to efficiently explore the search space, a hybrid bidirectional ant-based approach is proposed in this paper, which is an improvement of a bi-colony ant-based approach. Its main characteristic is that it combines a solution construction developed for a more complicated problem with a Pareto-guided local search engine.
Expanding the scope and relevance of health interventions: Moving beyond clinical trials and behavior change models

An overemphasis on clinical trials and behavior change models has narrowed the knowledge base that can be used to design interventions. The overarching point is that the process of overanalyzing variables is impeding the process of gaining insight into the everyday experiences that shape how people define health and seek treatment. This claim is especially important to health decision-making and behavior change because subtle interpretations often influence the decisions that people make. This manuscript provides a critique of traditional approaches to developing health interventions, and theoretically justifies what and why changes are warranted. The limited scope of these models is also discussed, and an argument is made to adopt a strategy that includes the perceptions of people as necessary for understanding health and health-related decision-making. Three practical strategies are suggested to be used with the more standard approaches to assessing the effectiveness and relevance of health interventions.
Bringing order to chaos in MOOC discussion forums with content-related thread identification

This study addresses the issues of overload and chaos in MOOC discussion forums by developing a model to categorize and identify threads based on whether or not they are substantially related to the course content. Content-related posts were defined as those that give/seek help for the learning of course material and share/comment on relevant resources. A linguistic model was built based on manually-coded starting posts in threads from a statistics MOOC (n=837) and tested on thread starting posts from the second offering of the same course (n=304) and a different statistics course (n=298). The number of views and votes threads received were tested to see if they helped classification. Results showed that content-related posts in the statistics MOOC had distinct linguistic features which appeared to be unrelated to the subject-matter domain; the linguistic model demonstrated good cross-course reliability (all recall and precision > .77) and was useful across all time segments of the courses; number of views and votes were not helpful for classification.
Future hotspots of terrestrial mammal loss

Current levels of endangerment and historical trends of species and habitats are the main criteria used to direct conservation efforts globally. Estimates of future declines, which might indicate different priorities than past declines, have been limited by the lack of appropriate data and models. Given that much of conservation is about anticipating and responding to future threats, our inability to look forward at a global scale has been a major constraint on effective action. Here, we assess the geography and extent of projected future changes in suitable habitat for terrestrial mammals within their present ranges. We used a global earth-system model, IMAGE, coupled with fine-scale habitat suitability models and parametrized according to four global scenarios of human development. We identified the most affected countries by 2050 for each scenario, assuming that no additional conservation actions other than those described in the scenarios take place. We found that, with some exceptions, most of the countries with the largest predicted losses of suitable habitat for mammals are in Africa and the Americas. African and North American countries were also predicted to host the most species with large proportional global declines. Most of the countries we identified as future hotspots of terrestrial mammal loss have little or no overlap with the present global conservation priorities, thus confirming the need for forward-looking analyses in conservation priority setting. The expected growth in human populations and consumption in hotspots of future mammal loss mean that local conservation actions such as protected areas might not be sufficient to mitigate losses. Other policies, directed towards the root causes of biodiversity loss, are required, both in Africa and other parts of the world.
Primary characterization and basal promoter activity of two hexamerin genes of Musca domestica

Abstract Hexamerins are high molecular-weight proteins found in the hemolymph of insects and have been proposed to function as storage proteins. In previous studies, two Musca domestica hexamerins, designated Hex-L and Hex-F were characterized. Hex-L is synthesized exclusively by the larval fat bodies, is secreted into the hemolymph and likely provides a source of amino acids and energy during metamorphosis. Hex-F synthesis is induced by a proteinaceous meal and occurs only in the adult insect fat bodies. Hex-F also is secreted into the hemolymph and it has been suggested that in females it may be an amino acid reservoir to be used during the final stages of egg formation. Genomic clones containing full-length copies of the genes MdHexL1 and MdHexF1, encoding subunits of the larval and the adult female hexamerin, respectively, were isolated. Complete nucleotide sequences, including the 5′-end untranscribed regions, were determined and analyzed for each of the genes. Comparisons of the conceptual translation products of the cloned genes indicated that MdHexL1 and MdHexF1 are related to the larval serum proteins (LSP) 1 and 2 of Calliphora vicina and Drosophila melanogaster. DNA fragments containing the putative promoters of the two hexamerin genes were compared and cloned into a plasmid vector so as to drive the expression of the GFP reporter gene. The constructs were assayed in vitro in transfected S2 Drosophila melanogaster cells demonstrating that the cloned M. domestica DNA fragments exhibit promoter activity. Hex L, Hex F Larval and female hexamerins respectively LSP Larval serum protein MdHexL1, MdHexF1 hexamerins of Musca domestica
In vitro resistance to platelet microbicidal protein correlates with endocarditis source among bacteremic staphylococcal and streptococcal isolates

Traditionally, platelets have been thought to contribute to the induction and propagation of infective endocarditis (IE). However, recent studies suggest that platelets may potentially mitigate IE via secretion of alpha-granule-derived platelet microbicidal protein (PMP). In this study, we compared the PMP susceptibility of bacteremic isolates from patients with and without IE. Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (n = 17), coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS; n = 28), viridans streptococci (VS; n = 54), and Enterococcus faecalis (n = 20), each at a final inoculum of 2 x 10(3) CFU/ml, were exposed to PMP [100 U/ml, (5 micrograms/ml)] for 2 h, and the percent survival was determined. For S. aureus, CNS, and VS isolates, there was a significant correlation between an IE source and increased percent survival post-PMP exposure; the mean percent survivals of S. aureus, CNS, and VS were significantly greater for IE versus non-IE isolates (P < 0.005 for each organism). No significant correlation was observed between the source of bacteremic E. faecalis isolates and PMP susceptibility. These data suggest that staphylococcal and VS (but not enterococcal) resistance to PMP may facilitate either the induction or progression of IE.
A comparative investigation into two pointing systems for use with wearable computers while mobile

Target selection is a task carried out by many wearable computer users. Conventional desktop pointing devices such as mice are not appropriate for the wearable user as they are designed for use within the conventional desktop paradigm. Although many pointing systems have been devised for use with wearable computers, little empirical research has been carried out. This research investigates two different target selection systems: a touch screen stylus and an off-table mouse. This research takes a novel approach and evaluates users while moving and stationary. Twenty participants wore a wearable computer and selected targets while stationary and while mobile, input times and the participants' task load were recorded.
An RNN based speech recognition system with discriminative training

In our previous work [1], a novel method of utilizing a set of fully connected recurrent neural networks (RNNs) for speech modeling has been proposed. Despite the e ectiveness of the RNN model in characterizing individual speech units, the system performs less satisfactorily for speech recognition due to poor discrimination between models. In this paper, an e cient discriminative training procedure is developed for the RNN based recognition system. By using discriminative training, each RNN speech model is adjusted to reduce its distance from the designated speech unit while increase distances from the others. In addition, a duration-screening process is introduced to enhance the discriminating power of the recognition system. Speaker-dependent recognition experiments have been carried out for 1) 11 isolated Cantonese digits, 2) 58 very confusing Cantonese CV syllables, and 3) 20 English isolated words. The recognition rates attained are 90.9%, 86.7% and 93.5% respectively.
Greedy-Algorithm of KSORD Supporting Multi-language Phrase Recognition

With the rapid development of information retrieval technology and daily increasing information in the Internet, common users can retrieve many text-based database and get part of the information through the search engines such as Google, and Baidu. However, there is a great amount of data contained in the background relational database of web pages. So there are many researches focusing on the search in these relational database with keywords, compared with these researches, our algorithms are mainly based on bags using the greedy algorithms and supporting the phrase recognition by utilizing multiple dictionaries. We make a comparison between our algorithm and the existing ones. The experiment results shows that our algorithm owns not only the feature of effectiveness but also the feature of efficiency.
On views and XML

The notion of views is essential in databases, see for instance [29, 30, 5]. It allows various users to see data from different viewpoints. In the present paper, we informally present works of the author on the topic. Instead of addressing the issue of views in a classical database setting, the paper focuses on XML [32] and looks at these various works in the context of a system of views for XML. The Web has revolutionized the electronic publication of data. It has relied primarily on HTML that emphasizes a hypertext document approach. More recently, XML, although originally a document mark-up language, is promoting an approach more focused on data exchange. In XML, explicit structuring is enforced • and presentation is separated from the data content. For data sources containing information with some structure, it is therefore more appropriate to use XML rather than HTML to export their data to the Web. When data is exported via XML, the problem of views becomes essential. Indeed, views in this setting are even more crucial than in standard database applications because (i) one often has to integrate heterogeneous sources and also (ii) views provide the means to add a structured interface on top of some otherwise (more chaotic) semistructured data. In some sense, a language already allows to define views for XML documents, namely XSL. XSL is the current (still unstable) W3C proposal for expressing stylesheets. Although primarily targeted towards presentation, XSL allows to transform/restructure XML documents using templates rules. We are discussing such restructuring here. However, we will ignore presentation issues and will consider more general views than offered by XSL. A view specification for XML data 1 will primarily
Metrics for Measuring Quality of Care in Comprehensive Stroke Centers: Detailed Follow-Up to Brain Attack Coalition Comprehensive Stroke Center Recommendations: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Background— Stroke is a major cause of disability and death. The Brain Attack Coalition has proposed establishment of primary and comprehensive stroke centers to provide appropriate care to stroke patients who require basic and more advanced interventions, respectively. Primary stroke centers have been designated by The Joint Commission since 2003, as well as by various states. The designation of comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs) is now being considered. To assist in this process, we propose a set of metrics and related data that CSCs should track to monitor the quality of care that they provide and to facilitate quality improvement. Methods and Results— We analyzed available guideline statements, reviews, and other literature to identify the major features that distinguish CSCs from primary stroke centers, drafted a set of metrics and related data elements to measure the key components of these aspects of stroke care, and then revised these through an iterative process to reach a consensus. We propose a set of metrics and related data elements that cover the major aspects of specialized care for patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease and nontraumatic subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhages at CSCs. Conclusions— The metrics that we propose are intended to provide a framework for standardized data collection at CSCs to facilitate local quality improvement efforts and to allow for analysis of pooled data from different CSCs that may lead to development of national performance standards for CSCs in the future.
Detection approaches for multidrug resistance genes of leukemia

Leukemia is a clonal malignant hematopoietic stem cell disease. It is the sixth most lethal cancer and accounts for 4% of all cancers. The main form of treatment for leukemia is chemotherapy. While some cancer types with a higher incidence than leukemia, such as lung and gastric cancer, have shown a sharp decline in mortality rates in recent years, leukemia has not followed this trend. Drug resistance is often regarded as the main clinical obstacle to effective chemotherapy in patients diagnosed with leukemia. Many resistance mechanisms have now been identified, and multidrug resistance (MDR) is considered the most important and prevalent mechanism involved in the failure of chemotherapy in leukemia. In order to reverse MDR and improve leukemia prognosis, effective detection methods are needed to identify drug resistance genes at initial diagnosis. This article provides a comprehensive overview of published approaches for the detection of MDR in leukemia. Identification of relevant MDR genes and methods for early detection of these genes will be needed in order to treat leukemia more effectively.
MerTK is required for apoptotic cell–induced T cell tolerance

Self-antigens expressed by apoptotic cells (ACs) may become targets for autoimmunity. Tolerance to these antigens is partly established by an ill-defined capacity of ACs to inhibit antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells (DCs). We present evidence that the receptor tyrosine kinase Mer (MerTK) has a key role in mediating AC-induced inhibition of DC activation/maturation. Pretreatment of DCs prepared from nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with AC blocked secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, up-regulation of costimulatory molecule expression, and T cell activation. The effect of ACs on DCs was dependent on Gas6, which is a MerTK ligand. NOD DCs lacking MerTK expression (NOD.MerTKKD/KD) were resistant to AC-induced inhibition. Notably, autoimmune diabetes was exacerbated in NOD.MerTKKD/KD versus NOD mice expressing the transgenic BDC T cell receptor. In addition, β cell–specific CD4+ T cells adoptively transferred into NOD.MerTKKD/KD mice in which β cell apoptosis was induced with streptozotocin exhibited increased expansion and differentiation into type 1 T cell effectors. In both models, the lack of MerTK expression was associated with an increased frequency of activated pancreatic CD11c+CD8α+ DCs, which exhibited an enhanced T cell stimulatory capacity. These findings demonstrate that MerTK plays a critical role in regulating self-tolerance mediated between ACs, DCs, and T cells.
Local ROI Reconstruction via Generalized FBP and BPF Algorithms along More Flexible Curves

We study the local region-of-interest (ROI) reconstruction problem, also referred to as the local CT problem. Our scheme includes two steps: (a) the local truncated normal-dose projections are extended to global dataset by combining a few global low-dose projections; (b) the ROI are reconstructed by either the generalized filtered backprojection (FBP) or backprojection-filtration (BPF) algorithms. The simulation results show that both the FBP and BPF algorithms can reconstruct satisfactory results with image quality in the ROI comparable to that of the corresponding global CT reconstruction.
Sweat-atoms: crafting physical objects with everyday exercise

In this paper, we introduce a novel idea of associating physical exercise with the creative process of crafting physical objects. Our aim is to harness physical exercise as a source for self-expression. We present Sweat-Atoms, a 3D modeling and printing system, which generates abstract 3D designs using the heart rate patterns of individuals engaged in a physical activity. The crafted physical objects can act as souvenirs and be testimony to the invested human efforts in performing the physical activity. The preliminary responses to the system have been encouraging. Participants liked the crafting of their exercise patterns and they were eager to experiment our system with different physical exercises.
Modes of Salmonid MHC Class I and II Evolution Differ from the Primate Paradigm1

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) represent two salmonid genera separated for 15–20 million years. cDNA sequences were determined for the classical MHC class I heavy chain gene UBA and the MHC class II β-chain gene DAB from 15 rainbow and 10 brown trout. Both genes are highly polymorphic in both species and diploid in expression. The MHC class I alleles comprise several highly divergent lineages that are represented in both species and predate genera separation. The class II alleles are less divergent, highly species specific, and probably arose after genera separation. The striking difference in salmonid MHC class I and class II evolution contrasts with the situation in primates, where lineages of class II alleles have been sustained over longer periods of time relative to class I lineages. The difference may arise because salmonid MHC class I and II genes are not linked, whereas in mammals they are closely linked. A prevalent mechanism for evolving new MHC class I alleles in salmonids is recombination in intron II that shuffles α1 and α2 domains into different combinations.