Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strengthening Post-Crisis Fiscal Credibility : Fiscal Councils on the Rise — A New Dataset

Institutions aimed at constraining policy discretion to promote sound fiscal policies are once again at the forefront of the policy debate. Interest in “fiscal councils,” independent watchdogs active in the public debate, has grown rapidly in recent years. This paper presents the first cross-country dataset summarizing key characteristics of fiscal councils among IMF members. The data documents a surge in the number of fiscal councils since the crisis. It also illustrates that well-designed fiscal councils are associated with stronger fiscal performance and better macroeconomic and budgetary forecasts. Key features of effective fiscal councils include operational independence from politics, the provision or public assessment of budgetary forecasts, a strong presence in the public debate, and the monitoring of compliance with fiscal policy rules.
Game-Theoretic Approaches to Pragmatics

We present an overview and comparison of different game-theoretic approaches to Gricean pragmatics, including games of partial information, optimal answer models, error models, iterated best response models, and rational speech act models. We address phenomena of disambiguation, scalar implicature, and relevance implicature.
Self-report mental imagery and social desirable responding

The relationship between scores on self-report imagery questionnaires and sub-types of socially desirable responding was investigated across five papers. Paulhus (2002) has proposed a distinction between two forms of social desirable responding: the egoistic bias which is the tendency to claim positive social and intellectual qualities, and the moralistic bias which is the claiming of positive moral qualities. The research made use of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 2002) which has separate scales to measure both biases. The papers found the following: 1) ‘greater’ imagery ability was always associated with higher social desirable responding; 2) correlations with self-report imagery scales and egoism were always higher than those with moralism; 3) the magnitude of correlations between imagery scales and egoism was generally in the r= . 20 to . 35 range and so sometimes exceeded a r=. 25 criterion for acceptability set by McKelvie (1994); 4) significant correlations between imagery properties and egoism were seen for scales measuring vividness of visual imagery and for some other visual properties of images such as ease of image generation; 5) the size of imagery scale–egoism correlations were themselves correlated positively with the extent to which participants rated imagery properties as measuring imagery ability and the extent to which the imagery property was desired; 6) the imagery scale–egoism correlations were of a similar size for imaging real world items and spatial ability test type items; and 7) the imagery scale–egoism correlations were largely independent of correlations with trait anxiety. The findings suggest that the self-report imagery questionnaire–egoistic bias correlations mostly reflect distortion of scores, and that the size of the relationship is stronger than previously thought. However, the size of this relationship does not appear to reach to the extent where it impacts notably on imagery questionnaire performance.
RoBAC—A New Way of Access Control for Cloud

Access control has made a long way from 1960s. With the advent changes of technologies pertaining to location transparency in storage of data, there arises different access control scenarios. Cloud storage, the predominant storage that is being in use currently, also paves way to various access control problems. Though there are various access control mechanisms such as RBAC, ABAC, they are designed on the user’s perspective such as the role held by the user or other attributes assigned to the user. A new access control mechanism called object relationship based access control (RoBAC) has been developed based on the relations held among the users. The policy decision of access control is based on the relationship among the classes followed in the Java programming. Results have shown that this model best suits various scenarios in the cloud environment, and it also shows that the time for making decision either to allow or to deny is reduced compared to the existing system.
Transparency of Monetary Policy in the Postcrisis World

This chapter analyzes whether and to what extent central banks have continued to be more transparent in their conduct of monetary policy in the postcrisis period. It presents a monetary policy transparency index, that measures the degree of information disclosure about various aspects of the policymaking process for 112 central banks from 1998 until 2015. Compared to previous research, the index has been updated, revised and refined to better capture developments since the global financial crisis, with and explicit focus on monetary policy, more emphasis on the timely disclosure of information, and greater granularity, including for forward guidance. The development and challenges of increasing monetary policy transparency are further analyzed in case studies of the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, which illustrate how these prominent central banks have deployed greater transparency as a policy tool in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Surrogate-Assisted Multicriteria Optimization: Complexities, Prospective Solutions, and Business Case

Complexity in solving real-world multicriteria optimization problems often stems from the fact that complex, expensive, and/or time-consuming simulation tools or physical experiments are used to evaluate solutions to a problem. In such settings, it is common to use efficient computational models, often known as surrogates or metamodels, to approximate the outcome (objective or constraint function value) of a simulation or physical experiment. The presence of multiple objective functions poses an additional layer of complexity for surrogate-assisted optimization. For example, complexities may relate to the appropriate selection of metamodels for the individual objective functions, extensive training time of surrogate models, or the optimal use of many-core computers to approximate efficiently multiple objectives simultaneously. Thinking out of the box, complexity can also be shifted from approximating the individual objective functions to approximating the entire Pareto front. This leads to further complexities, namely, how to validate statistically and apply the techniques developed to real-world problems. In this paper, we discuss emerging complexity-related topics in surrogate-assisted multicriteria optimization that may not be prevalent in nonsurrogate-assisted single-objective optimization. These complexities are motivated using several real-world problems in which the authors were involved. We then discuss several promising future research directions and prospective solutions to tackle emerging complexities in surrogate-assisted multicriteria optimization. Finally, we provide insights from an industrial point of view into how surrogate-assisted multicriteria optimization techniques can be developed and applied within a collaborative business environment to tackle real-world problems.
A Bricolage on Perception of Sexuality Education among Medical Students

Background: Sexuality education has been one of the highly controversial issues in Indian society. Due to increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS, RTIs/STIs and teenage pregnancies, there is a rising need to impart sexuality education. It is therefore important that young people have adequate information about their sexuality so that they can make informed choices. Methods: A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection 58 medical students. Convenient sampling method was used to select medical school students in central India. A qualitative study using bricolage and inductive responses was used to construct the article. Results: There were 75 pre-degree students in faculty of Medicine. Results and data were statistically analyzed. Only 58 forms could be analyzed. More than 57% did not know that sexuality education was taught in schools. Most participants did not know of alternative names for sexuality education. 62% of the teachers were female. 50% of the students said that anatomy and contraception were taught to them, while all the students 100% said that sexuality education is important. 50% referred to the internet for educating themselves, most participants 67.2% preferred to discuss among friends. 78% did not discuss sexuality issues with parents Sexuality education was the need of the hour. Conclusion: Medical school students were aware of the subject of sexuality education but lack adequate information on sexuality issues. Outcome of our study suggested a need to incorporate it into the school curriculum Key-words: Bricolage, Inductive response, Medical school students, Perception, Sexuality education
On the utilisation of Taylor flows for automated cell to signal

Microfluidics has enormous potential as a tool for developing new technology and reducing cost. In this thesis, Taylor flows are utilized to develop an automated system capable of loading, transporting, processing and recovering of low volume microreactors. Analysis of low volumes is particularly important in cellular biology where the heterogeneity of biological samples is well documented. The ability to process low volumes not only reduces cost and increases accuracy, it also provides the potential for the analysis of rare targets such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) shed into the bloodstream from primary and metastatic tumor deposits. This thesis investigates the application of gene expression automatically from whole cells, envisioning that future revisions of this instrument could be used to analyse CTCs. The developed instrument conducts cell lysing followed by RT-qPCR on a continuous system. This requires the interaction of several different subsystems. Microreactors are transported from one subsystem to the next in the form of a Taylor flowing slug, where different microfluidic junctions allow the addition of reagents. The microfluidic propulsion is provided by a gravity driven siphon. This enables aspiration and dispensing of microreactors non-intrusively. This method of propulsion produces flows within the Stokes flow regime, a previously unstudied area within Taylor flows. Therefore, a comprehensive study was undertaken to understand pressure drop associated with slug flow in this regime. Of particular note, it was found that interfacial tension was a dominating factor on the pressure drop, while the spacing between slugs proved negligible. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first fully automated gene expression system developed. The system was validated by examining the gene regulation of a number of genes after stimulation with Lapatinib, a targeted therapy cancer drug for HER2 positive breast cancer.
"Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States" : en säkerhetsteoretisk analys av de exekutiva orderna 13769 & 13780

I de amerikanska exekutiva orderna ”Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” 13769 och 13780, utfardade av president Donald Trump, uppmalas en hotbild som jag i denna uppsats amnar belysa och bringa klarhet kring. Orderna har som syfte att skydda landet fran terrorbrott genom att neka specifika medborgare intrade, och har i folkmun kallats for bade ett travel ban och ett muslim ban. Hotbilden som framstalls i de bada orderna jamfors for att se pa vilket satt spraket och eventuellt konstruktionen av hot har andrats. Syftet med uppsatsen ar att genom en kvalitativ innehallsanalys granska hur den amerikanska staten framstaller vissa lander och manniskor som hot. Uppsatsen bestar av en analyserande del dar detta ska undersokas. Analysen kommer genomforas med utgangspunkt i sakerhetsteori for att granska sprakbruket i de exekutiva orderna. Detta ska goras for att pavisa hur effekterna kan skilja sig beroende pa hur en aktor valjer att framstalla ett visst hot. Resultatet som framgatt ar pa vilket satt USA valt att framstalla hotbilden, som da visat sig vara presumtivt islamofobisk, och hur spraket andrats dessa emellan for att passa samhallets regler och normer. (Less)
The Poetics of Coming Out and Being Out: Feminist Activism in Cis Lesbian and Trans Women’s Poetic Narratives

While coming out or the telling of sexual selves for LGBTQ+ people is often seen as the final step toward living a free and healthy life, lesbians who also identify as feminists embark on a life-long journey in which the plot ebbs and flows around activism and mobilization. Their goal is not only to come out, but to be out. Both cisgender radical-lesbian feminists and trans feminists consider coming out as not only crucial for the realization of self, but also an important tactic for taking up space and intervening in a heteronormative world. But, while the original theories of radical feminism advocated a fierce anti-essentialism, some contemporary radical feminists continue to focus on biology and questions like “what is a woman? ” I hope to refocus the question to ask: how are narrative audiences, discursive forms of text, and spaces important for feminists as they realize lesbian or trans identities and communities? Data come from a historical printed newsletter by self-described radical feminists practicing lesbian separatism and two current micro-blogs, one surrounding radical-feminist narratives and the other around trans feminism. Through a textual analysis, I show how self-proclaimed radical feminists and trans feminists use poetic and emotive writing to produce different kinds of narratives about coming out and being out in different spaces and for unique audiences. Ultimately, these discursive forms are important for communities as members’ stories challenge and are impacted by public narratives of gender, essentialism, and cis- and hetero-normativity.
Neurosurgical Operations Using Navigation Microscope Integration System

The use of intraoperative navigation systems in neurosurgery has increased rapidly. The Neuronavigation Microscope Integration (NMI) system consists of a microscope (Zeiss, Germany) combined with the StealthStation (Medotronic, U.S.A.) including light emitting diodes, a dynamic reference frame with light emitting diodes, an optical digitizer with camera array and a computer workstation. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of the NMI system for neurosurgical operations. Between April 2003 and March 2011, the authors used the NMI system in 367 patients undergoing neurosurgical operations at Kagawa University Hospital. Because the navigational informations could be superimposed onto the microscope view, accurate locations of tumor and normal anatomical structures could be obtained before skin incision. During the operations, the surgeons did not need to turn away from the surgical field or to use a bulky pointer. Catheter applications along the tumor borderline guided by the NMI system could be useful for glioma surgery. Deep seated lesions including intraventricular or intra-axial tumors could be removed through accurate and minimal corticotomy. For transsphenoidal surgery, pituitary tumors could be safely removed without X-ray imaging. For the skull base surgery, the navigational information was not affected by the brain shift during the operations. The registration assessment deviations were within 2 mm and the real anatomical deviations were within 3 mm. The authors’ findings suggest that the NMI system can provide valuable and reliable intraoperative navigational informations during neurosurgical operations. Shuxiang Guo Kagawa University, Japan DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2196-1.ch014
Registration of Depth and Video Data Based on Edge Detection

Stereoscopic images created from video images and their associated depth data partly contain artifacts due to misalignment between depth and video data.To solve this problem,we present an algorithm of registration of depth and video data based on edge detection.First we use edge detection method to get the edge of the video image and the depth image respectively.Then we set the edge of the video image as the baseline to register the edge of the depth image.Experimental results show that by using the proposed algorithm the spatial alignment of depth and video data can be improved,leading to an alleviation of the observed artifacts in stereoscopic images.
Time-optimal control for formation reconfiguration of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles

For a team of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in leader-follower mode, the dynamic relative position relationships between follower vehicles and leader vehicle are described with elastic distance vector. The desired geometric shape in formation reconfiguration is constructed via the elastic coefficient matrix of distance. So the second-order kinematics model, follower vehicles' control equation is linearized with the elastic distance vector. Furthermore, the problem of formation flying reconfiguration is described as a time-optimal control problem with constrains. Pseudospectral Legendre method is proposed to find this time-optimal solution. Simulation results show that this control method can solve the formation flight reconfiguration effectively. Moreover, the elastic distance between two adjacent vehicles can adapt to the changes of the follower vehicles' velocities, so the tracking performance is improved greatly and become more secure.
Reconceptualizing Civil Society and its Strength

Simon M. Hoellerbauer: Reconceptualizing Civil Society and its Strength (Under the direction of Graeme Robertson) What is Civil Society? Can we assess how strong it is? Using the problems present conceptualizations of civil society entail as a point of departure, this work develops a definition that strips civil society of its normative assumptions and functional form and fits better with the reality we observe. Civil society can be thought of as a space between the state, the market, and the family that can be divided into different sectors based on the goals of the civil organizations that inhabit it. The strength of each sector can be assessed by gauging how cohesive civil society organizations within that sector are, how embedded they are in the social fabric of society, and how developed their bureaucratic capital is. This work then sketches out how this approach can be used to analyze civil society in the United States and Armenia. In sum, it presents the basis for a new research agenda aims to investigate the relationship between civil society and democracy.
A Similar Text Detection Algorithm Based on Newshingling

The objective of the paper is to construct a new text searching repetition algorithm in computer algorithm in order to change the traditional Shingling page re-algorithm,and to improve the similarity computation rate of the text,improve the precision and recall.We take measures to change the traditional shingling algorithm.First,we delete the text's meaningless function word,slice the text according to the semantic;then,use text similarity formula to calculate the similarity of the text.Through the algorithm in the calculation of text similarity,the accuracy of text similarity computation is increased,the text of the precision and recall rate are enhanced as well.The experiment shows that the algorithm is simple and feasible,with good text similarity calculation,the method is superior.
Review and Proposed Management of Violence in the Secure Psychiatric Ward

Anger, hostility, aggression and violence are commonly encountered in the secure psychiatric wards. These acts interfere with the therapeutic milieu and cause unrest amongst both staff and patients. Understanding the aetiology and variables associated with these are critical to establishing safer wards. In this review article we amalgamate and summarize findings from research within the last ten years. We use evidence from recent research, clinical guidelines and our individual experiences to describe how simple interventions may help in reducing the incidence in locked wards. which lead to violence by patients who are admitted to the wards, regardless of their psychiatric diagnosis. We will discuss briefly how this can be prevented with particular emphasis on the beneficial effects of changing the ward structure, organization and design. To aid our review a literature search was conducted on articles produced in the last ten years around the aetiology of anger/hostility and violence. Our search yielded three sets of guidelines from NICE which included short term management, and the prevalence of violence/aggressive behaviors in those with a mental health diagnosis. We found two systematic reviews which focused on aggression in psychiatric wards and three research articles investigating the aetiology.
Meeting the Needs of Avid Book Readers: Access, Space, Concentration Support and Barrier Mitigation

ABSTRACT Contemporary libraries perform multiple roles that greatly expand the scope of traditional service and resource provision. In order to determine how libraries can best meet the needs of avid book reading clientele, more needs to be known about their preferences of access and space, as well as barriers to their concentration and performance of sustained reading. Findings from the 2015 International Study of Avid Book Readers suggest that libraries should offer comfortable and quiet spaces conducive to reading for pleasure, that are responsive to the time, cost and concentration barriers that avid readers face, and not assume that avid readers will easily adapt to library environments with elevated noise levels.
Dynamic spatial scheduling approach based on tree-search

This paper proposes a dynamic spatial scheduling approach based on tree-search to solve the assembling spatial scheduling problem in the large-sized discrete companies.The approach considers the spatial layout and the time scheduling simultaneously,and in the whole scheduling plan period,the algorithm is divided into two parts:the first is the pre-scheduling stage,the scheduling time is separated into the continual time-slices,and the block candidate set is got via the time constraint,the initial layout status is given at the same time;the second is the partial scheduling stage,with the depth first search,we perform the spatial layout search by the partial schedule algorithm in every time-slice,in order to get the optimal scheduling plan.This approach is simple and useful.Finally,the simulated experiment illustrates the validity of this approach.
Food Insecurity and Community College Students

ABSTRACT Background: In North America, upwards of 59% of postsecondary students experience food insecurity and there has been little study of students attending community college. The goal of this was to find out the prevalence of food insecurity among a largely international cohort of students attending a community college in Toronto, Canada. Methods: Students (N = 824) were surveyed using questions from the USDA Food Security Survey Module to find out their level of food insecurity Results: 334 students participated in the survey (41% participation rate). The overall rate of food insecurity was found to be 77.2%, including 40.4% with moderate food insecurity and 36.8% with severe food insecurity. Conclusions: There is a need to address food insecurity among students attending community college.