Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urban Geopolitics 8 Years on. Hybrid Sovereignties, the Everyday, and Geographies of Peace

Urban events like 9-11 and the Arab Spring have deeply marked the first two decades of a century in which the majority of the world population will live in cities. This essay reviews present and potential future debates about the relation between cities and geopolitics, particularly the work of urban geopolitics. I trace three debates centred on three relationships: that between city and sovereignty; between official and everyday urban practices; between violent and peaceful geographies. I point towards three avenues of potential engagement of geographers with the theme of geopolitics and the city. The first avenue leads to appreciating the complex relationships between the state and the non-state that are nowadays increasingly relevant and visible. The second concerns geographies of the everyday, the unofficial, and the unplanned. The third concerns the possibility for an urban geopolitics of peace and its inclusion, rather than focussing exclusively on war and its avoidance.
PEDOT:PSS-Based Piezo-Resistive Sensors Applied to Reinforcement Glass Fibres for in Situ Measurement during the Composite Material Weaving Process

The quality of fibrous reinforcements used in composite materials can be monitored during the weaving process. Fibrous sensors previously developed in our laboratory, based on PEDOT:PSS, have been adapted so as to directly measure the mechanical stress on fabrics under static or dynamic conditions. The objective of our research has been to develop new sensor yarns, with the ability to locally detect mechanical stresses all along the warp or weft yarn. This local detection is undertaken inside the weaving loom in real time during the weaving process. Suitable electronic devices have been designed in order to record in situ measurements delivered by this new fibrous sensor yarn.
A Small Community Model for the Transmission of Infectious Diseases: Comparison of School Closure as an Intervention in Individual-Based Models of an Influenza Pandemic

Background In the absence of other evidence, modelling has been used extensively to help policy makers plan for a potential future influenza pandemic. Method We have constructed an individual based model of a small community in the developed world with detail down to exact household structure obtained from census collection datasets and precise simulation of household demographics, movement within the community and individual contact patterns. We modelled the spread of pandemic influenza in this community and the effect on daily and final attack rates of four social distancing measures: school closure, increased case isolation, workplace non-attendance and community contact reduction. We compared the modelled results of final attack rates in the absence of any interventions and the effect of school closure as a single intervention with other published individual based models of pandemic influenza in the developed world. Results We showed that published individual based models estimate similar final attack rates over a range of values for R0 in a pandemic where no interventions have been implemented; that multiple social distancing measures applied early and continuously can be very effective in interrupting transmission of the pandemic virus for R0 values up to 2.5; and that different conclusions reached on the simulated benefit of school closure in published models appear to result from differences in assumptions about the timing and duration of school closure and flow-on effects on other social contacts resulting from school closure. Conclusion Models of the spread and control of pandemic influenza have the potential to assist policy makers with decisions about which control strategies to adopt. However, attention needs to be given by policy makers to the assumptions underpinning both the models and the control strategies examined.
Synaptic Activation of a Detailed Purkinje Cell Model Predicts Voltage-Dependent Control of Burst-Pause Responses in Active Dendrites

The dendritic processing in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), which integrate synaptic inputs coming from hundreds of thousands granule cells and molecular layer interneurons, is still unclear. Here we have tested a leading hypothesis maintaining that the significant PC output code is represented by burst-pause responses (BPRs), by simulating PC responses in a biophysically detailed model that allowed to systematically explore a broad range of input patterns. BPRs were generated by input bursts and were more prominent in Zebrin positive than Zebrin negative (Z+ and Z−) PCs. Different combinations of parallel fiber and molecular layer interneuron synapses explained type I, II and III responses observed in vivo. BPRs were generated intrinsically by Ca-dependent K channel activation in the somato-dendritic compartment and the pause was reinforced by molecular layer interneuron inhibition. BPRs faithfully reported the duration and intensity of synaptic inputs, such that synaptic conductance tuned the number of spikes and release probability tuned their regularity in the millisecond range. Interestingly, the burst and pause of BPRs depended on the stimulated dendritic zone reflecting the different input conductance and local engagement of voltage-dependent channels. Multiple local inputs combined their actions generating complex spatio-temporal patterns of dendritic activity and BPRs. Thus, local control of intrinsic dendritic mechanisms by synaptic inputs emerges as a fundamental PC property in activity regimens characterized by bursting inputs from granular and molecular layer neurons.
The Conceptual Construction of E-government

The field of e-government still lacks a coherent identity at present. In this paper, we seek answers to this question by relying on a large-scale survey of e-government field articles. A consensual conception of the field held by its members is derived. Then, it is discussed that the definition and its six sub-elements. Findings suggest that e-government’s success as a field emerges from a widely accepted essence that enables it to attract multiple perspectives, while still maintaining its coherent distinctiveness.
Speeding Up Learning in Real-time Search via Automatic State Abstraction

Situated agents which use learning real-time search are well poised to address challenges of real-time path-finding in robotic and computer game applications. They interleave a local lookahead search with movement execution, explore an initially unknown map, and converge to better paths over repeated experiences. In this paper, we first investigate how three known extensions of the most popular learning real-time search algorithm (LRTA*) influence its performance in a path-finding domain. Then, we combine automatic state abstraction with learning real-time search. Our scheme of dynamically building a state abstraction allows us to generalize updates to the heuristic function, thereby speeding up learning. The novel algorithm converges up to 80 times faster than LRTA* with only one fifth of the response time of A*.
Reconstruction and evolutionary history of eutherian chromosomes

Significance Determining the order and orientation of conserved chromosome segments in the genomes of extant mammals is important for understanding speciation events, and the lineage-specific adaptations that have occurred during ∼200 My of mammalian evolution. In this paper, we describe the computational reconstruction of chromosome organization for seven ancestral genomes leading to human, including the ancestor of all placental mammals. The evolutionary history of chromosome rearrangements that occurred from the time of the eutherian ancestor until the human lineage is revealed in detail. Our results provide an evolutionary basis for comparison of genome organization of all eutherians, and for revealing the genomic origins of lineage-specific adaptations. Whole-genome assemblies of 19 placental mammals and two outgroup species were used to reconstruct the order and orientation of syntenic fragments in chromosomes of the eutherian ancestor and six other descendant ancestors leading to human. For ancestral chromosome reconstructions, we developed an algorithm (DESCHRAMBLER) that probabilistically determines the adjacencies of syntenic fragments using chromosome-scale and fragmented genome assemblies. The reconstructed chromosomes of the eutherian, boreoeutherian, and euarchontoglires ancestor each included >80% of the entire length of the human genome, whereas reconstructed chromosomes of the most recent common ancestor of simians, catarrhini, great apes, and humans and chimpanzees included >90% of human genome sequence. These high-coverage reconstructions permitted reliable identification of chromosomal rearrangements over ∼105 My of eutherian evolution. Orangutan was found to have eight chromosomes that were completely conserved in homologous sequence order and orientation with the eutherian ancestor, the largest number for any species. Ruminant artiodactyls had the highest frequency of intrachromosomal rearrangements, and interchromosomal rearrangements dominated in murid rodents. A total of 162 chromosomal breakpoints in evolution of the eutherian ancestral genome to the human genome were identified; however, the rate of rearrangements was significantly lower (0.80/My) during the first ∼60 My of eutherian evolution, then increased to greater than 2.0/My along the five primate lineages studied. Our results significantly expand knowledge of eutherian genome evolution and will facilitate greater understanding of the role of chromosome rearrangements in adaptation, speciation, and the etiology of inherited and spontaneously occurring diseases.
Alternative Item Response Weighting Procedures: Development and Evaluation.

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.83 Hc-$1.67 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Admission (School); College Majors; College Students; *Comparative Analysis; Educational Guidance; *Interest Tests; *military Personnel; Occupational Guidance; Predictive Ability (Testing); *Scoring Formulas; Statistical Analysis; *Test Interpretation; Test Validity; Vocational Interests; *Weighted Scores IDENTIFIERS Naval Academy; *Strong Vocational Interest Blank
The optimal position for insertion of orthodontic miniscrews

PURPOSE: Miniscrews feature several advantages over other devices used to achieve anchorage; however, using computed tomography (CT) scans to determine the appropriate areas to place these devices for all patients can be expensive. This study aimed to determine the optimal interradicular spaces for miniscrew placement in the mandible and maxilla. METHODS: Using CT images from 12 adult patients, mean interradicular distance and standard deviation values were obtained at heights of 2, 5, 8 and 11 mm from the alveolar bone crest. The means were compared with mean data from the literature. RESULTS: Considering a height of 3 mm, the most favorable mandibular interradicular distances were found between the first and second molars, first and second premolars, and finally between the canines and first premolars. The most favorable maxillary interradicular spaces were found between the canines and first premolars, between premolars, and between the second premolar and first molar. CONCLUSION: The safest interradicular site for miniscrew insertion in the mandible was found to be between the first and second molars, whereas in the maxilla, this site was between the canines and first premolars.
The two facets of social capital

The emergence of the two facets of social capital, the individual and the collective, has contributed to much of the confusion in the field of social capital. The overall objective of this article is to elaborate on a theoretical model aiming at clarifying some bridges between the facets and dimensions of social capital previously suggested in the literature. Initially, the article shortly presents and discusses some important definitions of social capital. Furthermore, limitations and shortcomings of previous definitions are discussed. Moreover, a theoretical model is elaborated on suggesting that social capital comprises social resources that evolve in accessible social networks or social structures characterized by mutual trust. This model also emphasises some of the potential dark sides of social capital. The presented definition does not definitively address the theoretical uncertainties in the field; however, it suggests that a resource-oriented notion of social capital could be useful in bridging the facets of social capital.
Portfolio: Searching for relevant functions and their usages in millions of lines of code

Different studies show that programmers are more interested in finding definitions of functions and their uses than variables, statements, or ordinary code fragments. Therefore, developers require support in finding relevant functions and determining how these functions are used. Unfortunately, existing code search engines do not provide enough of this support to developers, thus reducing the effectiveness of code reuse. We provide this support to programmers in a code search system called Portfolio that retrieves and visualizes relevant functions and their usages. We have built Portfolio using a combination of models that address surfing behavior of programmers and sharing related concepts among functions. We conducted two experiments: first, an experiment with 49 C/C++ programmers to compare Portfolio to Google Code Search and Koders using a standard methodology for evaluating information-retrieval-based engines; and second, an experiment with 19 Java programmers to compare Portfolio to Koders. The results show with strong statistical significance that users find more relevant functions with higher precision with Portfolio than with Google Code Search and Koders. We also show that by using PageRank, Portfolio is able to rank returned relevant functions more efficiently.
Comments on the “Kinship Face in the Wild” Data Sets

The Kinship Face in the Wild data sets, recently published in TPAMI, are currently used as a benchmark for the evaluation of kinship verification algorithms. We recommend that these data sets are no longer used in kinship verification research unless there is a compelling reason that takes into account the nature of the images. We note that most of the image kinship pairs are cropped from the same photographs. Exploiting this cropping information, competitive but biased performance can be obtained using a simple scoring approach, taking only into account the nature of the image pairs rather than any features about kin information. To illustrate our motives, we provide classification results utilizing a simple scoring method based on the image similarity of both images of a kinship pair. Using simply the distance of the chrominance averages of the images in the Lab color space without any training or using any specific kin features, we achieve performance comparable to state-of-the-art methods. We provide the source code to prove the validity of our claims and ensure the repeatability of our experiments.
Prediction of CYP2D6 Drug Interactions from In Vitro Data: Evidence for Substrate-Dependent Inhibition

Predicting the magnitude of potential drug-drug interactions is important for underwriting patient safety in the clinical setting. Substrate-dependent inhibition of cytochrome P450 enzymes may confound extrapolation of in vitro results to the in vivo situation. However, the potential for substrate-dependent inhibition with CYP2D6 has not been well characterized. The inhibition profiles of 20 known inhibitors of CYP2D6 were characterized in vitro against four clinically relevant CYP2D6 substrates (desipramine, dextromethorphan, metoprolol, and thioridazine) and bufuralol. Dextromethorphan exhibited the highest sensitivity to in vitro inhibition, whereas metoprolol was the least sensitive. In addition, when metoprolol was the substrate, inhibitors with structurally constrained amino moieties (clozapine, debrisoquine, harmine, quinidine, and yohimbine) exhibited at least a 5-fold decrease in inhibition potency when results were compared with those for dextromethorphan. Atypical inhibition kinetics were observed for these and other inhibitor-substrate pairings. In silico docking studies suggested that interactions with Glu216 and an adjacent hydrophobic binding pocket may influence substrate sensitivity and inhibition potency for CYP2D6. The in vivo sensitivities of the clinically relevant CYP2D6 substrates desipramine, dextromethorphan, and metoprolol were determined on the basis of literature drug-drug interaction (DDI) outcomes. Similar to the in vitro results, dextromethorphan exhibited the highest sensitivity to CYP2D6 inhibition in vivo. Finally, the magnitude of in vivo CYP2D6 DDIs caused by quinidine was predicted using desipramine, dextromethorphan, and metoprolol. Comparisons of the predictions with literature results indicated that the marked decrease in inhibition potency observed for the metoprolol-quinidine interaction in vitro translated to the in vivo situation.
Generic Ownership : Practical Alias Control in Object-Oriented Programming Languages

Modern object-oriented languages support many techniques that simplify the work of a programmer. Among them is type genericity — an ability to create generic descriptions of algorithms and object structures that will be automatically specialised by supplying type information at run time. On the other hand, object-oriented technologies still suffer from bad effects of aliasing — a case of many objects in program’s memory referring to the same object via different references. Ownership types is one of the ways to tame aliasing — they provide information about who is allowed to access a particular object and who is not. This PhD proposal outlines the ideas of generic ownership — a way to make aliasing control an obvious and integral feature of modern objectoriented languages. We present the current state of aliasing research and show how our work fits in. We then describe a new language — Ownership Generic Java (OGJ) — that we created that seamlessly combines type genericity and ownership types. We describe the implementation of the compiler and the type system based on Featherweight Generic Java that allows us to prove that our language supports static ownership. Additionally, we present a formal defaulting mechanism allowing any Java program to gain the benefits of ownership with no change to the underlying source code. Finally, this proposal presents the future work planned as part of this PhD thesis and a structured plan detailing how it is going to be achieved.
Performance Analysis of k-Ary n-Cube Interconnection Networks

VLSI communication networks are wire-limited, i.e. the cost of a network is not a function of the number of switches required, but rather a function of the wiring density required to construct the network. Communication networks of varying dimensions are analyzed under the assumption of constant wire bisection. Expressions for the latency, average case throughput, and hot-spot throughput of k-ary n-cube networks with constant bisection that agree closely with experimental measurements are derived. It is shown that low-dimensional networks (e.g. tori) have lower latency and higher hot-spot throughput than high-dimensional networks (e.g. binary n-cubes) with the same bisection width. >
Designing an asynchronous group communication middleware for wireless users

We evaluate an asynchronous gossiping middleware for wireless users that propagates messages from any group member to all the other group members. This propagation can either be implemented through distributed mechanisms or can be mediated through servers. Our analysis of asynchronous mechanisms using wireless user availability traces from an university, corporation and a hot spot federation shows that the fundamental impediment to the system performance is the wireless user availability patterns. We then investigate the relative performance for several distributed as well as server mediated approaches. We show that pull mechanisms effectively randomizes the times when messages are propagated and thus achieves better performance than push based mechanisms. We then develop an adaptive approach that customizes the propagation frequency using the last session duration and show that this mechanism exhibits good performance when the required propagation intervals are large. We also show that for a given number of gossips, it is preferable to propagate messages to all available nodes rather than increasing the frequency while correspondingly reducing the number of nodes to propagate messages. Our results allow middleware developers to choose the appropriate propagation model to satisfy their application constraints.
Towards a semantics for distributional representations

Distributional representations have recently been proposed as a general-purpose representation of natural language meaning, to replace logical form. There is, however, one important difference between logical and distributional representations: Logical languages have a clear semantics, while distributional representations do not. In this paper, we propose a semantics for distributional representations that links points in vector space to mental concepts. We extend this framework to a joint semantics of logic and distributions by linking intensions of logical expressions to mental concepts.
Towards a sustainable business model for mobile learning services

In today`s mobile world, people demand access to learning materials and courses anytime and anywhere. There is a high market potential for m(obile)-learning services, but the mere existence of such services does not mean market readiness. Added values of m-learning services are necessary to attract new users. Mobile technologies both expand and constrain the practicability of value-based mlearning. Existing evaluation systems primarily focus a didactical or a technical point of view. This study utilizes the design science paradigm to address the design of an m-learning application that meets the needs of users and augments their willingness-to-pay so that suppliers can bring it to market sustainability. The results of an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) based evaluation shows that user acceptance and willingness-to-pay for m-learning is driven by the special exploitation of didactic added value of m-learning content and a technologically adopted implementation of mlearning applications.
Grasping Rhetoric and Composition by Its Long Tail: What Graphs Can Tell Us about the Field’s Changing Shape

Presented as a series of graphs, bibliographic data gathered from College Composition and Communication provides perspective useful for inquiring into the changing shapeof the field as it continues to mature. In its focus on graphing, the article demonstrates an application of distant reading methods to present patterns not only reflective of themost commonly cited figures in CCC over the past twenty-five years, but also attendant to a steady increase in the breadth of infrequently cited figures.