Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators

The nature of violent conflict in the world has changed in recent decades, both in its actual subject-matter and in the form of its expression. One of the most dramatic changes has been the trend away from traditional inter-state conflict (that is, a war between sovereign states) and towards intra-state conflict (that is, one which takes place between factions within an existing state). Whereas most violent conflicts over the course of the twentieth century have been between states, in the 1990s almost all major conflicts around the world have taken place within states. Between 1989 and 1996, for example, 95 of the 101 armed conflicts identified around the world were such internal disputes. Most of these conflicts were propelled, at least in part, by quests for self-determination or adequate recognition of communal identity rather than by ideology or the conquest of territory. This represents a major shift in the manifestation of human conflict, especially compared to the world wars and major inter-state conflicts fought over the course of this century.
Compact method for modeling and simulation of memristor devices: Ion conductor chalcogenide-based memristor devices

A compact model and simulation methodology for chalcogenide based memristor devices is proposed. From a microprocessor design view point, it is important to be able to simulate large numbers of devices within the integrated circuit architecture in order to speed up reliably the development process. Ideally, device models would accurately describe the characteristic device behavior and would be represented by single-valued equations without requiring the need for recursive or numerically intensive solutions. With this in mind, we have developed an empirical chalcogenide compact memristor model that accurately describes all regions of operations of memristor devices employing single-valued equations.
Verification of Eta–RSM Short-Range Ensemble Forecasts

Abstract Motivated by the success of ensemble forecasting at the medium range, the performance of a prototype short-range ensemble forecast system is examined. The ensemble dataset consists of 15 case days from September 1995 through January 1996. There are 15 members of the ensemble, 10 from an 80-km version of the eta model and five from the regional spectral model. Initial conditions include various in-house analyses available at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction as well as bred initial conditions interpolated from the medium-range forecast ensemble. Forecasts from the 29-km mesoeta model were archived as well for comparison. The performance of the ensemble is first evaluated by the criterion of “uniformity of verification rank. ” Assuming a perfect forecast model, equally plausible initial conditions, and the verification is a plausible member of the ensemble, these imply the verification when pooled with the 15 ensemble forecasts and sorted is equally likely to occur in each of the 16 .
Influence of a Specialized Trigonella foenum‐graecum Seed Extract (Libifem), on Testosterone, Estradiol and Sexual Function in Healthy Menstruating Women, a Randomised Placebo Controlled Study

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Trigonella foenum‐graecum (fenugreek) seed extract on sex hormones and sexual function in healthy menstruating women who reported low sexual drive. This short term, single site, double blind, randomised, placebo‐controlled study was conducted on 80 women, aged 20 to 49 years. Participants were randomised to either an oral dose of a standardised T. foenum‐graecum seed extract (libifem) at a dose of 600 mg/day or placebo over two menstrual cycles. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, progesterone, androstenedione, total and free testosterone, estradiol (E2), luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, sex hormone binding globulin and cholesterol were measured at baseline and 8 weeks. The individual aspects of sexual function were measured using the Derogatis interview for sexual functioning and female sexual function index self‐administered questionnaires. Stress, fatigue and quality of the relationship with partner were also measured using the PSS (Perceived Stress Scale), MFI‐20 (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory) and DAS (Dyadic Adjustment Scale) quality of life measures, respectively. There was a significant increase in free testosterone and E2 in the active group as well as sexual desire and arousal compared with the placebo group. The results indicate that this extract of T. foenum‐graecum may be a useful treatment for increasing sexual arousal and desire in women. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Double-jump diffusion model for VIX: evidence from VVIX

This paper studies the continuous-time dynamics of VIX with stochastic volatility and jumps in VIX and volatility. Built on the general parametric affine model with stochastic volatility and jumps in the logarithm of VIX, we derive a linear relationship between the stochastic volatility factor and the VVIX index. We detect the existence of a co-jump of VIX and VVIX and put forward a double-jump stochastic volatility model for VIX through its joint property with VVIX. Using the VVIX index as a proxy for stochastic volatility, we use the MCMC method to estimate the dynamics of VIX. Comparing nested models of VIX, we show that the jump in VIX and the volatility factor are statistically significant. The jump intensity is also stochastic. We analyse the impact of the jump factor on VIX dynamics.
Metabolic Engineering of Escherichia coli for Production of Enantiomerically Pure (R)-(−)-Hydroxycarboxylic Acids

ABSTRACT A heterologous metabolism of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthesis and degradation was established in Escherichia coli by introducing the Ralstonia eutropha PHA biosynthesis operon along with the R. eutropha intracellular PHA depolymerase gene. By with this metabolically engineered E. coli, enantiomerically pure (R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid (R3HB) could be efficiently produced from glucose. By employing a two-plasmid system, developed as the PHA biosynthesis operon on a medium-copy-number plasmid and the PHA depolymerase gene on a high-copy-number plasmid, R3HB could be produced with a yield of 49.5% (85.6% of the maximum theoretical yield) from glucose. By integration of the PHA biosynthesis genes into the chromosome of E. coli and by introducing a plasmid containing the PHA depolymerase gene, R3HB could be produced without plasmid instability in the absence of antibiotics. This strategy can be used for the production of various enantiomerically pure (R)-hydroxycarboxylic acids from renewable resources.
Families of A-infinity algebras and homotopy group actions

We define homotopy group actions in terms of families of $A_\infty$ algebras indexed by a manifold M. We give explicit formulae for the $A_\infty$ morphism induced by a path on the manifold and for the $A_\infty$ homotopy corresponding to a pair of homotopic paths. Finally, we compute examples for finite groups and finitely generated free nonabelian groups and determine that every homotopy group action by a finite group is homotopic to a strict group action.
The military in Greek politics: From independence to democracy

The formation of the regular army the selection and education of officers the military and "ethnic truth" the impact of World War I on civil-military relations self-images, professionalism and patronage in the officer corps the sensitive issue of the Army List the significance of the March 1935 coup and the forces behind it the war and civil war cauldron the post-war legacy the colonels unleashed from dictatorship to democracy.
Size Dependence of Strength and Fracture Properties of Brick Masonry Walls

The problem of size dependence of the fracture properties in brick masonry structures is addressed. The constitutive heterogeneity of the material seems to be responsible for this effect, which provides multiscale cooperation as fracture develops. Three-point bending tests have been carried out on notched masonry walls with five different sizes, and the nominal ultimate strength and fracture energies have been computed according to conventional theories. It is shown that the multifractal hypothesis for the composite mesostructure of the masonry allows for the proper determination of the scaling regimes of these physical quantities. By means of two multifractal scaling laws, for strength and toughness, respectively, the asymptotic values of these quantities, valid for real-sized structures, and the threshold scale between the disordered regime and the homogeneous one can be determined.
Destruction of Molecular Hydrogen during Cosmological Reionization

We investigate the ability of primordial gas clouds to retain molecular hydrogen (H2) during the initial phase of the reionization epoch. We find that before the Strömgren spheres of the individual ionizing sources overlap, the UV background below the ionization threshold is able to penetrate large clouds and suppress their H2 abundance. The consequent lack of H2 cooling could prevent the collapse and fragmentation of clouds with virial temperatures Tvir ≲ 104 K (or masses ≲108 M☉[(1 + zvir)/10]-3/2). This negative feedback on structure formation arises from the very first ionizing sources and precedes the feedback due to the photoionization heating.
Image enhancement for increased dot‐counting efficiency in FISH

Background: The most commonly used molecular cytogenetic technique is fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). It has been widely applied in many areas of diagnosis and research, including pre‐natal and post‐natal screening of chromosomal aberrations, pre‐implantation genetic diagnosis, cancer cytogenetics, gene mapping, molecular pathology and developmental molecular biology. The analysis of FISH images consists of detecting fluorescent dots, after which the number of dots per cell can be counted or their relative positions can be measured. A major impediment in the analysis of FISH specimens is signal (dot) quality, which is influenced by the hybridization efficiency and/or the sensitivity of the camera that records the images.
Differences in Knee Kinematics Between Awake and Anesthetized Patients During the Lachman and Pivot-Shift Tests for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deficiency

Background: The Lachman and pivot-shift tests have been widely used for detecting anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficiency. However, it still remains unclear whether these manual tests can be quantified accurately while patients are awake. Purpose: To assess the differences in knee kinematics of awake and anesthetized patients. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: A total of 50 patients with unilateral ACL rupture were examined. Anteroposterior tibial translation was assessed using a KT-1000 arthrometer at maximal manual power. Anterior tibial translations during the manual Lachman test and the acceleration of tibial posterior translation (APT) during the pivot-shift test were also measured using an electromagnetic measurement system (EMS). All 3 measurements were performed on the day previous to surgery while the patients were awake and on the operative day before the surgery while the patients were under general anesthesia. Results: The mean side-to-side difference in anteroposterior tibial translation was 5.6 ± 2.6 mm in the awake state and 5.9 ± 3.5 mm under anesthesia, indicating a nonsignificant difference. According to the EMS, the mean side-to-side difference in anteroposterior tibial translation during the Lachman test was 4.6 ± 3.6 mm in the awake state and 6.9 ± 4.3 mm under anesthesia, indicating a significant difference (P < .01). The mean APT during the pivot-shift test was −0.8 ± 0.3 m/s2 in intact knees and −1.1 ± 0.4 m/s2 in ACL-deficient knees when the patients were awake and was −0.7 ± 0.2 m/s2 and −1.7 ± 1.0 m/s2, respectively, when the patients were under anesthesia. In ACL-deficient knees, the APT pivot-shift test result was significantly higher when the patients were under anesthesia than when they were awake (P < .01). Conclusion: In ACL-deficient knees, the knee kinematics during the Lachman and pivot-shift tests is significantly affected by patient consciousness, and caution is needed in quantifying anterior knee laxity during these tests when the patients are awake.
Personal change, job prospects, learning to ask why: students’ reflections upon the worth of their Foundation degree

This paper examines how emergent themes from a qualitative study are testing assumptions within a Foundation degree in health and care. As participants reflect upon their education in relation to employment, new directions for future inquiry are emerging. Although the programme is well positioned to address economic drivers for higher-level workplace skills (Leitch, 2006), unpredictable, often hierarchical working environments mean employer support fluctuates. We anticipated issues such as poor job opportunities and resistance from professional colleagues, as the programme attracts mainly local, female students who seek career progression from low-paid caring roles. Instead, early analysis suggests participants use personal change as their reference point and gateway to future employment (unlikely now to revolve around one employer or skill set). A symbiotic increase in knowledge, confidence and self-worth is described as transformative. A sense of ‘taking responsibility’ has encouraged the questioning of established practices, leading to reciprocal learning through work relationships indicative of ‘communities of practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Choice of modules within a broad curriculum is also valued as a means of developing greater capability (Fraser & Greenhalgh, 2001), contradicting some employers’ (and commissioners’) encouragement of early specialisation. Following this early analysis, we discuss how employability as defined by Yorke & Knight (2004), is likely to conflict with employers’ objectives to upskill and retain what has been seen as a stable section of the workforce
On Strategies of Human Multi-Document Summarization

Neste artigo, a partir de um corpus com alinhamentos manuais entre sumarios e suas respectivas noticias-fonte, evidencia-se que tais sumarios sao compostos por informacoes que possuem caracteristicas linguisticas especificas, revelando estrategias humanas de sumarizacao, e que essas estrategias produzem resultados iniciais que sao competitivos com um sistema do estado da arte para o portugues.
Iterative Reweighted Minimax Phase Error Designs of IIR Digital Filters With Nearly Linear Phases

Linear phase is an important characteristic of digital filters in many signal processing applications. In this paper, two iterative reweighted minimax phase error algorithms are proposed to design nearly linear-phase infinite impulse response (IIR) digital filters with prescribed or simultaneously minimized magnitude errors and preset transition-band gain. In each iteration of the algorithms, a weighted minimax phase error problem with a fixed weight function is firstly solved using a modified Gauss-Newton method with a variable step length, and the weight function of the phase error is then updated using the square root of a modified envelope of the group-delay error of the filter. With the proposed methods, both very small phase error and group-delay error have been obtained while meeting the requirements on the passband and stopband magnitude errors and the transition-band gain. Design examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods and the excellent performance of the designed filters.
Delay Optimal CSMA With Linear Virtual Channels Under a General Topology

In the past few years, an exciting progress has been made on CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) algorithms that achieve throughput and utility optimality for wireless networks. However, most of these algorithms are known to exhibit poor delay performance making them impractical for implementation. Recently, several papers have addressed the delay issue of CSMA and yet, most of them are limited, in the sense that they focus merely on specific network scenarios with certain conditions rather than general network topology, achieve low delay at the cost of throughput reduction, or lack rigorous provable guarantees. In this paper, we focus on the recent idea of exploiting multiple channels (actually or virtually) for delay reduction in CSMA, and prove that it is per-link delay order-optimal, i.e., O(1)-asymptotic-delay per link, if the number of virtual channels is logarithmic with respect to mixing time of the underlying CSMA Markov chain. The logarithmic number is typically small, i.e., at most linear with respect to the network size. In other words, our contribution provides not only a provable framework for the multiple-channel based CSMA, but also the required explicit number of virtual-multi-channels, which is of great importance for actual implementation. The key step of our analytic framework lies in using quadratic Lyapunov functions in conjunction with (recursively applying) Lindley equation and Azuma's inequality for obtaining an exponential decaying property in certain queueing dynamics. We believe that our technique is of broader interest in analyzing the delay performance of queueing systems with multiple periodic schedulers.
Ultrasonographic screening of carotid artery in patients with vascular retinopathies.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Retinal vasculopathy is commonly found with complaint of burred vision by ophthalmologist and closely related to asymptomatic cerebrovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate patients with microvascular retinopathy by ultrasound sonography of neck carotid artery and to find high risk group for stroke at outpatient of ophthalmology with associated retinopathy. METHODS Between 1999 and 2001, a total of 480 consecutive patients visited at outpatient of ophthalmology with a complaint of burred vision were evaluated by ultrasound sonography of neck carotid artery. The patients were divided to with retinopathy (n=253) and without retinopathy (n=227). The former was subgrouped as follows; central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO; n=11), branch of retinal vein occlusion (BRVO; n=71), retinal artery occlusion (RAO; n=8), hypertensive retinopathy group-I (according to Keith, Wagener and Barker's criteria) (HTN-R I; n=43) and group-II (HTN-R II; n=42), and diabetic retinopathy (DM-R; n=78). The latter group was with various ophthalmological diseases, mainly inflammation of cornea, with healthy retinal vessels and constituted as the control group. RESULTS There was no statistically significant difference between patients with retinopathy and the control group with respect to sex distribution, nor among the retinopathy groups. Patients with retinopathy had a mean age of 68 years, while those with HTN-R I and II were older with a mean age of 71 years. By ultrasonography, RAO showed pathology in intima-media thickness (IMT; 1.13 +/- 0.55 vs. 0.81 +/- 0.26 mm in control), average number of plaques (1.88 +/- 0.99), degree of stenosis of internal carotid artery (42.4 +/- 28.5%) and common carotid artery (27.4 +/- 21.3%). Those with DM-R had the second thickest IMT (0.96 +/- 0.42 mm) and the second highest quantity of plaque (1.23 +/-1.23), and the second most stenotic common carotid artery (13.1 +/- 17.28%). CONCLUSION Moderate sclerotic changes are found in ophthalmology patients with RAO and DM-R, although the degree pathology do not indicate medical nor surgical prophylactic treatment. Retinal vein occlusion, that has been discussed with diminished retinal blood circulation, does not show any differences in comparison with control group and ultra sonography has less value for screening of asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis.
Query Scoping for the Sensor Internet

In a large scale distributed system with a large number of sensors interconnected through a wide-area network infrastructure, it is advantageous not to disseminate a query to all available sensors, but only to a subset of the most-relevant ones. We target an application scenario where mobile phones trace users' objects (which are equipped with small identification tags), distribute useful context information related to these objects, and are able to locate them when lost or misplaced. For locating a lost object, the proposed algorithm - parameterized with a data model of the application domain - is able to explore a wide range of heuristics based on history data present in the system (on objects, users, and their past location), similarly to the way a human user would re-iterate all that she/he knows about a lost object in order to locate it. As the proposed algorithm uses the data present in the system to parameterize its execution, it is generic enough to be applied to other application domains
Ghosting elimination with A∗ seam optimization in image stitching

This paper presents an algorithm for eliminating the blurred image regions during image stitching. Since the camera is close to the objects when capturing the images in the indoor environments, stitching the images in the indoor scenes easily generates the blurred ghosting region. Here the reasons of blurred region generations can be categorized into two kinds. First, the slight camera vibration may result in the whole images unclear over a short span of frames. These unclear frames can be filtered out by distinguishing the clearness of the edge images between different scales. The other reason for originating the blurred region is that several image frames contain the same scene from different views. There may exist the inconsistent structures and observations in these different views. The color blending is performed to let the seam between aligned images smooth, however, it also makes these inconsistent region blurred, which is called the ghosting effect. Here, an optimal seam selection algorithm is proposed by utilizing the A* search algorithm to find a segment path away from the inconsistent overlap region and then remove the ghosting effect. The experimental results validate that the proposed algorithm can obtain the mosaic image with good quality and clear resolution.
Growth Curves for Girls with Turner Syndrome

The objective of this study was to review the growth curves for Turner syndrome, evaluate the methodological and statistical quality, and suggest potential growth curves for clinical practice guidelines. The search was carried out in the databases Medline and Embase. Of 1006 references identified, 15 were included. Studies constructed curves for weight, height, weight/height, body mass index, head circumference, height velocity, leg length, and sitting height. The sample ranged between 47 and 1,565 (total = 6,273) girls aged 0 to 24 y, born between 1950 and 2006. The number of measures ranged from 580 to 9,011 (total = 28,915). Most studies showed strengths such as sample size, exclusion of the use of growth hormone and androgen, and analysis of confounding variables. However, the growth curves were restricted to height, lack of information about selection bias, limited distributional properties, and smoothing aspects. In conclusion, we observe the need to construct an international growth reference for girls with Turner syndrome, in order to provide support for clinical practice guidelines.