Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Product Architecture and Quality: A Study of Open-Source Software Development

We examine how the architecture of products relates to their quality. Using an architectural representation that accounts for both the hierarchical and dependency relationships between modules and components, we define a new construct, system cyclicality. System cyclicality recognizes component loops, which are akin to design iterations — a concept typically associated with models of product development processes rather than the products themselves. System cyclicality captures the fraction of mutually interdependent components in a system. Through a multilevel analysis of several open-source, Java-based applications developed by the Apache Software Foundation, we study the relationship between system cyclicality and the generation of bugs. At the system level, we examine 122 releases representing 19 applications and find that system cyclicality is positively associated with the number of bugs in a system. At the component level, we examine 28,395 components and find that components involved in loops are likely to be affected by a larger number of bugs. We find that, in order to identify the set of product components involved in cyclical dependencies that are detrimental to product quality, it is imperative to remove from consideration the architectural decisions by which components are assigned into modules: it is necessary to focus only on the patterns of dependencies among product components without considering how components are grouped together into modules. Our results suggest that new product development managers are likely to benefit from proactively examining the architecture of the system they develop and monitoring its cyclicality as one of their strategies to reduce defects.
NiCd battery type parameter estimation using a hybrid neuronal approach

In this study, our principal objective is the estimation of the parameters of a NiCd battery type by using the artificial neural networks. The idea consists in using a hybrid training based on the evolutionary algorithms and the method of Levenberg-Marquardt. The results of simulation show the good founded of the used technique.
Determination of parameters for selection of Eucalyptus clones tolerant to drought

Climatic changes have induced the spread of aridity in many parts of the globe. Eucalyptus plantations show wide variations in productivity due to several factors, including climatic changes. Therefore, Eucalyptus genotypes that can adapt to such conditions is very welcome. Thus, an evaluation was done by comparing the physiological responses of two Eucalyptus genotypes, tolerant and drought-sensitive. They were assessed in different stages of experimental period and the rate of chlorophyll and chlorophyll fluorescence (minimal fluorescence and maximal fluorescence) were recorded. The potential photosystem II (PSII) quantum efficiency was then calculated. A decline in the rate of total chlorophyll (values below 25) and in the minimal fluorescence (values below 190) in clone sensitive due to the water stress was observed, while an increase was noted in clone tolerant to aridity. A reduction in the maximal fluorescence and photochemical efficiency was recorded in the genotype not being irrigated, with an earlier and more severe effect being verified for the sensitive genotype with values below 300 and 0.40, respectively. The variables studied confirm that clone tolerant exhibits greater drought tolerance, thus indicating that the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II is a reliable tool that enables the nondestructive choice of genotypes naturally tolerant to water scarcity conditions. Key words: Abiotic stress, arid land plants, chlorophyll, ecophysiology, photochemical efficiency, tree drought tolerance, water deficit, water potential.
Bank performance and the financial crisis: evidence from Kazakhstan

During the first phase of the financial crisis in 2008/09, after Iceland and Belgium, Kazakhstan experienced the most significant bank failures as a share of bank system assets. Using rich monthly data for virtually the entire Kazakh banking industry for the period March 2007–December 2010, Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) is used to fit several functions (cost, revenue, standard profit, alternative profit and input distance). Among other things, we estimate the effects of two measures of the quality and risk of the loan portfolio on the industry best practice frontiers and bank inefficiencies. We find that an increase in the volume of bad loans as a ratio of total lending has a desirable effect on the cost, input-distance and alternative profit frontiers, all of which is consistent with the ‘skimping’ hypothesis.
Implementation of Lean Concept in Start-up Engineering Service Provider

Today there are many business opportunities in the engineering industries. These industries will keep growing as the needs of consumers to meet their requirements. This condition will influence tire industry as well, both motorcycle tires and car tires. Tire industries will increase their productions by using additional machines to produce tires. This is an opportunity in the provision of engine installation services provider, especially in tire industry where availability of this provider is very rare. A service provider company needs a management concept to be able to improve quality and profit of company. Lean Manufacturing is an effective concept to improve quality and to increase the profitability in a production process. In the process of manufacturing and engineering can use lean manufacturing concept because this concept can reduce waste from materials, production process and time for job completion. One of lean manufacturing concept is to reduce waste, commonly there are 8 wastes need to be reduced in production process. The 8 wastes are; Defect, over production, Waiting, None utilizes talent, Transport, Inventory, Motion, Excessive process. Engineering service provider company will implement this lean manufacturing concept on determining work shop layout, raw material pre-order stage, production stage, controlling stage until delivery stage all the action must suitable with engineering service provider company, and by implementing this concept to get more profit by producing product with optimum production cost and also will get trust from customer to make repeat order. Every company requires a proper management concept and also continuous improvement on its production process to get quality product and company profit so their business will sustain in the future.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Discourse markers in speech

It is generally acknowledged that discourse markers are used differently in speech and writing, yet many general descriptions and most annotation frameworks are written-based, thus partially unfit to be applied in spoken corpora. This paper identifies the major characteristics of discourse markers in spoken language, which can be associated with problems related to their scope and structure, their meaning and their tendency to co-occur. The description is based on authentic examples and is followed by methodological recommendations on how to deal with these phenomena in more exhaustive, speech-friendly annotation models.
Survival Rates of New Firms: An Exploratory Study

This study examines the survival patterns of new firms that were created during difficult economic times (2009-2011), and how their survival rates might compare to earlier research, given that we used a more inclusive measure of births. Our findings indicate a similar survival pattern compared to previous studies for the first year of a firm’s existence but a significantly worse rate for the second year. We discuss the implications of this finding in light of our more inclusive sample and the current macro-economic climate.
INTRAGROUP COOPERATION VS. INTRAGROUP COMPETITION: A Meta-Analytical Study

This study examines whether intragroup cooperation outperforms intragroup competition. Intragroup cooperation is a work setting when individuals in a group perceive that their goal attainments are positively related; while intragroup competition is a work setting when individuals in a group perceive that their goal attainments are negatively related. Performance is defined as group productivity level, speed of solving problems, and quality of the group outcomes. Meta-analytical method is used to test the hypothesis. The method combines and compares eight studies from various research disciplines i.e., education, psychology, organization, and business and accounting. The studies being analyzed also vary in terms of the research and experimental setting such as manufacturing operations and problem solving games. Meta-analytical study is relatively rare in Indonesia, so that this study is important to introduce and to show the importance and the benefit of the analysis for concluding a large number and different research in a similar domain of research question. In a simple term, a meta-analysis is a quantitative literature review. However, the analysis has a more powerful procedure (than the conventional literature review) to indicate more clearly, and in quantitative terms, the consistency, the differences and similarities of previous studies. The author found that intragroup cooperation outperforms intragroup competition is held across different experimental subject educational backgrounds such as education, psychology, and business and accounting. However, the extent of the difference in performance is higher in the subjects with psychology background than that of the subjects with business and accounting background. The reason is that business and accounting subjects are more exposed to competitive environments than those whose backgrounds are psychology and sociology.
The Spatio-Relational Nature of Urban Innovation Systems: Universities, Knowledge Intensive Business Service Firms, and Collaborative Networks

Abstract The need to better identify the spatio-relational nature of urban innovation systems and spaces is increasingly acknowledged. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to provide an enhanced understanding of the knowledge networks existing between urban Knowledge Intensive Business Service firms (KIBS) and universities, which are often key components of such systems and spaces. Drawing on an analysis of urban KIBS firms and universities in the United Kingdom, it is found that the nature of firms, their location, and the research intensity of their university partners are important determinants of the spatiality and localization of the networks they form. The results show that the smallest urban KIBS firms have the highest propensity to engage in local links with universities, suggesting that they rely most significantly on their own urban innovation system for collaborative network ties.
Use it or lose it : protecting the traditional knowledge, genetic resources and customary laws of marginal farmers in southwest China

This report provides the findings and lessons of the action research project Protecting Community Rights over Traditional Knowledge: Implications of Customary Laws and Practices in Guangxi, Southwest China. The project, which started in 2004, sought to: explore customary laws, values and practices relating to plant genetic resources (PGR) and traditional knowledge (TK) with local communities; develop innovative practices and local tools for PGR and TK protection; and inform national policy and legislation. It builds on an ongoing participatory plant breeding (PPB) project in southwest China, which started in 2000 and worked on PGR conservation and improvement with breeding institutes and local farmers.
University of Minnesota

In this paper we analyze the factors that should be considered when allocating a given policy function at a particular level of government and how these factors affect the growth and evolution of multi-level governments. After discussing the interplay of economies of scale, economies of scope, and heterogeneity of preferences in determining the optimal level of legal intervention, we show that the subsidiarity principle can have mixed effects as a firewall against progressive centralization. Our economic model of subsidiarity reveals that once some functions become centralized, further centralization becomes easier and often unavoidable. Contrary to its intended function, a piecemeal application of the subsidiarity principle can trigger a path-dependent avalanche of centralization, turning subsidiarity into a self-defeating statement of principle. JEL Codes: D70, H73, K33, P16.
Practically stable observer-based synchronization of discrete-time chaotic systems over the limited-band communication channel

Solution to the problem of observer-based synchronization over the limited bandwidth communication link for a class of discrete-time chaotic systems is presented. The result is demonstrated on the synchronization of chaotic Henon systems via a channel with limited capacity. It is shown that the proposed synchronization system is practically stable in the sense that the limit synchronization error can be made depending only on the number of digits in the computer.
Improving durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var durum) grain yellow pigment content through plant breeding.

A. Schulthess, and A.R. Schwember. 2013. Improving durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var durum) grain yellow pigment content through plant breeding. Cien Inv. 40(3): 475-490. Wheat grain yellow pigment content (GYPC) is an important trait that determines pasta quality. The main objective of this review is to examine the genetics regulating GYPC to enhance it through breeding, leading to improved pasta quality. Although GYPC is a polygenic trait, its high heritability has facilitated breeding internationally. GYPC is influenced by one or two major loci with additive effects plus several minor genes, and there is evidence showing that the phytoene synthase loci PSY1A and PSY1B are strong candidate genes that regulate GYPC. Nine Chilean durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) genotypes showed intermediate to low levels of GYPC based upon both phenotypic and genotypic data. The next step is to improve GYPC in those materials by introgressing the high-yellowness PSY1 allelic variants (i.e., the PSY1Ao allele and the PSY1Bb allele) using plant breeding strategies such as backcrossing and marker-assisted selection.
PHYSICAL AND SOFTWARE MODELLING FOR CHALLENGING SOIL STRUCTURE INTERACTION

Construction of structures on soft soils gives rise to some difficulties in Malaysia and other countries especially in both short and long term deformation. The most critical geo-environment challenges are excessive settlement and in particular differential settlement leading to hazardous and discomfort in road usage (bumpy road) and structural distress (differential crack) in buildings. The settlement studies in soft yielding soil requires effort, time and expense through field and/or physical model testing. Thus software modelling is a better and faster alternative to solve many such problems (can even be variable).
Connection between the Earth’s Climate Change and Variations in the Geomagnetic Field and Cosmic Ray Fluxes during the Past Ten Thousands of Years

A possible influence of changes in cosmic ray fluxes and solar variability on climate has been the subject of intense investigations in recent years. Recent studies have shown that the interrelation between the geomagnetic field parameters and climate can also be traced on different time scales. A connection was presented in this analysis between the Earth climate change and variations in the geomagnetic field and cosmic ray fluxes based on the data obtained from different natural archives for the Holocene. So paleodata analysis of variations in cosmic ray fluxes, geomagnetic field, and climate has revealed that correlation between these data has existed on the time scales of several thousand and ten thousand years. Examination of data on changes in the Earth’s magnetic moment over the past ~10,000 years and proxy data on precipitation at low latitudes has shown that time changes in the geomagnetic dipole moment can play an important role in controlling rainfall at low latitudes in some regions of the Earth. Through these processes, the geomagnetic field of the Earth’s atmosphere could affect climate change in the Earth’s past. Of course, not all aspects of this complex problem are understood now.
PID Based on Attractive Ellipsoid Method for Dynamic Uncertain and External Disturbances Rejection in Mechanical Systems

This paper presents a stability analysis for LNDS (Lagrangian nonlinear dynamical systems) with dynamic uncertain using a PID controller with external disturbances rejection based on attractive ellipsoid methods, since the PID-CT (proportional integral derivative computed torque) compensator has been used for the nonlinear trajectory tracking of an LNDS, when there are external perturbations and system uncertainties. The global system convergence of the trivial solution has not been proved. In this sense, we propose an approach to find the gains of the nonlinear PID-CT controller to guarantee the boundedness of the trivial solution by means of the concept of the UUB (uniform-ultimately bounded) stability. In order to show the effectiveness of the methodology proposed, we applied it in a real 2-DoF robot system.
Seismicity and Improved Velocity Structure in Kuwait

The Kuwait National Seismic Network (KNSN) began operation in 1997 and consists of nine three-component stations (eight short-period and one broadband) and is operated by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. Although the region is largely believed to be aseismic, considerable local seismicity is recorded by KNSN. Seismic events in Kuwait are clustered in two main groups, one in the south and another in the north. The KNSN station distribution is able to capture the southern cluster within the footprint of the network but the northern cluster is poorly covered. Events tend to occur at depths ranging from the free surface to about 20 km. Events in the northern cluster tend to be deeper than those in south, however this might be an artifact of the station coverage. We analyzed KNSN recordings of nearly 200 local events to improve understanding of seismic events and crustal structure in Kuwait, performing several analyses with increasing complexity. First, we obtained an optimized one-dimensional (1D) velocity model for the entire region using the reported KNSN arrival times and routine locations. The resulting model is consistent with a recently obtained model from the joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave group velocities. Crustal structuremore » is capped by the thick ({approx} 7 km) sedimentary rocks of the Arabian Platform underlain by normal velocities for stable continental crust. Our new model has a crustal thickness of 44 km, constrained by an independent study of receiver functions and surface wave group velocities by Pasyanos et al (2006). Locations and depths of events after relocation with the new model are broadly consistent with those reported by KISR, although a few events move more than a few kilometers. We then used a double-difference tomography technique (tomoDD) to jointly locate the events and estimate three-dimensional (3D) velocity structure. TomoDD is based on hypoDD relocation algorithm and it makes use of both absolute and relative arrival times. We obtained {approx}1500 absolute P and S arrival times and {approx}3200 P and S wave arrival time differences. Event locations do not change greatly when 3D velocity structure is included. Three-dimensional velocity structure, where resolvable, does not differ greatly from our optimized 1D model, indicating that the improved 1D model is adequate for routine event location. Finally, we calculated moment magnitudes, MW, for nearly 155 events using the coda magnitude technique of Mayeda et al., (2003). The fact that most of the relocated events occur below the known sedimentary structures extending to 7 km suggests that they are tectonic in origin. Shallow events within the sedimentary crust in the (southern) Minagish region may be related to oil field activities, although the current study cannot unambiguously determine the source of current seismicity in Kuwait. The improved velocity model reduces the scatter of travel time residuals relative to the locations reported in the KNSN bulletin and may be used for ground motion prediction and hazard estimate studies in Kuwait. « less
Efficacy in Education: A Synopsis of the Literature.

The term efficacy is broadly defined as the power to produce effect. Since 1977, with the advent of the concept of self-efficacy, research has attempted to establish the type and strength of the relationship between the concept and the education profession. The purpose of this document is to provide a conceptual, theoretical, and integrated review of available research literature on efficacy in teaching. Literature is reviewed on several variables: teaching behavior; student teachers; stress; demographic characteristics; student outcomes; and teaching experi4nce. The paper provides an overview of theoretical bases and suggests an apprcpLiate definition for use in education. It presents findings relative to personal variables, student outcomes, teaching behaviors, and system considerations. Appropriate questions are examinid and implications for further research are addressed. (42 references) (Author/LL) ********************** ***** ***************************** ***** ********** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *************************************rnarna**************************
The effect of gluteus medius training on hip kinematics in a runner with iliotibial band syndrome

Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) is a common clinical presentation in runners. There are several hypotheses to explain this condition including faulty control of the hip joint in the frontal plane during the stance phase of running. It is postulated that improving activity in the gluteus medius muscle may assist in produc-ing more appropriate stabilization and therefore reduce the stress on the Iliotibial band (ITB). This single case study provides an interesting clinical scenario where a single-subject with ITBS was measured for hip kinematics during running, before and after a trial period of classic gluteus medius exercises. The biomechanical data show an initial (pre-intervention) increase in adduction position during the stance phase of running on the affected side (in contrast to the unaffected side). This was measured using a Moven motion analysis suit. After the trial intervention period, the relative position of the affected hip had reduced in adduction at both heel strike and at 30° knee flexion. This study provides support for the theory that hip control in the frontal plane may be a contributing factor in ITBS. Clinicians are encouraged to monitor hip control as well as ITBS symptoms when they utilise this gluteus medius protocol. Further research to establish whether change in pelvic control results in decrease in ITBS symptoms is warranted.