Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short paper adapting the contract net protocol for publish/subscribe messaging

The contract net protocol (CNP) is widely adopted in agent-based systems for task allocation in a distributed environment. Conventional CNP requires only simple messaging services such as direct addressing and broadcasting. Publish/subscribe (P/S) is a highly flexible middleware-based messaging service for distributed applications. Previous experiments on incorporating P/S into agent-based systems for task allocation have shown interesting ways to adapt the conventional CNP with potential performance advantages. The paper first reviews some previous adaptations to CNP in generic terms without any application details. It then introduces a new further step to the adaptations to obtain fully distributed bid selection in the task selection process.
A hybrid approach to co-reference identification within museum collections

Locating specific resources within museum collections represents a major challenge for users. Even when catalogues exist in a searchable digital format (which is not certain), formatting differences and the nature of the information to be encoded mean that there is a very large degree of variation in records not just from different catalogues but within individual catalogues. The nature of the data being searched means that traditional search techniques are badly suited to the challenges of identifying similar records in collections. In this paper we discuss a fuzzy rule based approach for identifying similarities between records and to identify co-referent records across multiple heritage collections. We also describe the application of this approach to real world collections and records which demonstrates some promising early results.
An Economic Analysis of the Military Expenditure and External Debt in Argentina

This study analyzes the Argentine Financial Crisis of 2001 through investigating the impact of military expenditure on external debt in Argentina. For this purpose, Granger-causality testing procedure is applied on yearly data between 1971 and 2002. Strong evidence emerged that military burden had no impact on the evolution of debt in Argentina: Results of Granger-causality test show that the null hypotheses of military expenditure does not granger cause external debt is not rejected. Results show no evidence of reverse causality either. This finding invalidates the hypothesis that military burden may be important in determining the evolution of debt in developing countries.
A NEW APPROACH TO THE UNSUPERVISED DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE SPLICED YARN JOINT

Abstract This paper presents an automatic vision-based system for unsupervised detection and classification of spliced yarn joints. In the splice detection process, a competitive learning method based on an LBG algorithm is used. In the splice classification process, a dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm is used to classify the extracted splice joint into one of three categories, based on the degree of similarity between the spliced joint and the nonspliced remaining part of the same yarn. The use of DTW in the classification makes the proposed method adaptable to different types of yarns. Consequently, this method might be universally applicable for the classification of all spliced yarn joints. The proposed method has been evaluated using three types of experiments, yielding a promising result.
Evolution of Stochastic Switching Rates in Asymmetric Fitness Landscapes

Uncertain environments pose a tremendous challenge to populations: The selective pressures imposed by the environment can change so rapidly that adaptation by mutation alone would be too slow. One solution to this problem is given by the phenomenon of stochastic phenotype switching, which causes genetically uniform populations to be phenotypically heterogenous. Stochastic phenotype switching has been observed in numerous microbial species and is generally assumed to be an adaptive bet-hedging strategy to anticipate future environmental change. We use an explicit population genetic model to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of phenotypic switching rates. We find that whether or not stochastic switching is an adaptive strategy is highly contingent upon the fitness landscape given by the changing environment. Unless selection is very strong, asymmetric fitness landscapes—where the cost of being maladapted is not identical in all environments—strongly select against stochastic switching. We further observe a threshold phenomenon that causes switching rates to be either relatively high or completely absent, but rarely intermediate. Our finding that marginal changes in selection pressures can cause fundamentally different evolutionary outcomes is important in a wide range of fields concerned with microbial bet hedging.
A Hybrid Metaheuristic Algorithm for the Multi-depot Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows

The multi-depot vehicle routing problem with time windows (MDVRPTW) is an extension to the classical Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP); it is the major research topics in the supply chain management field. It aims to designing a set of minimum-cost routes for a vehicle fleet servicing many customers with known demands and predefined time windows.In this paper a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm is proposed to solve MDVSPTW successfully by ants transfer policy and algorithm to construct solution designed in this dissertation. To improve hybrid ant colony algorithm performance, a local search improvement algorithm that explores a large neighborhood of the current solution to discover a cheaper set of feasible routes. The neighborhood structure comprises all solutions that can be generated by iteratively performing node exchanges among nearby trips followed by a node reordering on every route. The experiment indicates the validity of the technique to MDVSPTW with the above-mentioned conditions.
Targeting PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling in Cancer

The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathways are two pathways crucial to many aspects of cell growth and survival, in physiological as well as in pathological conditions (e.g., cancer). Indeed, they are so interconnected that, in a certain sense, they could be regarded as a single, unique pathway. In this paper, after a general overview of the biological significance and the main components of these pathways, we address the present status of the development of specific PI3K, Akt, and mTOR inhibitors, from already registered medicines to novel compounds that are just leaving the laboratory bench.
Autonomous task partitioning in robot foraging: an approach based on cost estimation

We propose an approach for autonomous task partitioning in swarms of foraging robots. Task partitioning is the process of decomposing tasks into sub-tasks. Task partitioning impacts tasks execution and associated costs. Our approach is characterized by the use of a cost function, mapping the size of sub-tasks to the overall task cost. The robots model the cost function and use the model to select sub-tasks to perform, aiming to minimize costs. Our approach separates the task partitioning process from task-specific actions and it does not require a priori assumptions to be made about the best partitioning strategy to employ. We study a foraging scenario in which object transportation is performed by different robots, each moving objects for a limited distance. The robots autonomously decide the distance traveled on the basis of our approach. The robots use odometry for navigational purposes; we show that task partitioning reduces the impact of odometry errors and improves performance. We validate our approach using simulation-based experiments. We study how the swarm partitions transportation under a number of experimental conditions characterized by different levels of odometry accuracy, size of the environment and the swarm, and total transportation distance. Our approach leads to partitioning solutions that are appropriate for each condition.
Different frequency of epidermal growth factor rs76189946 polymorphism genotype in an Iranian colorectal cancer

Aim This study aimed to determinant association between rs76189946 polymorphism of EGF gene and risk of colorectal cancer in an Iranian population. Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer in both genders worldwide. The determination of genetic variation becomes a new way to etiology of colorectal cancer. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a mitogen that plays an important role in cell growth and tumourigenesis, this protein acts by binding its receptor, EGFR. Patients and methods DNA samples taken from totally 125 CRC patients and healthy controls were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the rs76189946 polymorphism. Genotypes were analyzed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Finally to confirm the RFLP procedure, 20 of the PCR products were sequenced using the ABI PRISM 3130xl Genetic Analyzer and chain termination method (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA). Results Genotype distribution and allele frequency was similar in CRC patients and controls individuals. We expect observe C and G allele in both groups but only was found C allele. Conclusion In this study for first time we identified genetic distribution of exonic rs76189946 polymorphism in EGF gene both CRC patients and healthy controls. These results suggest there wasn't association between EGF polymorphism rs76189946 and risk of colorectal cancer in an Iranian population.
Co-channel Interference for Terrestrial and HAPS Systems in a Cellular Structure

In this paper, the effects of co-channel interference in a HAPS-based cellular system are analysed, comparing such effects in two frequency reuse scenarios with terrestrial systems. The CIR is evaluated for both schemes, and the HAPS-based cellular system shows significant improvements in the reduction of co-channel interference over terrestrial systems, even when compared to sectorised configurations.
A computational model to investigate the effect of dopamine on neural synchronization in striatum

Synchronous behavior of neural populations has been related to cognitive processes as attention, learning and has been considered as hallmarks of neurological disorders. The computational models of neural structures, even the simple ones, could give informative results which can improve our understanding of cognitive processes, arising due to collective activity of neurons. Here, a neurocomputational model for investigating the role of dopamine level on the synchronized behavior of medium spiny neurons in striatum is given.The model is composed of point neurons and dynamic synaptic connections and the excitatory connections of medium spiny neurons are modulated according to spike time dependent plasticity rule. The results convey that dopamine level has opposite effect on the synchronization of D1 and D2 type medium spiny neuron populations. Also, it is shown that spike timing dependent plasticity enhances the synchronized behavior.
Oxygen isotope content of CO2 in nocturnal ecosystem respiration: 2. Short‐term dynamics of foliar and soil component fluxes in an old‐growth ponderosa pine forest

The oxygen isotope contents (δ18O) of soil, xylem, and leaf water and ecosystem respiration were studied in a ponderosa pine forest during summer 2001. Our goal was to assess whether δ18O of CO2 could be used to quantify the relative contributions of soil and foliar respiration to total nocturnal ecosystem respiration. The δ18O in leaf and soil water showed enrichment over a 2‐week sampling period as the weather became hot and dry (leaves 0.9 to 15.0‰, and soil −10.4 to −3.1‰), while δ18O of xylem water remained constant (−12.9‰). Water in the soil was enriched in 18O near the soil surface (−6.4‰ at 5 cm depth) relative to greater depths (−11.1‰ at 20 cm). The δ18O of ecosystem respiration became gradually enriched over the 2‐week sampling period (from 24.2 initially to 32.9‰ at the end, VSMOW scale). Soil respiration contributed 80 ± 12 percent to the total respiratory flux, close to estimates from scaled‐up chamber data (77% [ Law et al., 2001a ]). Quantitative application of the isotopic approach to determine respiratory proportions required direct measurement of δ18O of soil and xylem water, air and soil temperature, and humidity. Better estimates of the isotopic signatures of component fluxes could be achieved with additional measurements and more detailed modeling. Results demonstrate that (1) there is variability in δ18O of precipitation inputs to ecosystems, (2) immediately following a precipitation event, δ18O of ecosystem respiration may reflect δ18O of precipitation, (3) periods of hot dry weather can substantially enrich ecosystem water pools and subsequently alter the isotope content of CO2 in ecosystem respiration, and (4) stable oxygen isotopes in CO2 can be used to quantify the foliar and soil components of ecosystem respiration.
Correlation between CT Perfusion and Clinico-Pathological Features in Prostate Cancer: A Prospective Study

Background The aim of the study was to assess the correlation between computed tomography perfusion (PCT) parameters and PSA levels, Gleason score, and pTNM stage in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Material/Methods One hundred twenty-five patients with localized PCa were prospectively enrolled in the study. All patients were diagnosed due to suspicious prostate findings and elevated PSA serum levels and underwent PCT followed by core biopsy and radical prostatectomy. Blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), mean transit time (MTT), and permeability-surface (PS) area product were computed in the suspected PCa area and normal prostatic tissue. Core biopsy followed by prostatectomy was performed 2–4 weeks after PCT. Correlation between PCT findings and PSA levels, Gleason score, and pTNM stage were analyzed. Results The mean age of patients was 64 years. All patients had elevated PSA levels (mean value 6.2 ng/ml). Nineteen patients (15.9%) were at low risk of recurrence, 91 (76.5%) were at moderate risk, and 9 (7.6%) were at high risk according to National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria. PCa was visible on PCT as focal peripheral CT enhancement in 119 out of 125 patients (sensitivity 95.2%). Significant correlations between BV, BF, and PS values and PSA level were found (p<0.05), as well as a trend for difference between BV, BF, and PS in poorly and moderately differentiated tumors (according to Gleason score) in comparison with highly differentiated PCa (p<0.08). The analysis also revealed a correlation between mean perfusion values and BV, MTT, PS, and pTNM cancer stage (p<0.04). Conclusions Our study suggests that in low- and intermediate- risk patients, PCT parameters correlate with PSA values, Gleason score, and pTNM stage and can be useful for initial tumor staging.
Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance Using Fewer than 3f+1 Active Replicas

Byzantine fault tolerant state machine replication (BFT-SMR) is a foundation for implementations of highly reliable services. Existing algorithms for BFT-SMR require at least 3f +1 active replicas to tolerate f faulty replicas. We show that BFT-SMR can be achieved with fewer than 3f +1 active replicas, as long as standby spare replicas are available, such that the number of active replicas plus the number of spares is at least 3f +1. In particular, a single Byzantine fault can be tolerated with only three active replicas and a single standby spare. The spares are rarely used — only for reconfigurations triggered by faults or suspected faults. Each reconfiguration leads to a different subset of nodes running the active replicas. By reducing the number of active replicas, our algorithm reduces power consumption for processing and communication. It also has the potential to provide better performance. We present a 1-resilient algorithm that achieves BFT-SMR with only three active replicas and one standby spare, and show the results of preliminary performance evaluation.
Delay-Aware Two-Hop Cooperative Relay Communications via Approximate MDP and Stochastic Learning

In this paper, a low-complexity delay-aware cross-layer scheduling algorithm for two-hop relay communication systems is proposed. The complex interactions of the queues at the source node and the M relay nodes (RSs) are modeled as an infinite horizon average reward Markov decision process (MDP), whose state space involves the joint queue state information (QSI) of the queues at the source node and the M RSs as well as the joint channel state information (CSI) of all S-R and R-D links. To address the curse of dimensionality, an equivalent MDP formulation is first proposed, where the system state depends only on global QSI. Furthermore, using approximate MDP and stochastic learning, an auction-based distributed online learning algorithm is derived, where each node iteratively estimates a per-node value function based on real-time observations of the local CSI and local QSI as well as signaling between relays. The combined distributed learning converges almost surely to a global optimal solution for large arrivals. Finally, it is showed by simulations that the proposed scheme achieves significant gain compared with various baselines such as the conventional CSIT-only control and the throughput optimal control (in stability sense).
Role of the Arabidopsis Glucose Sensor HXK1 in Nutrient, Light, and Hormonal Signaling

Glucose modulates many vital processes in photosynthetic plants. Analyses of Arabidopsis glucose insensitive2(gin2) mutants define the physiological functions of a specific hexokinase (HXK1) in the plant glucose-signaling network. HXK1 coordinates intrinsic signals with extrinsic light intensity. HXK1 mutants lacking catalytic activity still support various signaling functions in gene expression, cell proliferation, root and inflorescence growth, and leaf expansion and senescence, thus demonstrating the uncoupling of glucose signaling from glucose metabolism. The gin2 mutants are also insensitive to auxin and hypersensitive to cytokinin. Plants use HXK as a glucose sensor to interrelate nutrient, light, and hormone signaling networks for controlling growth and development in response to the changing environment.
An erosion model based on velocity fields for the visual simulation of mountain scenery

Visual simulation of natural scenery using computer graphics is an interesting research field with wide applications such as flight simulation and special effects in movies. There have been many studies of fractal techniques that use 1/f noise generated by FFT or the midpoint displacement method as modelling methods for imaginary mountain scenery. These methods are suitable for creating impressive mountain scenes, but they cannot create clear ridge and valley lines, which are notable features of mountains produced by erosion processes. Although a few reports have presented modelling methods that take erosion processes into account, the results have not been satisfactory. In this paper we present a simple ‘quasi-physically based’ method for simulating the topography of eroded mountains based on velocity fields of water flow. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An Admission Control Mechanism for Web Servers using Neural Network

sites are exposed to high rates of incoming requests. During temporary traffic peaks, web servers may become overloaded and their services deteriorate drastically. In this paper, we propose a method for admission control to prevent and control overloads in web servers by utilizing neural network (NN). The control decision is based on the desired web server performance criteria: average response time, blocking probability and throughput of web server. We have designed and developed a NN model able to predict web server performance metrics based on the parameters of the Apache server, the core of the Linux system and arrival traffic. The model predictor captures the complex relationship between web server performance and its configuration. This avoids an ad-hoc web server configuration, which poses significant challenges to the server performance and quality of service (QoS). Keywordsserver, Admission control, QoS, Neural networks.
Sliding mode control of induction motors with minimized control effort: a comparative study

This paper presents an evaluation of a new adaptive fuzzy sliding mode controller used for speed and flux regulation for an induction motor drive system as compared to classical control methods. The proposed controller has the merits of sliding mode control: fast response, robustness to plant parameter variations and simplicity of implementation and it also avoids the problems of chattering and the need of a large control effort achieve the control objective by means of using and optimization technique to vary the gains of the sliding mode controller according to the position of the operating point on the state trajectory. The proposed controller is compared to conventional PI, conventional sliding mode and fuzzy sliding mode control. The results for a 5 HP, 3-phase, 220 V induction motor show very low control effort compared to sliding mode methods and parameter insensitivity compared to the PI controller
Fertility decisions in the FRG and GDR

The aim of this paper is to compare family policies and fertility patterns in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the German Federal Republic (FRG). Among other aspects, both societies particularly differed in the integration of women into the labor market. By contrasting the fertility development in these two societies, this paper aims to illuminate how women’s education and employment relates to fertility decisions in societal contexts that support (in the case of the GDR) and hamper (in the case of the FRG) the compatibility between work and family life. Data for this analysis comes from the German Fertility and Family Survey (of the year 1992). We provide descriptive statistics for all birth parities, but we limit the multivariate event history analysis to first births only.
The Decline of Private-Sector Unionism and the Gender Wage Gap

Between 1973 and 1988, private-sector unionism fell by 9.5 percentage points more for men than women, and the gender wage gap (one minus the ratio of female to male wages) decreased by.09. These trends support two findings: First, unionism fell more slowly for women primarily because the probability of unionism fell most rapidly in jobs dominated by males. Second, the greater decline in unionism among males is responsible for approximately one-seventh of the.09 decline in the gender wage gap.
Hippocampal Neurogenesis Levels Predict WATERMAZE Search Strategies in the Aging Brain

The hippocampus plays a crucial role in the formation of spatial memories, and it is thought that adult hippocampal neurogenesis may participate in this form of learning. To better elucidate the relationship between neurogenesis and spatial learning, we examined both across the entire life span of mice. We found that cell proliferation, neuronal differentiation, and neurogenesis significantly decrease with age, and that there is an abrupt reduction in these processes early on, between 1.5-3 months of age. After this, the neurogenic capacity continues to decline steadily. The initial abrupt decline in adult neurogenesis was paralleled by a significant reduction in Morris Water Maze performance, however overall learning and memory remained constant thereafter. Further analysis of the search strategies employed revealed that reductions in neurogenesis in the aging brain were strongly correlated with the adoption of spatially imprecise search strategies. Overall, performance measures of learning and memory in the Morris Water Maze were maintained at relatively constant levels in aging animals due to an increase in the use of spatially imprecise search strategies.