Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transcending New Public Management: The Transformation of Public Sector Reforms

Contents: Preface Introduction - theoretical approach and research questions, Tom Christensen and Per Laegreid Still fragmented government or reassertion of the centre? , Tom Christensen, Amund Lie and Per Laegreid Reform design and performance in Australia and New Zealand, John Halligan Types of state organisations: arguments, doctrines and changes beyond new public management, Paul G. Roness Convergence and standardization in telecommunications regulation: trajectories of change and reform in the Asian Pacific regulatory state, Martin Painter Organizing immigration - a comparison of New Zealand and Norway , Tom Christensen, Per Laegreid and Richard Norman Central banking reform across the world: only by night are all cats grey, Martin Marcussen Quests for transparency: signs of a new institutional era in the health care field, Maria Blomgren and Kirstin Sahlin-Andersson Public-private partnerships: a comparative perspective on Victoria and Denmark, Carsten Greve and Graeme Hodge (The difficult art of) outsourcing welfare services: experiences from Sweden and New Zealand, Anders Forssell and Lars Noren New public management and the ghost of Max Weber: exorcised or still haunting? , Robert Gregory Bibliography Index.
An Anthropomorphic Robotic Platform for Progressive and Adaptive Sensorimotor Learning

In recent years, advances and improvements in engineering and robotics have in part been due to strengthened interactions with the biological sciences. Robots that mimic the complexity and adaptability of biological systems have become a central goal in research and development in robotics. Usually, such a collaboration is addressed to a 2-fold perspective of (i) setting up anthropomorphic platforms as test beds for studies in neuroscience and (ii) promoting new mechatronic and robotic technologies for the development of bio-inspired or humanoid high-performance robotic platforms. This paper provides a brief overview of recent studies on sensorimotor coordination in human motor control and proposes a novel paradigm of adaptive learning for sensorimotor control, based on a multi-network high-level control architecture. The proposed neurobiologically inspired model has been applied to a robotic platform, purposely designed to provide anthropomorphic solutions to neuroscientific requirements. The goal of this work is to use the bio-inspired robotic platform as a test bed for validating the proposed model of high-level sensorimotor control, with the aim of demonstrating adaptive and modular control based on acquired competences, with a higher degree of flexibility and generality than conventional robotic controllers, while preserving their robustness. To this purpose, a set of object-dependent, visually guided reach-and-grasp tasks and the associated training phases were first implemented in a multi-network control architecture in simulation. Subsequently, the offline learning realized in simulation was used to produce the input command of reach-and-grasp to the low-level position control of the robotic platform. Experimental trials demonstrated that the adaptive and modular high-level control allowed reaching and grasping of objects located at different positions and objects of variable size, shape and orientation. A future goal would be to address autonomous and progressive learning based on growing competences.
Photovoltaic power optimization using sliding mode control with a two-axis tracking system

Optimal power tracking techniques are often employed to more effectively extract the power generated from photovoltaic (PV) modules. This paper examines the problem of adjusting PV module's position to maximize the incident irradiation, and hence, the power. It introduces a two-axis rotation control mechanism to track a PV module's maximum power based on the sun's azimuth and elevation angles. The control mechanism uses the sliding mode control method of self-optimization without depending on the astronomical data for the sun trajectory. The power generated depends heavily on the solar intensity (irradiance); however, total irradiance on any inclined surface is the sum of direct irradiance, isotropic sky diffuse irradiance, and ground reflection. The proposed controller architecture efficiently maintains the power around an optimum value, by orienting a PV module to the corresponding azimuth and elevation optimal angles.
Enhancing information retrieval through concept‐based language modeling and semantic smoothing

Traditionally, many information retrieval models assume that terms occur in documents independently. Although these models have already shown good performance, the word independency assumption seems to be unrealistic from a natural language point of view, which considers that terms are related to each other. Therefore, such an assumption leads to two well‐known problems in information retrieval (IR), namely, polysemy, or term mismatch, and synonymy. In language models, these issues have been addressed by considering dependencies such as bigrams, phrasal‐concepts, or word relationships, but such models are estimated using simple n‐grams or concept counting. In this paper, we address polysemy and synonymy mismatch with a concept‐based language modeling approach that combines ontological concepts from external resources with frequently found collocations from the document collection. In addition, the concept‐based model is enriched with subconcepts and semantic relationships through a semantic smoothing technique so as to perform semantic matching. Experiments carried out on TREC collections show that our model achieves significant improvements over a single word‐based model and the Markov Random Field model (using a Markov classifier).
The Nature and Growth of Vertical Specialization in World Trade

Dramatic changes are occurring in the nature of international trade. Production processes increasingly involve a sequential, vertical trading chain stretching across many countries, with each country specializing in particular stages of a good's production sequence. We document a key aspect of these vertical linkages--the use of imported inputs in producing goods that are exported -- which we call vertical specialization. Using input-output tables from the OECD and emerging market countries we estimate that vertical specialization accounts for up to 30 percent of world exports, and has grown as much as 40 percent in the last twenty-five years. The key insight about why vertical specialization has grown so much lies with the fact that trade barriers (tariffs and transportation costs) are incurred repeatedly as goods-in-process cross multiple borders. Hence, even small reductions in tariffs and transport costs can lead to extensive vertical specialization, large trade growth, and large gains from trade. We formally illustrate these points by developing an extension of the Dornbusch-Fischer-Samuelson ricardian trade model.
Adaptive signal processing techniques for clutter removal in radar-based navigation systems

The problem of background clutter remains as a major challenge in radar-based navigation, particularly due to its time-varying statistical properties. Adaptive solutions for clutter removal are therefore sought which meet the demanding convergence and accuracy requirements of the navigation application. In this paper, a new structure which combines blind source separation (BSS) and adaptive interference cancellation (AIC) is proposed to solve the problem more accurately without prior statistical knowledge of the sea clutter. The new algorithms are confirmed to outperform previously proposed adaptive schemes for such processing through simulation studies.
Robust Reductions from Ranking to Classification

We reduce ranking, as measured by the Area Under the Reciever Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC), to binary classification. The core theorem shows that a binary classification regret of r on the induced binary problem implies an AUC regret of at most 4r. (The binary problem is to predict, given a random pair of elements being ranked, whether the first element should be ordered before the second.) This is a large improvement over naive approaches such as ordering according to regressed scores, which has a regret transform of → nr wheren is the number of elements.
Distributed computing of Seismic Imaging Algorithms

The primary use of technical computing in the oil and gas industries is for seismic imaging of the earth's subsurface, driven by the business need for making well-informed drilling decisions during petroleum exploration and production. Since each oil/gas well in exploration areas costs several tens of millions of dollars, producing high-quality seismic images in a reasonable time can significantly reduce the risk of drilling a "dry hole". Similarly, these images are important as they can improve the position of wells in a billion-dollar producing oil field. However seismic imaging is very data- and compute-intensive which needs to process terabytes of data and require Gflop-years of computation (using "flop" to mean floating point operation per second). Due to the data/computing intensive nature of seismic imaging, parallel computing are used to process data to reduce the time compilation. With introducing of Cloud computing, MapReduce programming model has been attracted a lot of attention in parallel and distributed systems [1, 2] to execute massive processing algorithms such as Bioinformatics[3], Astronomy[4], Geology[5] and so on. In this report, we will investigate and discuss current approaches to fit seismic algorithms to MapReduce programming model.
On the perceptual origin of loanword adaptations: experimental evidence from Japanese*

Japanese shows an asymmetry in the treatment of word-final [n] in loanwords from English and French: while it is adapted as a moraic nasal consonant in loanwords from English, it is adapted with a following epenthetic vowel in loanwords from French. We provide experimental evidence that this asymmetry is due to phonetic differences in the realisation of word-final [n] in English and French, and, consequently, to the way in which English and French word-final [n] are perceived by native speakers of Japanese. Specifically, French but not English word-final [n] has a strong vocalic release that Japanese listeners perceive as their native vowel [ɯ]. We propose a psycholinguistic model in which most loanword adaptations originate in perceptual assimilation, a process which takes place during perception and which maps non-native sounds and sound structures onto the phonetically closest native ones. We compare our model to alternatives couched within phonological theory.
A high speed unsupervised speaker retrieval using vector quantization and second-order statistics

This paper describes an effective unsupervised method for query-by-example speaker retrieval. We suppose that only one speaker is in each audio file or in audio segment. The audio data are modeled using a common universal codebook. The codebook is based on bag-of-frames (BOF). The features corresponding to the audio frames are extracted from all audio files. These features are grouped into clusters using the K-means algorithm. The individual audio files are modeled by the normalized distribution of the numbers of cluster bins corresponding to this file. In the first level the k-nearest to the query files are retrieved using vector space representation. In the second level the second-order statistical measure is applied to obtained k-nearest files to find the final result of the retrieval. The described method is evaluated on the subset of Ester corpus of French broadcast news.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Development of Ipilimumab: a Novel Immunotherapeutic Approach for the Treatment of Advanced Melanoma

The immunotherapeutic agent ipilimumab has helped address a significant unmet need in the treatment of advanced melanoma. Ipilimumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), thereby augmenting antitumor immune responses. After decades in which a number of clinical trials were conducted, ipilimumab was the first therapy to improve overall survival in a randomized, controlled phase III trial of patients with advanced melanoma. These results led to the regulatory approval of ipilimumab at 3 mg/kg for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma. More than 17,000 patients worldwide have received ipilimumab, either as a commercial drug at 3 mg/kg or in clinical trials and expanded access programs at different doses. Consistent with its proposed mechanism of action, the most common toxicities associated with ipilimumab therapy are inflammatory in nature. These immune-related adverse events were mostly reversible when effective treatment guidelines were followed. Importantly, long-term follow-up of patients who received ipilimumab in a phase III trial showed that 24% survived at least two years, and in phase II studies, a proportion of patients survived at least five years. Evaluation of ipilimumab is ongoing in the adjuvant setting for melanoma, and for advanced disease in nonsmall cell lung, small cell lung, prostate, ovarian, and gastric cancers.
Parallelization of DNA alignment algorithms using GPUs

Since the discovery of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) significant technological advances were made, leading to very large amounts of data gathered for analysis. The tools for this analysis however have advanced at a slower pace and have become one of the limiting factors of new discoveries in this field of research. Recently, from the 3D game market, a new generation of hardware has emerged. This hardware known as Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) has the capability for general purpose computing. With this new hardware high performance computing has become possible on cheap and readily available hardware which creates new opportunities to study and improve current tools and algorithms used for the study of DNA. A study of sequence matching techniques using indexes and their adaptation to the DNA alignment problem is presented. The indexes used were suffix trees and suffix arrays. A heuristic DNA alignment algorithm which runs on the GPU was developed based on the indexes studied. Tests conducted showed that the work lead to the creation of an algorithm that is capable of competing with current day techniques in both performance and quality of results.
EFFECTS OF TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES MODEL ON TEACHER REFERRAL BEHAVIOR

The purpose of the present study was to investigate teacher referral behavior with respect to two different types of services (con­ sultation and testing or therapy). Several variables (psychological services model, grade level taught, amount of teaching experience, and attitudes and normative beliefs concerning referral behavior) were specifically examined in terms of their influence on both intentions to refer and estimated number and type of referrals made per year. A total of 202 elementary school teachers from five school dis­ tricts completed a questionnaire based primarily on a behavior predic­ tion model. The model evolved from a theory which attempts to understand the relationship between attitudes and behavior by considering variables demonstrated to function as the primary determinants of behavior. The approach emphasizes the contributions of many variables toward behavior, of which attitude is but one. According to this model, a high correla­ tion exists between behavior and a person's intentions to perform that behavior. These intentions can be predicted from a person's attitude toward performing the behavior, in addition to his normative beliefs, or more specifically, the expectations of significant others concerning the performance of that behavior. A total of three multiple-regression analyses were performed in order to examine both the collective and separate effects of the inde­ pendent variables on the dependent variables. The following conclusions
Skin conductance and heart rate in women with premenstrual syndrome.

&NA; This study investigated the effects of the menstrual cycle phase on certain components of autonomic arousal and task performance. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) women and matched controls (non‐PMS) were tested both premenstrually and postmenstrually. The conditions selected were a) the presentation of 10 tones, b) a proofreading performance task, and c) a word‐association learning task. Skin conductance and heart rate were continuously monitored. No significant effects were found on baseline physiological measures, or on proofreading or word‐association performance. A significant point in cycle effect for skin conductance and HR orienting response to the tones was found showing smaller HR and skin conductance responses postmenstrually. Several significant PMS classifications by point in menstrual cycle interactions were found. These indicated that, paradoxically, the non‐PMS subjects showed higher spontaneous skin conductance responding during the word association task and higher skin conductance responses to tones prior to menses. While in contrast, PMS subjects yielded higher responding on the same measures postmenstrually. On stress ratings, PMS subjects reported experiencing more stress postmenstrually. Results are discussed in terms of the possible role of expectancy factors and inaccurate self‐monitoring.
The Bodyguard Allocation Problem

In this paper, we introduce the Bodyguard Allocation Problem (BAP) game, that illustrates the behavior of processes with contradictory individual goals in distributed systems. In particular, the game deals with the conflict of interest between two classes of processes that maximize/minimize their distance to a special process called the root. A solution of the BAP game represents a rooted spanning tree in which there exists a condition of equilibrium with maximum social welfare. We analyze the inefficiency of equilibria of the game based on both a completely cooperative and noncooperative approach. Additionally, we design two algorithms, CBAP and DBAP, that provide approximated solutions for the BAP game. We prove that both algorithms always terminate in a configuration with equilibrium and we analyze their running time based on the approach of cooperation used. We perform experimental simulations to compare the overall quality of equilibria obtained by the proposed algorithms.
Using randomized variable practice in the treatment of childhood apraxia of speech.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine if randomized variable practice, a central component of concurrent treatment, would be effective and efficient in treating childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Concurrent treatment is a treatment program that takes the speech task hierarchy and randomizes it so that all tasks are worked on in one session. Previous studies have shown the treatment program to be effective and efficient in treating phonological and articulation disorders. The program was adapted to be used with children with CAS. METHOD A research design of multiple baselines across participants was used. Probes of generalization to untaught words were administered every fifth session. Three children, ranging in age from 4 to 6 years old, were the participants. Data were collected as percent correct productions during baseline, treatment, and probes of generalization of target sounds to untaught words and three-word phrases. RESULTS All participants showed an increase in correct productions during treatment and during probes. Effect sizes (standard mean difference) for treatment were 3.61-5.00, and for generalization probes, they were 3.15-8.51. CONCLUSIONS The results obtained from this study suggest that randomized variable practice as used in concurrent treatment can be adapted for use in treating children with CAS. Replication of this study with other children presenting CAS will be needed to establish generality of the findings.
The Connectivity Structure, Giant Strong Component and Centrality of Metabolic Networks

MOTIVATION Structural and functional analysis of genome-based large-scale metabolic networks is important for understanding the design principles and regulation of the metabolism at a system level. The metabolic network is conventionally considered to be highly integrated and very complex. A rational reduction of the metabolic network to its core structure and a deeper understanding of its functional modules are important. RESULTS In this work, we show that the metabolites in a metabolic network are far from fully connected. A connectivity structure consisting of four major subsets of metabolites and reactions, i.e. a fully connected sub-network, a substrate subset, a product subset and an isolated subset is found to exist in metabolic networks of 65 fully sequenced organisms. The largest fully connected part of a metabolic network, called 'the giant strong component (GSC)', represents the most complicated part and the core of the network and has the feature of scale-free networks. The average path length of the whole network is primarily determined by that of the GSC. For most of the organisms, GSC normally contains less than one-third of the nodes of the network. This connectivity structure is very similar to the 'bow-tie' structure of World Wide Web. Our results indicate that the bow-tie structure may be common for large-scale directed networks. More importantly, the uncovered structure feature makes a structural and functional analysis of large-scale metabolic network more amenable. As shown in this work, comparing the closeness centrality of the nodes in the GSC can identify the most central metabolites of a metabolic network. To quantitatively characterize the overall connection structure of the GSC we introduced the term 'overall closeness centralization index (OCCI)'. OCCI correlates well with the average path length of the GSC and is a useful parameter for a system-level comparison of metabolic networks of different organisms. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION http://genome.gbf. de/bioinformatics/
Intergalactic stars in the fornax cluster

We have identified ten candidate intergalactic planetary nebulae in the Fornax galaxy cluster. These objects were found during observations in 1992 and 1993 in three fields chosen well away from any Fornax galaxy at 15 arcmin, 30 arcmin, and 45 arcmin from the centre of Fornax. We used the usual method of blinking images taken in a narrow OIII filter, with images taken in an adjacent broad filter. The measured fluxes in the narrow, broad, and I bands are consistent with these unresolved objects being planetary nebulae immersed in an intergalactic population of stars. Such a population is expected to arise as a consequence of tidal encounters between galaxies, and our findings strengthen the case for the existence of such tidal debris. The confirmation of some or all of these ten candidates as planetary nebulae would imply that intergalactic stars constitute a substantial fraction of all the stars in Fornax, up to an estimated 40 per cent. Intergalactic planetary nebulae could prove useful in probing the underlying cluster potential, since they would be far more abundant than galaxies. We discuss possible contamination of the sample by emission-line galaxies, but conclude that planetary nebulae is the most likely identification for the detected objects. keywords: intergalactic medium-- galaxies: interactions -- planetary nebulae: general -- clusters: individual: Fornax