Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Varieties of right-sizing strategies: comparing degrowth coalitions in French shrinking cities

ABSTRACT This article attempts to understand the varieties of “rightsizing” strategies in French shrinking cities. Empirically, the article examines the issue of “rightsizing” in France. It reveals that urban shrinkage is still considered as a minor issue nationally, and that “rightsizing” ideas have not gained momentum on urban agendas or within the planning community. Despite this lack of interest, local strategies aimed at adapting the built environment to a reduced population have been “silently” implemented in France’s shrinking cities, over the last 15 years. The article focuses on the strategies elaborated in two cities: Saint-Etienne and Vitry-le-François. These strategies are both emblematic of an acceptation of population decline and of a will to reduce the housing stock. However, these two strategies rely on different actors and rationalities: the first is based on a selective understanding of “rightsizing” which aims at replacing deprived social groups by a long-awaited middle-class; the second is fueled by the worsening financial situation of the main social housing landlords. By pinpointing the factors that explain varieties of “rightsizing” strategies, the article calls for a more careful use of the notion of austerity urbanism, based on case studies which are sensitive to contextual issues.
Semantic Role Labeling Without Treebanks?

We describe a method for training a semantic role labeler for CCG in the absence of gold-standard syntax derivations. Traditionally, semantic role labeling is performed by placing human-annotated semantic roles on gold-standard syntactic parses, identifying patterns in the syntaxsemantics relationship, and then predicting roles on novel syntactic analyses. The gold standard syntactic training data can be eliminated from the process by extracting training instances from semantic roles projected onto a packed parse chart. This process can be used to rapidly develop NLP tools for resource-poor languages of interest.
Relational distance-based collaborative filtering

In this paper, we present a novel hybrid recommender system called RelationalCF, which integrate content and demographic information into a collaborative filtering framework by using relational distance computation approaches without the effort of form transformation and feature construction. Our experiments suggest that the effective combination of various kinds of information based on relational distance approaches provides improved accurate recommendations than other approaches.
Software rejuvenation: analysis, module and applications

Software rejuvenation is the concept of gracefully terminating an application and immediately restarting it at a clean internal state. In a client-server type of application where the server is intended to ran perpetually for providing a service to its clients, rejuvenating the server process periodically during the most idle time of the server increases the availability of that service. In a long-running computation-intensive application, rejuvenating the application periodically and restarting it at a previous checkpoint increases the likelihood of successfully completing the application execution. We present a model for analyzing software rejuvenation in such continuously-running applications and express downtime and costs due to downtime during rejuvenation in terms of the parameters in that model. Threshold conditions for rejuvenation to be beneficial are also derived. We implemented a reusable module to perform software rejuvenation. That module can be embedded in any existing application on a UNIX platform with minimal effort. Experiences with software rejuvenation in a billing data collection subsystem of a telecommunications operations system and other continuously-running systems and scientific applications in AT&T are described. <<ETX>>
J ul 2 00 8 DAMTP-2008-58 Cosmic Jerk , Snap and Beyond

We clarify the procedure for expressing the Friedmann equation in terms of directly measurable cosmological scalars constructed out of higher derivatives of the scale factor. We carry out this procedure for pure dust, Chaplygin gas and generalised Chaplygin gas energy–momentum tensors. In each case it leads to a constraint on the scalars thus giving rise to a test of General Relativity. We also discuss a formulation of the Friedmann equation as unparametrised geodesic motion and its connection with the Lagrangian treatment of perfect fluids coupled to gravity.
Towards Interoperability in P2P World: An Indexing Middleware for Multi-protocol Peer-to-Peer Data Sharing

Despite the abundant availability of protocols and application for peer-to-peer file sharing, several drawbacks are still present in the field. Among most notable drawbacks is the lack of a simple and interoperable way to share information among independent peer-to-peer networks. Another drawback is the requirement that the shared content can be accessed only by a limited number of compatible applications, making impossible their access to others applications and system. In this work we present a new approach for peer-to-peer data indexing, focused on organization and retrieval of metadata which describes the shared content. This approach results in a common and interoperable infrastructure, which provides a transparent access to data shared on multiple data sharing networks via a simple API. The proposed approach is evaluated using a case study, implemented as a cross-platform extension to Mozilla Firefox browser, and demonstrates the advantages of such interoperability over conventional distributed data access strategies.
Prevalence of enamel defects in primary and permanent teeth in a group of schoolchildren from Granada (Spain)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence and presentations of developmental defects of the enamel (DDE) in the primary and permanent dentitions of a group of healthy schoolchildren residing in Granada (Spain). Study Design: A total of 1,414 healthy schoolchildren were examined using modified DDE criteria for recording enamel defects. Results: The prevalence of DDE of any type was 40.2% in primary dentition and 52% in permanent dentition (p<0.033). Of the 31,820 primary and permanent teeth examined in the study, 699 (4.1%) primary and 1,232 (8.3%) permanent teeth had some form of DDE. Diffuse opacity was the most common type of DDE observed in primary teeth, and demarcated opacity in the permanent teeth. Enamel hypoplasia was the least prevalent defect in both dentition types. Conclusions: The study population showed a high prevalence of DDE in primary as well as in permanent dentition, reflecting the current increasing trend of this condition, which should be considered as a significant public health problem. Key words:Developmental enamel defects, enamel hypoplasia, demarcated opacity, diffuse opacity.
ICSV 14 Cairns • Australia 9-12 July , 2007 MULTIDELAY ADAPTIVE FILTERS FOR ACTIVE NOISE CONTROL

There are two ways to implement frequency domain filtered x LMS (FXLMS) algorithms. The first carries out both control signal generation and control filter updating in the frequency domain, and the second involves implementation of the control filtering in the time domain and updating of the coefficients of the control filters in the frequency domain. Most active noise control literature is focused on the second approach as the first one introduces a delay of at least one FFT block size for the control filter generation, which is usually not acceptable for active noise control. However, the second implementation has a limitation on its maximum computational complexity reduction due to its delayless requirement and it also needs quite a large on-chip memory for its FFT. The multidelay adaptive filter to be discussed in this paper is intended to solve some of the above problems. The multidelay adaptive filter has a flexible structure, which partitions a long filter into many shorter sub-filters so that a much smaller FFT size can be used to reduce the delay and memory requirement while maintaining the low computational complexity and faster convergence properties of the frequency domain algorithm.
Comparison of the Apoptotic Effects of Supercritical Fluid Extracts of Antrodia cinnamomea Mycelia on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Antrodia cinnamomea (AC) has been widely used as a folk medicine in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases, such as hepatitis, hepatic fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Previous studies have indicated that triterpenoids and benzenoids show selective cytotoxicity against human hepatoma cell lines. The aim of the study was to compare the triterpenoid content of extract and the extract-induced cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells from mycelia extracts of solid state cultured AC obtained by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and the conventional solvent extraction method. SFE with CO2 mixed with a constant amount of ethanol co-solvent (10% of CO2 volume) applied at different temperatures and pressures (40, 60 and 80 °C and, 20.7, 27.6 and 34.5 Mpa) was also compared in the study. Although the extraction yield of triterpenoids (59.7 mg/g) under the optimal extraction conditions of 34.5 MPa (5000 psi)/60 °C (designated as sample S-5000-60) was equivalent to the extraction yield using conventional liquid solvent extraction with ethanol (ETOH-E) at room temperature (60.33 mg/g), the cytotoxicity of the former against the proliferation of HepG2 cell line measured as the inhibition of 50% of cell growth activity (IC50) at dosages of 116.15, 57.82 and 43.96 µg/mL was superior to that of EtOH-E at 131.09, 80.04 and 48.30 µg/mL at 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. Additionally, we further proved that the apoptotic effect of S-5000-60 presented a higher apoptosis ratio (21.5%) than ETOH-E (10.5%) according to annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide double staining assay results. The high affinity and selectivity of SFE on bioactive components resulted in a higher extraction efficiency than conventional solvent extraction. The chemical profile of the obtained extracts from solid state cultivated mycelium of AC was also determined by high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), whereby three benzenoids and four triterpenoids were found for the first time in SFE extracts with 4,7-dimethoxy-5-methyl-l,3-benzodioxole (5.78 mg/g) being the most abundant component, followed by 2,4-dimethoxy-6-methylbenzene-1,3-diol (3.03 mg/g) and dehydroeburicoic acid (0.40 mg/g).
Multi-path Stable QoS Routing for Real-time Traffic Applications in MANET

mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), the existing routing protocols consider the routing metrics such as bandwidth, delay and link stability in partial manner. Also the real time and non- real time traffic flows are not distinguished based on delay and bandwidth requirements. In order to overcome these issues, in this paper multipath stable QoS routing for real time traffic in MANET is proposed. In this technique, multiple paths are discovered among source and destination. Among the discovered routes, the optimal paths are selected based on bandwidth constraints, delay constraints and path stability. When any flow request is received, it is initially categorized as real time and non-real time flows where real time flows are given higher priority. For real time flows, bandwidth and delay constrained paths are chosen. For non-real time flows, the stable paths are chosen. By simulation results, the proposed approach is validated and the approach minimizes delay and overhead.
Deep Luminosity Functions of Old and Intermediate-Age Globular Clusters in NGC 1316: Evidence for Dynamical Evolution of Second-Generation Globular Clusters

The Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope has been used to obtain deep high-resolution images of the giant early-type galaxy NGC 1316, an obvious merger remnant. These observations supersede previous shallower imagery that revealed the presence of a population of metal-rich globular clusters of intermediate age (~3 Gyr). We detect a total of 1496 cluster candidates, almost 4 times as many as from the previous Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images. We confirm the bimodality of the color distribution of clusters, even in V - I, with peak colors 0.93 and 1.06. The large number of detected clusters allows us to evaluate the globular cluster luminosity functions as a function of galactocentric radius. We find that the luminosity function of the inner 50% of the intermediate-age metal-rich ("red") population of clusters differs markedly from that of the outer 50%. In particular, the luminosity function of the inner 50% of the red clusters shows a clear flattening consistent with a turnover that is about 1.0 mag fainter than the turnover of the blue clusters. This constitutes the first direct evidence that metal-rich cluster populations formed during major mergers of gas-rich galaxies can evolve dynamically (through disruption processes) into the red metal-rich cluster populations that are ubiquitous in "normal" giant elliptical galaxies.
A mathematical model for source separation of MMG signals recorded with a coupled microphone-accelerometer sensor pair

Recent advances in sensor technology for muscle activity monitoring have resulted in the development of a coupled microphone-accelerometer sensor pair for physiological acoustic signal recording. This sensor can be used to eliminate interfering sources in practical settings where the contamination of an acoustic signal by ambient noise confounds detection but cannot be easily removed [e.g., mechanomyography (MMG), swallowing sounds, respiration, and heart sounds]. This paper presents a mathematical model for the coupled microphone-accelerometer vibration sensor pair, specifically applied to muscle activity monitoring (i.e., MMG) and noise discrimination in externally powered prostheses for below-elbow amputees. While the model provides a simple and reliable source separation technique for MMG signals, it can also be easily adapted to other applications where the recording of low-frequency (<1 kHz) physiological vibration signals is required.
APPLYING THE UNIFIED PROCESS TO LARGE-SCALE ONTOLOGY BUILDING

Abstract Ontologies are the backbone of the Semantic Web, a semantic-aware version of the World Wide Web. To the end of making available large-scale domain ontologies, effective and usable methodologies are needed to facilitate the process of Ontology Building. Many of the methods proposed so far only in part refer to well-known and widely used standards from other areas, like software engineering and knowledge representation. In this paper we present UPON, a methodology based on the adaptation to Ontology Building of the Unified Software Development Process developed by the Object Management Group. The approach provides interesting insights from both software engineering and ontology construction. A comparative evaluation with other methodologies, as well as the results of its adoption in the context of the European Interop Network of Excellence and Athena Integrated Project, are also discussed.
Face recognition based on local directional number pattern and ANFIS classifier

In this work, an efficient algorithm for face recognition using a local feature descriptor, Local Directional Number Pattern (LDN) and Soft Computing Technique, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) is presented. Firstly, the face image is subjected to a Kirsch compass mask that gives the directional information of the image. With the help of masked output Local Directional Number Pattern (LDN) code is computed. The LDN image is divided into several regions and the distribution of the LDN features is extracted from them. These features are then concatenated into a feature vector, which is used for ANFIS training and classification. The experimental evaluation of the presented method is carried out using Japanese Female Facial Expression Database (JAFFE) and Indian Face Database (IFD). The results obtained from the experiments prove that the presented method successfully recognize the faces under pose and facial expression variations.
Efficient Client-to-Client Password Authenticated Key Exchange Based on RSA

The design of secure password authenticated key exchange (PAKE) protocols with RSA is a nontrivial hard work. Until now there have been only a few secure PAKE protocols based on RSA and most of them work in the two-party setting. Although two-party PAKE protocols are quite useful for client-server architectures, they are very inconvenient in key management for client-client communications in large-scale communication environment. In this paper we present an efficient PAKE protocol using RSA in the three-party setting, called E3PAKE-RSA protocol. We also provide a formal security proof of E3PAKE-RSA protocol under the RSA assumption and the random oracle model.
Universal Quantum Gates Based on Both Geometric and Dynamic Phases in Quantum Dots

A large-scalable quantum computer model, whose qubits are represented by the subspace subtended by the ground state and the single exciton state on semiconductor quantum dots, is proposed. A universal set of quantum gates in this system may be achieved by a mixed approach, composed of dynamic evolution and nonadiabatic geometric phase.
Small-World Properties of Facebook Group Networks

Small-world networks permeate modern society. In this paper we present a methodology for creating and analyzing a practically limitless number of networks exhibiting small-world network properties. More precisely, we analyze networks whose nodes are Facebook groups sharing a common word in the group name and whose links are mutual members in any two groups. By analyzing several numerical characteristics of single networks and network aggregations, we investigate how the small-world properties scale with a coarsening of the network. We show that Facebook group networks have small average path lengths and large clustering coefficients that do not vanish with increased network size, thus exhibiting small-world features. The degree distributions cannot be characterized completely by a power law, and the clustering coefficients are significantly larger than what would be expected for random networks, while the average shortest paths have consistently small values characteristic of random graphs. At the same time, the average connectivity increases as a power of the network size, while the average clustering coefficients and average path lengths do not exhibit a clear scaling with the size of the network. Our results are somewhat similar to what has been found in previous studies of the networks of individual Facebook users.
International Guidelines for the Management and Treatment of Morquio A Syndrome

Morquio A syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis IVA) is a lysosomal storage disorder associated with skeletal and joint abnormalities and significant non‐skeletal manifestations including respiratory disease, spinal cord compression, cardiac disease, impaired vision, hearing loss, and dental problems. The clinical presentation, onset, severity and progression rate of clinical manifestations of Morquio A syndrome vary widely between patients. Because of the heterogeneous and progressive nature of the disease, the management of patients with Morquio A syndrome is challenging and requires a multidisciplinary approach, involving an array of specialists. The current paper presents international guidelines for the evaluation, treatment and symptom‐based management of Morquio A syndrome. These guidelines were developed during two expert meetings by an international panel of specialists in pediatrics, genetics, orthopedics, pulmonology, cardiology, and anesthesia with extensive experience in managing Morquio A syndrome. © 2014 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Shadow removal from a real image based on shadow density

Shadows are physical phenomena observed in most natural scenes. Since shadows and shades enhance the reality of images, many studies on shadowing and shading have been done for realistic image generation. Shadows, however, often poses difficulties when using real images in image synthesis, because shadows imply the geometric relationship between objects, light source, and viewpoint. This means that real images including shadows are used for image synthesis only in a limited situation where the lighting condition is consistent with that of the real images [Sato et al. 1999].
Transformer synthesis for VHF converters

This document presents a method to synthesize an air-core transformer with a given inductance matrix. The proposed algorithm is used to design a two-winding transformer for a Φ2 resonant dc-dc converter operating in the VHF (30–300 MHz) regime. The method realizes the required inductance matrix to achieve proper tuning while trading volume and efficiency. Two sets of transformers were fabricated and the measured results compared against predictions. Using one of the transformers, a 75 MHz isolated Φ2 converter is constructed and tested. The efficiency of the transformer was verified through thermal measurements to be approximately 94%.
Lossy Compression of Color Mosaic Images

— " Raw " color mosaic images produced by consumer digital cameras pose interesting lossy compression problems. Conventionally, " raw " color mosaic images are first demosaicked and color-balanced, before being compressed for storage or transmission. However, the new compression-first demosaicking-later approach has attracted much attention due to its efficiency. This paper presents two lossy compression methods for compression-first demosaicking-later approach. The resulting reconstructed images are compared with the ones compressed using the conventional methods. It is shown that the proposed methods have much advantage over the conventional methods.
Seasonally different carbon flux changes in the Southern Ocean in response to the southern annular mode

Stratospheric ozone depletion and emission of greenhouse gases lead to a trend of the southern annular mode (SAM) toward its high‐index polarity. The positive phase of the SAM is characterized by stronger than usual westerly winds that induce changes in the physical carbon transport. Changes in the natural carbon budget of the upper 100 m of the Southern Ocean in response to a positive SAM phase are explored with a coupled ecosystem‐general circulation model and regression analysis. Previously overlooked processes that are important for the upper ocean carbon budget during a positive SAM period are identified, namely, export production and downward transport of carbon north of the polar front (PF) as large as the upwelling in the south. The limiting micronutrient iron is brought into the surface layer by upwelling and stimulates phytoplankton growth and export production but only in summer. This leads to a drawdown of carbon and less summertime outgassing (or more uptake) of natural CO2. In winter, biological mechanisms are inactive, and the surface ocean equilibrates with the atmosphere by releasing CO2. In the annual mean, the upper ocean region south of the PF loses more carbon by additional export production than by the release of CO2 into the atmosphere, highlighting the role of the biological carbon pump in response to a positive SAM event.
Research of Web Pages Categorization

The Web is a huge repository of information and there is a need for categorizing Web pages to facilitate the indexing, search, and retrieval of pages. In this paper, we discuss several issues related to automated classification of web pages, especially classification of textual web pages. We analyze features selection and categorization algorithms of web pages and give some suggestions for web pages categorization.