Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metaevaluation by Formal Evaluation Theory of Aid Evaluation Work

This is the metaevaluation of aid evaluation reports generated in a single fiscal year (FY 2004). Sample reports (n=102) basically were chosen by stratified random sampling from the pool of evaluation reports (N=1034). The pool consists of ex post evaluation reports (and some extensive midterm and termination evaluation reports) obtained from Web sites. The Key Aid Evaluation Checklist (KAEC) was developed based on the well-known Key Evaluation Checklist (KEC) (Scriven, 2005, 2006). As a supplemental checklist, the Subdimensional Checklist (SDC) was also developed and applied to the metaevaluation. A key conclusion of this metaevaluation is this: Quality of the current aid evaluation reports in general is regarded as “good” but far from “excellent. ” Although some are marked as high quality—i.e., they successfully examine a set of subevaluations and offer overall evaluative conclusions (such as a single grade)—others are very poor quality (they do not determine overall or at least somedimensional evaluative conclusions, but just present analytic conclusions or fact findings). Some serious flaws exist in the current aid evaluation practice as follows: Primary operation of evaluation (subevaluation of each dimension) is relatively well conducted. On the other hand, secondary operation (integration into a single judgment) is very weak or is simply not conducted. Value identification/verification, which usually is conducted by stakeholder participation or political inclusion, is very weak. Cost-efficiency subevaluation (either cost-benefit subevaluation or cost-effectiveness subevaluation) is generally weak or simply not conducted, especially if outcome-based evaluation is conducted. On the other hand, the evaluation report is generally regarded as good quality if it conducts serious and extensive cost-efficiency subevaluation. Metaevaluation (evaluation of the evaluation report by the evaluator him/herself) has not been accepted widely as an essential part of aid evaluation.Based on the identified flaws, several recommendations are proposed. Finally, the limitations of the main frameworks (KAEC and SDC) are pointed out. This metaevaluation does not examine the relationship between the collected reports and the overall development portfolio of individual donors. These areas should be considered seriously for further research.
Adaptive Fault-Resistant Systems

Abstract : The combined effects of faults and resource failures, wide swings in service demand, and situation-dependent user requirements, stress a computer's ability to satisfy its service expectations. This is an especially significant problem in distributed system that employ unreliable communications, and whose components may operate in different and perhaps harsh physical data and usage environments. One of the goals for adaptive design is to allow flexible use of available resources to cover a much wider range of different kinds of environmental variables than could be covered by a fixed, worst-case design. The research focused on the tasks of: (1) developing a theory of adaptive fault- resistant systems and general principles of architectural design; (2) developing specific architectural design techniques; and (3) demonstrating adaptive designs. Three mechanisms were investigated: (1) Adaptive Distributed Recovery Blocks (ADRBs), a multiple-mode scheme for error detection and recovery, useful for both hardware and software faults; (2) adaptive fault tolerance for hybrid faults, an economical technique for tolerating both simple and complex fault types; and (3) adaptive distributed thread integrity, a technique for detecting and repairing thread breaks in a wide range of operating environments using the Alpha programming model. Adaptive distributed systems, Recovery blocks, Fault tolerance, Anomaly management.
Muscles

Mechanical devices that include home appliances, automobiles, and airplanes are typically driven by electric motors or combustion engines through gearboxes and other linkages. Airplane wings, for example, have hinged control surfaces such as ailerons. Now imagine a wing that has no hinged control surfaces or linkages but that instead bends or warps to assume an appropriate shape, like the wing of a bird. Such a device could be enabled using an electro-active polymer technology based on electronic artificial muscles. Artificial muscles act directly on a structure, like our leg muscles that are attached by tendon to our bones and that through phased contraction enable us to walk. Sensory feedback from our muscles enables proprioceptive control. So, for artificial muscles to be used appropriately we need to pay attention not only to mechanisms for muscle actuation but also to how we can incorporate self-sensing feedback for the control of position.
Many ways to decline a noun: elicitation of children’s novel noun inflection in Estonian

abstract This study investigated three- to five-year-olds’ ability to generalise knowledge of case inflection to novel nouns in Estonian, which has complex morphology and lacks a default declension pattern. We explored whether Estonian-speaking children use similar strategies to adults, and whether they default to a preferred pattern or use analogy to phonological neighbours. We taught children novel nouns in nominative or allative case and elicited partitive and genitive case forms based on pictures of unfamiliar creatures. Participants included 66 children (3;0–6;0) and 21 adults. Because of multiple grammatical inflection patterns, children’s responses were compared with those of adults for variability, accuracy, and morphological neighbourhood density. Errors were analysed to reveal how children differed from adults. Young children make use of varied available patterns, but find generalisation difficult. Children’s responses showed much variability, yet even three-year-olds used the same general declension patterns as adults. Accuracy increased with age but responses were not fully adult-like by age five. Neighbourhood density of responses increased with age, indicating that analogy over a larger store of examples underlies proficiency with productive noun inflection. Children did not default to the more transparent, affixal patterns available, preferring instead to use the more frequent, stem-changing patterns.
Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization and Expression Pattern Analysis of the γ-Gliadin Gene Family in the Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Cultivar Svevo

Very recently, the genome of the modern durum wheat cv. Svevo was fully sequenced, and its assembly is publicly available. So, we exploited the opportunity to carry out an in-depth study for the systematic characterization of the γ-gliadin gene family in the cv. Svevo by combining a bioinformatic approach with transcript and protein analysis. We found that the γ-gliadin family consists of nine genes that include seven functional genes and two pseudogenes. Three genes, Gli-γ1a, Gli-γ3a and Gli-γ4a, and the pseudogene Gli-γ2a* mapped on the A genome, whereas the remaining four genes, Gli-γ1b, Gli-γ2b, Gli-γ3b and Gli-γ5b, and the pseudogene Gli-γ4b* mapped on the B genome. The functional γ-gliadins presented all six domains and eight-cysteine residues typical of γ-gliadins. The Gli-γ1b also presented an additional cysteine that could possibly have a role in the formation of the gluten network through binding to HMW glutenins. The γ-gliadins from the A and B genome differed in their celiac disease (CD) epitope content and composition, with the γ-gliadins from the B genome showing the highest frequency of CD epitopes. In all the cases, almost all the CD epitopes clustered in the central region of the γ-gliadin proteins. Transcript analysis during seed development revealed that all the functional γ-gliadin genes were expressed with a similar pattern, although significant differences in the transcript levels were observed among individual genes that were sometimes more than 60-fold. A progressive accumulation of the γ-gliadin fraction was observed in the ripening seeds that reached 34% of the total gliadin fraction at harvest maturity. We believe that the insights generated in the present study could aid further studies on gliadin protein functions and future breeding programs aimed at the selection of new healthier durum wheat genotypes.
Exploitation of Liquid Digestate as the Sole Nutrient Source for Floating Hydroponic Cultivation of Baby Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in Greenhouses

Sustainable agriculture relies on replacing fossil-based mineral fertilizers, which are highly cost-energetic to produce, and demand extensive use of scarce natural resources. Today, agronomic practices within the concept of circular economy are emerging and, as such, the exploitation of digestate as a biofertilizer and soil amender is extensively investigated. This study aimed at evaluating the agronomic potential of liquid digestate as the sole nutrient source for hydroponic cultivation of baby lettuce in greenhouses. Growth rate, physiological responses, concentration of secondary metabolites, and nutrient uptake were compared between baby leaf lettuce grown in digestate in concentrations of 5, 10, and 20% diluted in water (either with or without pH adjustment) and in Hoagland solution (control). Results showed that the production yield was negatively correlated with the concentration of the added digestate. Nevertheless, the antioxidant capacity was significantly enhanced in 5 and 10% liquid digestate treatments compared to the control. Additionally, the nutrient composition in the baby leaf lettuce and the reduction in nutrient concentrations in the growth media demonstrated efficient mineral uptake by the plants. Thus, the application of liquid digestate as a fertilizer in hydroponic systems is a promising practice to recover residual resources, leading to the transition towards more sustainable greenhouse production.
Length distribution of chords through a rectangular volume

Abstract : The chord length distribution of penetrating radiation in rectangular parallelepipeds is of concern in regard to spacecraft electronic, as single event upsets can be produced by the ionization along the path of a high-energy particle. Both differential and integral chord length distributions are presented here. Two approximations to the integral distribution are discussed. (Author)
Faithful Simulation of Distributed Quantum Measurements With Applications in Distributed Rate-Distortion Theory

We consider the task of faithfully simulating a distributed quantum measurement, wherein we provide a protocol for the three parties, Alice, Bob and Charlie, to simulate a repeated action of a distributed quantum measurement using a pair of non-product approximating measurements by Alice and Bob, followed by a stochastic mapping at Charlie. The objective of the protocol is to utilize minimum resources, in terms of classical bits needed by Alice and Bob to communicate their measurement outcomes to Charlie, and the common randomness shared among the three parties, while faithfully simulating independent repeated instances of the original measurement. To achieve this, we develop a mutual covering lemma and a technique for random binning of distributed quantum measurements, and, in turn, characterize a set of sufficient communication and common randomness rates required for asymptotic simulatability in terms of single-letter quantum information quantities. In the special case, where the Charlie’s action is restricted to a deterministic mapping, we develop a one-shot performance characterization of the distributed faithful simulation problem. Furthermore, using these results we address a distributed quantum rate-distortion problem, where we characterize the achievable rate distortion region through a single-letter inner bound. Finally, via a technique of single-letterization of multi-letter quantum information quantities, we provide an outer bound for the rate-distortion region.
A Systematic Literature Review of Blockchain-Based Crops Traceability in Agricultural Supply Chain

In recent years, Blockchain has been favorably adopted in the Supply Chain industry as it provides guaranteed transparency and traceability. The flexibility of Blockchain allows different applications to enable to exchange information; a significant middleweight layer is responsible for information transfer in the Agricultural Sector. The products that are manufactured at a global level in the agriculture industry are improved in safety, validation of some criteria, and quality. In the agriculture industry, the increasing number of complications associated with food safety and impurity risks needs high-level effective traceability solutions that act as necessary quality management tools to make sure satisfactory safety of crops. The agricultural supply chain today has complex ecosystems, consisting of several stockholders to authenticate criteria which are important like crop development stages, monitoring and validation, and compliance with the quality standard. In this proposed research, a systematic literature review will be done that includes smart contracts, Blockchain, and business transactions exclusively for crop production traceability across the agricultural and food supply chain. By using Blockchain in the agriculture sector, productivity, consistency, safety, reliability, and advanced security are increased. All transactions are kept and recorded on the immutable record of Blockchain associates with a decentralized system. Thus, it provides more traceability and clarity in the agriculture system in asafe, trustworthy, and effective way. A systematic literature review is thus enforced to classify the papers which are selected by the following classification: crop traceability, contribution type, research type, and their approach. For this systematic review, the papers which extracted are classified according to defined criteria. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap by collecting and analyzing studies available within the literature aiming to firstly, gain complete insight on the integration of Blockchain in the agriculture sector. Secondly, provide a summary of the present state of research on this area and identify gaps in existing studies. To achieve this aim an SLR was conducted. The findings of this SLR are discussed and researchers were provided with suggestions on possible directions for future research.
A Conceptual Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives for Casinos

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives play an important starring role in changing the livelihoods of community members close to casinos around Gauteng. In addition, a contested industry such as gaming needs to ensure CSR initiatives are in place and communicated. The specific objective was to develop a CSR conceptual framework with guidelines for implementation in the casino industry using an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The study used quantitative research approach which involved eight casinos in Gauteng province, South Africa. Accidental sampling was used with a sample size of 385 with adjacent community members. Structured questionnaires were used as data collection instrument. The results indicated that social aspects and involvement, business and socio-environment, financial contribution, community basic services and food and nutrition are the basic initiatives to be incorporated in casino’s strategies and communicated to different stakeholders in order to improve community satisfaction, ideal public relations and gaining competitive advantage. Findings offer valuable cognizance in helping community members, Gauteng Gambling Board, CSR managers in casinos, employees and other interested stakeholders to review and evaluate the casinos’ CSR policies and implementation strategies.
Intratumoral delivery of engineered recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara expressing Flt3L and OX40L generates potent antitumor immunity through activating the cGAS/STING pathway and depleting tumor-infiltrating regulatory T cells

Intratumoral (IT) delivery of immune-activating viruses can serve as an important strategy to turn “cold” tumors into “hot” tumors, resulting in overcoming resistance to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is a highly attenuated, non-replicative vaccinia virus that has a long history of human use. Here we report that IT recombinant MVA (rMVA), lacking E5R encoding an inhibitor of the DNA sensor cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), expressing a dendritic cell growth factor, Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (Flt3L), and a T cell co-stimulator, OX40L, generates strong antitumor immunity, which is dependent on CD8+ T cells, the cGAS/STING-mediated cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway, and STAT1/STAT2-mediated type I IFN signaling. Remarkably, IT rMVA depletes OX40hi regulatory T cells via OX40L/OX40 interaction and IFNAR signaling. Taken together, our study provides a proof-of-concept for improving MVA-based cancer immunotherapy, through modulation of both innate and adaptive immunity. One Sentence Summary Intratumoral delivery of recombinant MVA for cancer immunotherapy
The IEEE 802.11 Handbook: A Designer's Companion

From the Publisher: IEEE 802.11 Handbook: A Designer's Companion familiarizes system network architects, hardware engineers and software writers with the basic concepts, terminology and key specifications of the IEEE 802.11 standard -- serving as an indispensable primer. This book takes the reader from a basic understanding of WLANs through the details of the PHY and MAC layer of the standard. The authors articulate a clear picture of the standard to both first-time and experienced designers of wireless products. So if you're a new market entrant or an existing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of proprietary WLAN solutions and you're developing IEEE 802.11 based products for the RF or Infrared WLAN market, this book is for you. In this book, you will: Acquire a solid working definition of a wireless LANDiscover the evolution of the 802.11 standardLearn the various market segment applications, ranging from manufacturing to enterprise wireless communication What's more, A Designer's Companion, covers in detail: General network topologies of an ad-hoc and distributed network for an IEEE 802.11 wireless mediumKey specifications and attributes of the five physical layers specified in the standard direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) physical layerfrequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) physical layerhigh rate direct sequence spread spectrum (HRDSSS) physical layerorthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) physical layer infrared (IR) physical layer Basics of the protocol relative to the ad-hoc and distributed networkconfiguration, including the MAC layer -- the most difficult entity in the standard In addition, the book outlines the world regulatory bodies requiring certification for operating IEEE 802.11 conformant products in the 2.4 GHz ISM and 5 GHz UNII frequency bands.
The Value of Adapting Counseling to Client’s Spirituality and Religion: Evidence-Based Relationship Factors

There is a strong tradition of attention to relationship factors in the field of counseling. The research on the importance of the relationship and adapting to client factors continues to grow, supporting the importance of professional multicultural competence. The field of counseling, specifically within the United States context, has focused on Multicultural Counseling Competencies with more recent emphasis on social justice through the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies. Within these competencies, spirituality and religion are mentioned as multicultural components to consider as potentially salient to clients. Yet, there has been less emphasis on ways to adapt counseling to a client’s spirituality and religion compared to other multicultural components of one’s identity, such as race, gender, and culture. Historically, a lack of training, fear of causing offense, or concerns about influencing clients, resulted in clients’ spirituality and religion being overlooked far too often in counseling. Despite this tendency, recent clinical evidence on relational responsiveness identifies the adaptation of counseling to a client’s spirituality and religion as highly effective. In this article, the authors discuss how adapting counseling to a client’s spirituality and religion, in relation to all multicultural factors salient to the client, enhances relational responsiveness and treatment effectiveness. The authors also discuss the implications for training, supervision, and practice.
Evaluating the Sustainable Operating Performance of Electronics Industry Groups: Taiwanese Firms in Mainland China

Mainland China’s economy is growing rapidly, with China-made electronic products selling around the world. Taiwan's electronics groups running operations or production locations in Mainland China have performed strongly in recent years. At one time more than 90% of the world's laptops were manufactured by Taiwanese makers, largely in China. This study assessed the sustainability operating performance of the top 20 Taiwanese electronic groups (including 272 companies) with an average of 38 years of sustained operation in China, using the Data Envelopment Analysis Method (DEA) to measure the performance and operating efficiency of the group as a whole, with net operating revenue and pre-tax profit margin as the output elements, and total assets, capital, and total expenses as input elements, to assess whether changes in operating performance and productivity over the three-year period (2018–2020) are significant. The results showed that two Taiwanese electronics groups (Quanta Computer and Catcher Technology) were relatively efficient during the study period and that the overall productivity of the electronics groups was in a state of sustainability. This study uses the industrial cluster viewpoint to evaluate the sustainability operating performance of the groups. Results show that using DEA for performance evaluation is both comprehensive and practical. The findings of this study may be used as a reference in creating sustainable operations and improving a firm’s production efficiency through the evaluation of firm resource allocation.
Systematic Evaluation and Usability Analysis of Formal Methods Tools for Railway Signaling System Design

Formal methods and supporting tools have a long record of success in the development of safety-critical systems. However, no single tool has emerged as the dominant solution for system design. Each tool differs from the others in terms of the modeling language used, its verification capabilities and other complementary features, and each development context has peculiar needs that require different tools. This is particularly problematic for the railway industry, in which formal methods are highly recommended by the norms, but no actual guidance is provided for the selection of tools. To guide companies in the selection of the most appropriate formal methods tools to adopt in their contexts, a clear assessment of the features of the currently available tools is required. To address this goal, this paper considers a set of 13 formal methods tools that have been used for the early design of railway systems, and it presents a systematic evaluation of such tools and a preliminary usability analysis of a subset of 7 tools, involving railway practitioners. The results are discussed considering the most desired aspects by industry and earlier related studies. While the focus is on the railway signaling domain, the overall methodology can be applied to similar contexts. Our study thus contributes with a systematic evaluation of formal methods tools and it shows that despite the poor graphical interfaces, usability and maturity of the tools are not major problems, as claimed by contributions from the literature. Instead, support for process integration is the most relevant obstacle for the adoption of most of the tools. Our contribution can be useful to R&D engineers from railway signaling companies and infrastructure managers, but also to tool developers and academic researchers alike.