Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Clustering Affects Epidemics in Random Networks

Motivated by the analysis of social networks, we study a model of random networks that has both a given degree distribution and a tunable clustering coefficient. We consider two types of growth process on these graphs that model the spread of new ideas, technologies, viruses, or worms: the diffusion model and the symmetric threshold model. For both models, we characterize conditions under which global cascades are possible and compute their size explicitly, as a function of the degree distribution and the clustering coefficient. Our results are applied to regular or power-law graphs with exponential cutoff and shed new light on the impact of clustering.
Quantifying food losses in South Africa and the costs of household food waste

BACKGROUND Food waste is problematic for a number of reasons, including the loss of a potentially valuable food source or resource for use in other processes (e.g. energy generation or composting); wasted resources and emissions in the food supply chain; and the environmental impacts of disposing of organic waste to landfill. However, attempts to quantify food waste are constrained by limited data, particularly in developing countries. This research attempted to quantify food waste (including both pre-consumer food losses and post-consumer food waste) in South Africa (Oelofse and Nahman, 2012). In addition, it estimated the economic costs of household food waste (Nahman et al., 2012).
Toward automatic construction of lexical semantic networks

Nowadays, language resources, such as machine readable dictionaries, WordNets, thesaurus, ontology, and semantic networks, are becoming crucial bases for many intelligent systems like Machine Translation, Information Retrieval, and Natural Language Understanding, etc. The purpose of this work is to extract features and to analyze the manually built Korean wordnet, namely U-WIN, for the automatic construction of a feature based U-WIN. We used ICA and CBC clustering methods and methodologies in the experiments and compared their results. Further we have identified various issues affecting the quality of clustering score.
Readings in the economics of contract law: The economics of moral hazard: comment

… The individual who has insurance which covers all costs demands medical care as though it had a zero price, but when he purchases insurance, he must take account of the positive cost of that care, as “translated” to him through the actuarially necessary premium. Hence, he may well not wish to purchase such insurance at the premium his behavior as a purchaser of insurance and as a demander of medical care under insurance makes necessary. The presence of a “prisoners' dilemma” motivation makes this inconsistency inevitable. Each individual may well recognize that “excess” use of medical care makes the premium he must pay rise. No individual will be motivated to restrain his own use, however, since the incremental benefit to him for excess use is great, while the additional cost of his use is largely spread over other insurance holders, and so he bears only a tiny fraction of the cost of his use. It would be better for all insurance beneficiaries to restrain their use, but such a result is not forthcoming because the strategy of “restrain use” is dominated by that of “use excess care. ” It has been recognized in the insurance literature that medical insurance, by lowering the marginal cost of care to the individual, may increase usage; this characteristic has been termed “moral hazard. ” Moral hazard is defined as “the intangible loss-producing propensities of the individual assured” [Dickerson, 1963, p. 463].
Random Error And Burst Correction By Iterated Codes

Error-correcting codes have contributed in a significant way for both the theoretical referred to as random errors, or else errors can appear in bursts of many errors each It was shown that long LDPC codes with iterative decoding achieve. LDPC codes provide good random error performance nearer to Shannon limit. iterations such errors can be corrected by concatenating LDPC codes with RS codes. by RS codes which provide good burst error correction capability.
Advanced mobile multimedia applications: using MPEG-21 and time-dependent metadata.

While the price of mobile devices is dropping quickly, the set of features and capabilities of these devices is advancing very dramatically. Because of this, new mobile multimedia applications are conceivable, also thanks to the availability of high speed mobile networks like UMTS and Wireless LAN. However, creating such applications is still difficult due to the huge diversity of features and capabilities of mobile devices. Software developers also have to take into account the rigorous limitation on processing capabilities, display possibilities, and the limited battery life of these devices. On top of that, the availability of the device resources fluctuates strongly during execution of an application, directly and violently influencing the user experience, whereas equivalent fluctuations on traditional desktop PC's are far less prominent. Using new technology like MPEG-4, -7 and -21 can help application developers to overcome these problems. We have created an MPEG-21-based Video-on-Demand application optimized for mobile devices that is aware of the usage environment (i.e., user preference, device capabilities, device conditions, network status, etc.) of the client and adapts the MPEG-4 videos to it. The application is compliant with the Universal Multimedia Access framework, supports Time-Dependent Metadata, and relies on both MPEG-4 and MPEG-21 technology.
Dynamic nonprehensile shaping of a thin rheological object

This paper describes a dynamic nonprehensile manipulation of a deformable object, where the shape of a thin rheological object is dynamically controlled by the combination of the inertial force and the frictional one generated by the plate's rapid motion. We first introduce a one-dimensional viscous model to approximate the object deformation characteristics, focusing on the final shape of the object. Assuming that the plate has two degrees of freedom: a translational motion and a rotational one, we derive two sufficient conditions to deform the object: one to enlarge it and the other to contract it. Then, we show the plate's cyclic motion leading to the object's continuous deformation. Finally, simulation and experimental results are shown in order to verify the proposed method.
Coverage-Mapping Method Based on a Hardware Model for Mobile-Robot Positioning in Intelligent Spaces

In this paper, we describe a method for relating the precision in phase shift measurements to the navigation areas in which that precision is reached so that a coverage map is built, setting a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold level that depends on that phase precision. The method brings a novel approach to linking different areas in robotics and is applied to a mobile-robot (MR) local positioning system (LPS) in an intelligent space, where distances are computed from differential phase shift measurements with intensity modulation and direct detection (IMDD) infrared signals. A global model including the parameters of all the parts involved, e.g., optoelectronics, wireless channel, and instrumentation hardware, is developed. Furthermore, based on the model, an analytical expression deduced for the phase shift measurement is used to find the necessary SNR for a desired precision. A complete set of results, applying the coverage cells to a real building covering a path followed by an MR, is shown. The position of the MR can be known, with an accuracy value below 5 cm and tested in a basic rectangular locating cell with dimensions 3.0 m × 2.5 m.
Scaling Up Word Clustering

Word clusters improve performance in many NLP tasks including training neural network language models, but current increases in datasets are outpacing the ability of word clusterers to handle them. In this paper we present a novel bidirectional, interpolated, refining, and alternating (BIRA) predictive exchange algorithm and introduce ClusterCat, a clusterer based on this algorithm. We show that ClusterCat is 3‐85 times faster than four other well-known clusterers, while also improving upon the predictive exchange algorithm’s perplexity by up to 18% . Notably, ClusterCat clusters a 2.5 billion token English News Crawl corpus in 3 hours. We also evaluate in a machine translation setting, resulting in shorter training times achieving the same translation quality measured in BLEU scores. ClusterCat is portable and freely available.
Economic Reform in Russia in 1992: The Government Battles Labor Collectives

The economic "battle" that took place in Russia in 1992 consisted of the struggle between the liberally-oriented government and the labor collectives, the latter of which regarded the government's reform program as an attempt to encroach upon the established system of collective property. The specific form of collective ownership that has been in de facto operation since the beginning of 1992 explains to a large degree the unorthodox reaction of the Russian economy to the introduction of shock therapy, and the subsequent failure of the government to make a rapid transition to a western-style economy. To support this hypothesis, the present article gives an analysis of the patterns of macroeconomic indicators in 1992, examines the strategies of the collective resistance of enterprises to the government's credit and monetary policies, discusses current aspects of the privatization process, and addresses the basic behavioral traits of collective firms.
Lysophosphatidic Acid Induces MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells Migration through Activation of PI3K/PAK1/ERK Signaling

Background Enhanced motility of cancer cells is a critical step in promoting tumor metastasis. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), representing the major mitogenic activity in serum, stimulates migration in various types of cancer cells. However, the underlying signaling mechanisms for LPA-induced motility of cancer cells remain to be elucidated. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we found that LPA dose-dependently stimulated migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, with 10 µM being the most effective. LPA also increased ERK activity and the MEK inhibitor U0126 could block LPA-induced ERK activity and cell migration. In addition, LPA induced PAK1 activation while ERK activation and cell migration were inhibited by ectopic expression of an inactive mutant form of PAK1 in MDA-MB-231 cells. Furthermore, LPA increased PI3K activity, and the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 inhibited both LPA-induced PAK1/ERK activation and cell migration. Moreover, in the breast cancer cell, LPA treatment resulted in remarkable production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), while LPA-induced ROS generation, PI3K/PAK1/ERK activation and cell migration could be inhibited by N-acetyl-L-Cysteine, a scavenger of ROS. Conclusions/Significance Taken together, this study identifies a PI3K/PAK1/ERK signaling pathway for LPA-stimulated breast cancer cell migration. These data also suggest that ROS generation plays an essential role in the activation of LPA-stimulated PI3K/PAK1/ERK signaling and breast cancer cell migration. These findings may provide a basis for designing future therapeutic strategy for blocking breast cancer metastasis.
Detection of Influenza Viruses Resistant to Neuraminidase Inhibitors in Global Surveillance during the First 3 Years of Their Use

ABSTRACT Emergence of influenza viruses with reduced susceptibility to neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) develops at a low level following drug treatment, and person-to-person transmission of resistant virus has not been recognized to date. The Neuraminidase Inhibitor Susceptibility Network (NISN) was established to follow susceptibility of isolates and occurrence of NAI resistance at a population level in various parts of the world. Isolates from the WHO influenza collaborating centers were screened for susceptibilities to oseltamivir and zanamivir by a chemiluminescent enzyme inhibition assay, and those considered potentially resistant were analyzed by sequence analysis of the neuraminidase genes. During the first 3 years of NAI use (1999 to 2002), 2,287 isolates were tested. Among them, eight (0.33%) viruses had a >10-fold decrease in susceptibility to oseltamivir, one (0.22%) in 1999 to 2000, three (0.36%) in 2000 to 2001, and four (0.41%) in 2001 to 2002. Six had unique changes in the neuraminidase gene compared to neuraminidases of the same subtype in the influenza sequence database. Although only one of the mutations had previously been recognized in persons receiving NAIs, none were from patients who were known to have received the drugs. During the 3 years preceding NAI use, no resistant variants were detected among 1,054 viruses. Drug use was relatively stable during the period, except for an approximate 10-fold increase in oseltamivir use in Japan during the third year. The frequency of variants with decreased sensitivity to the NAIs did not increase significantly during this period, but continued surveillance is required, especially in regions with higher NAI use.
Localization of vibration-based damage detection method in structural applications

Localization of vibration-based damage detection method in structural applications. ___________________________________ Thanos Papanicolaou ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Salam Rahmatalla, for the opportunity, the patience, and the confidence in me that he has provided throughout this whole process. I also wish to thank the members of my committee, Jasbir Arora and Thanos Papanicolaou, who have aided in my advancement in knowledge. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Kayla Schallhorn, for putting up with me during this process and giving me valuable critics that helped immensely. iii ABSTRACT Vibration-based damage detection methods are used in structural applications to identify the global dynamic response of the system. The purpose of the work presented is to exhibit a vibration-based damage detection algorithm that localizes the sensor arrangements such that irregularities within the structural system can be detected, located, and quantified. Damage can occur in a structure either within the material or at a connection between segments; therefore two different types of specimens, a plate specimen and a connection specimen, were analyzed with the algorithm. Numerical and experimental analyses were completed for each of the specimen types, and the results prove that damage can be detected, located and quantified in each scenario. It is noted that the quantification of the damage is based on a supervised learning method (original and damaged states are known) and that the accuracy in which the damage is quantified within the scope of this work might have difficulty in unsupervised learning methods (only current state is known). This work will extend to be applied on a highway bridge as a basis for a structural health monitoring system, as preliminary results suggest that further refinement is needed.
Synchronous performance and reliability improvement in pipelined ASICs

The clock frequency of a synchronous circuit can be increased at the expense of increased system latency, area, and power using synchronous optimization techniques such as pipelining and retiming. Pipelining is well developed methodology, having been applied to almost every computer architecture from microprocessors to supercomputers. Retiming, on the other hand, has only recently become popular and practical application areas currently being developed. Both pipelining and retiming are reviewed in this paper. In order to make retiming more generally useful, low-level circuit delay components inherent to IC must be incorporated into the retiming process. These include variable register delay, clock skew, and interconnect delay. An algorithm is presented by the authors for incorporating variable register delays, interconnect delay, and the clock skew into retiming. The algorithm identifies and eliminates path-dependant race conditions in synchronous circuits. The results of applying the algorithm to MCNC benchmarks is presented and both performance and reliability improvements are observed. <<ETX>>
Chemical transport model ozone simulations for spring 2001 over the western Pacific: Regional ozone production and its global impacts

The spatial and temporal variation in ozone production over major source regions in East Asia during the NASA Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) measurement campaign in spring 2001 is assessed using a global chemical transport model. There is a strong latitudinal gradient in ozone production in springtime, driven by regional photochemistry, which rapidly diminishes as the season progresses. The great variability in meteorological conditions characteristic of East Asia in springtime leads to large daily variability in regional ozone formation, but we find that it has relatively little impact on the total global production. We note that transport processes effectively modulate and thus stabilize total ozone production through their influence over its location. However, the impact on the global ozone burden, important for assessing the effects of precursor emissions on tropospheric oxidizing capacity and climate, is sensitive to local meteorology through the effects of location on chemical lifetime. Stagnant, anticyclonic conditions conducive to substantial boundary layer ozone production typically allow little lifting of precursors into the free troposphere where greater ozone production could occur, and the consequent shorter chemical lifetime for ozone leads to relatively small impacts on global ozone. Conversely, cyclonic conditions with heavy cloud cover suppressing regional ozone production are often associated with substantial cloud convection, enhancing subsequent production in the free troposphere where chemical lifetimes are longer, and the impacts on global ozone are correspondingly greater. We find that ozone formation in the boundary layer and free troposphere outside the region of precursor emissions dominates total gross production from these sources in springtime, and that it makes a big contribution to the long range transport of ozone, which is greatest in this season.
DESIGN OF LOW POWER BARREL SHIFTER AND ROTATOR USING TWO PHASE CLOCKED ADIABATIC STATIC CMOS LOGIC

This paper presents low power operation of barrel shifter and rotator which are designed and simulated in 2 phase clocked adiabatic static CMOS logic. The power consumption of the circuits is compared with that of static CMOS logic. A barrel logic right shifter, a right rotator and shift/rotator are simulated in 45nm CMOS process technology. A mux based design is used for all the above circuits. The 2PASCL circuits are observed to have low power consumption while compared to circuits which are simulated using static CMOS logic. The power consumption of 2PASCL circuits are reduced by 69.67% compared to static CMOS logic. From the simulation results it is observed that the logic circuits which use 2PASCL logic can be used for low power applications.
Monitoring Learners' Proficiency: Weight Adaptation in the Elo Rating System

Adaptive item sequencing is a well-established adaptation technique for personalizing learning environments and can be achieved through an intense reciprocity between the item difficulty level and the learner’s proficiency. Consequently, the need to monitor learners’ proficiency level is of great importance. On that account, researchers have brought forward the Elo rating system. While the Elo rating system has its origin in chess, it has proven its value during its short history in the educational setting. Elo’s algorithm implies that the rating after an event is function of the preevent rating, the weight given to the new observation and the difference between the new observed score and the expected score. It seems reasonable to adapt the weight of Elo’s algorithm as function of the number of observations: the more previous observations we have, the more certain we are about the learner’s proficiency estimate, and the less this estimate should be affected by a new observation. The aim of this paper is to search for weights as a function of the number of previous observations that results in optimally accurate proficiency estimates, making use of a real data set. Results indicate that the Elo algorithm with a logistic weight function better approximates the parameter estimates obtained with the item response theory than the Elo algorithm with a fixed weight.
Analysis of homomorphic properties of RSA-based cryptosystem for image sharing

Secret sharing between two or more parties, exploiting multiplicative homomorphic properties of RSA, may result in false data blocks during the extraction of message. This paper investigates factors that lead to such false blocks and suggest a controlled solution by analyzing their probability distribution. In this paper we prove that false blocks do exist and show that larger sizes of the prime product reduce the error probability of false blocks in extracted messages.
Economias externas y el proceso de concentracion regional de la industria en mexico

La apertura al capital extranjero llevada a cabo durante el porfiriato provoco un incipiente proceso de industrializacion en Mexico, proceso que fue interrumpido por la revolucion de 1910. Parte importante del ingreso de capital externo fue canalizado hacia la construccion de la red ferro viaria, que se oriento principalmente a unir el centro con la frontera norte del pais. Asi se logro en buena medida extraer el rico potencial minero y agricola del pais para su exportacion hacia los centros de con sumo al otro lado de la frontera. A finales de la primera decada de este siglo la configuracion de las principales ciudades quedo establecida y sento las bases para determinar la ubicacion que tendria la industria ma nufacturera en las siguientes decadas. Ya durante los ultimos lustros del porfiriato se registro una moderada tendencia hacia la concentracion regional de las manufacturas, como lo se nalan las cifras disponibles captadas en el Seminario de Historia Moderna. Las industrias del tabaco (cigarrillos), azucar y textiles se concentraron paulatinamente —entre 1887 y 1911— en las ciudades de Puebla, Ve racruz y Mexico. Las estadisticas industriales elaboradas por Penafiel a principios de siglo permiten estimar que, para el ano de 1902, el Distri to Federal aportaba ya alrededor del 21 °/o de la produccion industrial. Otros centros industriales de importancia se ubican en Monterrey y en varias ciudades de los estados de Morelos, Guanajuato, Puebla e Hidalgo (cuadro 1). La informacion disponible de los censos industriales permite recons truir en forma burda la distribucion de la produccion industrial entre las principales regiones del pais para los siguientes decenios. Para fines ana liticos dividimos el territorio nacional en diez regiones mas o menos ho mogeneas (vease el mapa 1). Para 1930 el Distrito Federal, junto con el estado de Mexico, aportaban cerca del 32 % de la produccion manufac
Set mappings and polarized partition relations bY

A set mapping on a set 5 is a function f from S into the set of subsets of 5 such that u+f(ti) (YES); AcS is called a free set (for the setmapping)if yqf(u> forall x,yeA, i.e. Anf(A)=c#, Itwasanold conjecture of Ruziewicz cl] that, if IS] = rn’ H, , and if IfcY)I< h (reS), where n is a fixed cardinal less than m, then there is a free set of cardinal m. D. LazLr [2] proved this in the case when m is a regular cardinal and Sophie Piccard [3] proved the conjecture for those cardinals m which are the sums of %I smaller cardinals. Erd& [4] gave a solution of the complete conjecture using the generalized continuum hypothesis, and finally Hajnal [S] proved the result without this hypothesis.