Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Critical review of vendor lock-in and its impact on adoption of cloud computing

Cloud computing offers an innovative business model for organizations to adopt IT services at a reduced cost with increased reliability and scalability. However organizations are slow in adopting the cloud model due to the prevalent vendor lock-in issue and challenges associated with it. While the existing cloud solutions for public and private companies are vendor locked-in by design, their existence is subject to limited possibility to interoperate with other cloud systems. In this paper we have presented a critical review of pertinent business, technical and legal issues associated with vendor lock-in, and how it impacts on the widespread adoption of cloud computing. The paper attempts to reflect on the issues associated with interoperability and portability, but with a focus on vendor lock-in. Moreover, the paper demonstrates the importance of interoperability, portability and standards applicable to cloud computing environments along with highlighting other corporate concerns due to the lock-in problem. The outcome of this paper provides a foundation for future analysis and review regarding the impact of vendor neutrality for corporate cloud computing application and services.
Gauging the Effectiveness of Quantitative Forward Guidance: Evidence from Three Inflation Targeters

This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the performances of the forward guidance strategies adopted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the Norges Bank and the Riksbank, with the aim to gauge whether forward guidance via publication of an own interest rate path enhances a central bank’s ability to steer market expectations. Two main results emerge. First, we find evidence that all three central banks have been highly predictable in their monetary policy decisions and that long-term inflation expectations have been well anchored in the three economies, irrespective of whether forward guidance involved publication of an own interest rate path or not. Second, for New Zealand, we find weak evidence that a publication of a path could potentially enhance a central bank’s leverage on the medium term structure of interest rates. JEL Classification: E40, E43, E52
Application of Conceptual Structures in Requirements Modeling

Requirements modeling has been applied in CASE technologies to formalize knowledge needed for constructing models of information systems. The problem is to acquire knowledge from requirements texts and represent it as intermediate requirements model for entity-relationships or object oriented modeling. Proposed approach is based on formalization of entities and their attributes as formal contexts. It is shown that formal contexts created on the set of conceptual graphs extracted from requirements text may serve as data source for requirements models have been applied in real CASE technologies.
International Trade and Conservation with Costly Natural Resource Management

We propose a model where the benevolent resource planner's management is endogenous. This allows for the analysis of trade models with management regimes other than the polar open access and 1st best regimes. Interestingly, 2nd best, endogenous, management regimes are more realistic than the textbook 1st best policy prescription. In a very simple model where current gains do not depend on the resource stock, and where resource management incurs a fixed cost, we have disproved, some statements made by the WTO. Indeed, in our 2nd best setting, free trade with "proper" management of resources can lead to welfare losses. It can also cause the extinction of a species and therefore hinder the environment. Further research is underway with more general assumptions. We expect that our results regarding WTO statements and questions will be mitigated, but they should still hold true under some conditions. We know that trade can be welfare increasing and it can help the environment. However, knowing when it does not and why can be helpful for policy-making. This is what we attempt to figure out in this paper.
An efficient tag anti-collision protocol for RFID systems

In low-cost RFID systems, efficient anti-collision protocol of passive tags is very desirable for fast identification. In this paper, we propose a new anti-collision protocol: assigned tree slotted aloha anti-collision protocol. The key technology is to assign prefixes to each frame and slot respectively such that tags can match the frame recognition first and slot recognition next. Compared with the conventional Aloha one, the new protocol is deterministic so that it can recognize all the tags. There are fewer collision slots, and shorter delay in our protocol in contrast to others. Most notably, the simulation result shows that our protocol can achieve a system efficiency of 61.8% at most, which is much higher than other protocols.
An ADT Profile

This report presents our ADT profile, a UML profile for modelin g the data-structure related aspects of an application. The main goal is to suppor t gl bal data-structure optimization activities at the modeling level. We implemented this ADT profile using MagicDraw UML 12.1 [15] , a visual UML 2 modeling and CASE tool that is widely adopted in the soft ware industry. MagicDraw supports the XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) 2.1 stan d rd for the distribution of UML profiles and UML user models. This ADT profile is a vailable at the website of the LORE research group in XML format for import an d ready for use in other UML 2 compliant modeling tools [16]. This report is organized as follows: Section 1 gives an overv iew of the structure of the ADT profile. In the following three sections, the new AD T-specific modeling concepts are discussed in detail and illustrated with clari fying examples.
Look-ahead cyclic pitch control using LIDAR

LIDAR (Light detection and ranging) systems are able to provide preview information of wind disturbances at various distances in front of wind turbines. This information can be used to improve the control of wind turbines. This paper compares a predictive feedforward control structure combined with common PI controllers to a baseline controller and to an H∞ approach showing the advantage of look-ahead control to reduce wind turbine loads. The control design is verified by simulations with a turbulent wind field and a full nonlinear model of the wind turbine.
Searching for physical objects in partially known environments

We address the problem of a mobile manipulation robot searching for an object in a cluttered domain that is populated with an unknown number of objects in an unknown arrangement. The robot must move around its environment, looking in containers, moving occluding objects to improve its view, and reasoning about collocation of objects of different types, all in service of finding a desired object. The key contribution in reasoning is a Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method for drawing samples of the arrangements of objects in an occluded container, conditioned on previous observations of other objects as well as spatial constraints. The key contribution in planning is a receding-horizon forward search in the space of distributions over arrangements (including number and type) of objects in the domain; to maintain tractability the search is formulated in a model that abstracts both the observations and actions available to the robot. The strategy is shown empirically to improve upon a baseline systematic search strategy, and sometimes outperforms a method from previous work.
Composition of Interactive Web Services Based on Controller Synthesis

We study an abstract form of service composition where Web services are represented as nondeterministic communicating automata. Considering the case in which communication is done via channels able to hold at most one message at a time, the service composition problem consists, given a client service, a goal service and a community of available services, to determine whether there exists a mediator service able to communicate with the client and the services of the given community in such a way that their global behavior satisfies the client service request expressed as the given goal service. We demonstrate the decidability of this problem via a reduction to a decidable control problem.
A Conceptual Graph Petri Net Model based Multi Agent System

In this work, we propose a new formal tool called CGPN (Conceptual Graph Petri Nets) which is a combination of CG (Conceptual Graph) and CPN (Color Petri Net) to model collaborative behavior of agents in a MAS(Multi Agent System) to achieve some goals. The CG is used to represent knowledge and on the other side CPN is used to model the concurrent and dynamic aspects of a system. It is difficult to extract precise information from MAS which is dynamic in nature. Modeling MAS with CGPN will help in representing the knowledge and dynamic behavior together. Finally, the CGPN model for MAS is tested for deadlock freedom and reachability analysis to verify its correctness.
Factors influencing familial decision-making regarding human papillomavirus vaccination.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this review is to summarize the research regarding Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination uptake among families with adolescent/preadolescent daughters. METHODS Literature searches (utilizing PubMed and PsychInfo databases) were conducted and research examining psychological and environmental factors which relate to HPV vaccine uptake and intentions was reviewed. RESULTS Factors such as physician recommendations, perceptions of the beliefs of peers and significant others, history of childhood immunizations, and communication with adolescents regarding sexual topics appear to influence HPV vaccination outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Although primary prevention of cervical and other cancers is available for preadolescent and adolescent girls, rates of HPV vaccine uptake are low. Future interventions should target vaccine intent and physician/family communication as a means to increasing HPV vaccination.
Novel Algorithm for Feature Extraction and Feature Selection from Electrocardiogram Signal

It has been seen that emotion recognition is an important research topic in the field of Human and computer interface. A novel technique for Feature Extraction (FE) has been presented here, further a new method has been used for human emotion recognition which is based on HHT method. This method is feasible for analyzing the nonlinear and nonstationary signals. Each signal has been decomposed into the IMF using the EMD. These functions are used to extract the features using fission and fusion process. The decomposition technique adopted is a new technique for adaptively decomposing signals. In this perspective, the potential usefulness of EMD based techniques is reported here. The algorithm developed is based on the Augsburg University Database; the manually annotated database.
Within/between population crosses reveal genetic basis for siring success in Silene latifolia (Caryophyllaceae)

Abstract Divergence at reproductive traits can generate barriers among populations, and may result from several mechanisms, including drift, local selection and co‐adaptation between the sexes. Intersexual co‐adaptation can arise through sexually antagonistic co‐evolution, a timely hypothesis addressed in animals but, to our knowledge, not yet in flowering plants. We investigated whether male and female population of origin affected pollen competition success, offspring fitness and sex ratio in crosses within/between six genetically differentiated populations of the white campion, Silene latifolia. Each female was crossed with pollen from one focus male from the same population, and pollen from two focus males from two distinct populations, both as single‐donor and two‐donor crosses against a fixed tester male with a 2‐h interpollination interval (n = 288 crosses). We analysed paternity with microsatellite DNA. Male populations of origin significantly differed for siring success and in vitro pollen germination rates. In vitro pollen germination rate was heritable. Siring success also depended on sex ratio in the female family of origin, but only in between‐population crosses. In some female populations, two‐donor crosses produced less female‐biased sex ratios compared with single‐donor crosses, yet in other female populations the reverse was true. Offspring sex ratio varied with donor number, depending on the female population. Within/between population crosses did not differ significantly in seed set or offspring fitness, nor were siring success and offspring fitness significantly correlated. Altogether this suggests reproductive divergence for traits affecting pollen competition in S. latifolia.
Wicked problem or clear mission?: understanding governance informatability

In this paper we search for and analyze the atomic components of governance systems and discuss whether or not they can be informated, i.e. tangibly represented within the digital realm of information systems. We draw a framework based on the theories of Downs, Jellinek, and Hohfeld and find that the therein identified atomic components cannot be informated directly, but only indirectly, due to the inherent complexity of governance. We outline pending research questions to be addressed in the future.
Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV Inhibition Activates CREB and Improves Islet Vascularization through VEGF-A/VEGFR-2 Signaling Pathway

Substitution of pancreatic islets is a potential therapy to treat diabetes and it depends on reconstitution of islet’s capillary network. In this study, we addressed the question whether stabilization of Glucagon-Like-Peptide-1 (GLP-1) by inhibiting Dipeptidyl Peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) increases β-cell mass by modulating vascularization. Mouse or porcine donor islets were implanted under kidney capsule of diabetic mice treated with DPP-IV inhibitor sitagliptin. Grafts were analyzed for insulin production, β-cell proliferation and vascularization. In addition, the effect of sitagliptin on sprouting and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-A expression was examined ex vivo. The cAMP response element-binding (CREB) and VEGF-A/ Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor (VEGFR)-2 signaling pathway leading to islet vascularization was explored. Sitagliptin increased mean insulin content of islet grafts and area of insulin-positive tissue as well as β-cell proliferation. Interestingly, sitagliptin treatment also markedly increased endothelial cell proliferation, microvessel density and blood flow. Finally, GLP-1 (7-36) stimulated sprouting and VEGF expression, which was significantly enhanced by sitagliptin- mediated inhibition of DPP-IV. Our in vivo data demonstrate that sitagliptin treatment phosphorylated CREB and induced islet vascularization through VEGF-A/VEGFR-2 signaling pathway. This study paves a new pathway for improvement of islet transplantation in treating diabetes mellitus.
Sensor-based simultaneous localization and mapping — Part II: Online inertial map and trajectory estimation

A novel sensor-based filter for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), featuring globally asymptotically stable error dynamics, is proposed in a companion paper, with application to uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs). This paper presents the second part of the algorithm, detailing a computationally efficient and numerically robust method for online inertial map and trajectory estimation based on the estimates provided by the SLAM filter previously derived. Central to the solution is the formulation of an optimization problem, that of finding the translation and the rotation that best explain the transformation between two sets of landmarks, with known associations, for consecutive time instants. The validation, performance, and consistency assessment of the proposed SLAM algorithm is successfully performed with real data, which was acquired by an instrumented quadrotor.
Automated Testing of Multithreaded Programs Using Race-Detection and Flipping

Testing concurrent programs that accept data inputs is notoriously hard because, besides the large number of possible data inputs, nondeterminism results in an exponentially large number of interleavings of concurrent events. We propose a novel testing algorithm for concurrent programs in which our goal is not only to execute all reachable statements of a program, but to detect all possible data races, and deadlock states. The algorithm uses a combination of symbolic and concrete execution (called concolic execution) to explore all distinct causal structures (or partial order relations among events generated during execution) of a concurrent program. The idea of concolic testing is to use the symbolic execution to generate inputs that direct a program to alternate paths, and to use the concrete execution to guide the symbolic execution along a concrete path. Our algorithm uses the concrete execution to compute the exact race conditions between the events of an execution at runtime. Subsequently, we systematically re-order or permute the events involved in these races by generating new thread schedules as well as generate new test inputs. This way we explore at least one representative from each partial order. We describe jCUTE, a tool implementing the testing algorithm together with the results of applying jCUTE to realworld multithreaded Java applications and libraries. In one of our case studies, we discovered several undocumented potential concurrency-related bugs in the widely used Java collection framework distributed with the Sun Microsystems’ JDK 1.4.
Benecial gradual deployment of SCTP

The Internet-wide deployment of new protocols such as the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is a difficult matter. The employment of SCTP would be beneficial in many cases, but it is a major challenge to enable applications to use the new protocol at both ends, client and server. The prevalence of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which has been established as the dominant transport protocol in today’s Internet, therefore needs to be broken. This master thesis discusses existing solutions and presents a technique for gradually deploying SCTP alongside TCP in two steps. First, it investigates the advantages and disadvantages of replacing a TCP connection with an SCTP association. Second, it demonstrates a new approach which let existing and new applications transparently use SCTP. The goals were to gain information about the benefits of SCTP’s multi-streaming feature and to explore the portability of existing TCP-based applications to SCTP. Practical measurements show that transparent mapping of TCP connections onto SCTP streams is possible and that in certain cases a speedup can be achieved. The results are gained by experimental analysis in a typical small office or home (SOHO) network. Documented benefits and open issues give the reader an outlook on problems that can arise in such environments, as well as a good insight into SCTP multi-streaming application development. This makes this thesis a valuable guide for programmers who consider implementing SCTP based software in such a manner for a productive use in communication systems.
THE INEVITABILITY OF UNCONDITIONALLY DELETERIOUS SUBSTITUTIONS DURING ADAPTATION

Studies on the genetics of adaptation from new mutations typically neglect the possibility that a deleterious mutation might fix. Nonetheless, here we show that, in many regimes, the first mutation to fix is most often deleterious, even when fitness is expected to increase in the long term. In particular, we prove that this phenomenon occurs under weak mutation for any house‐of‐cards model with an equilibrium distribution. We find that the same qualitative results hold under Fisher's geometric model. We also provide a simple intuition for the surprising prevalence of unconditionally deleterious substitutions during early adaptation. Importantly, the phenomenon we describe occurs on fitness landscapes without any local maxima and is therefore distinct from “valley crossing. ” Our results imply that the common practice of ignoring deleterious substitutions leads to qualitatively incorrect predictions in many regimes. Our results also have implications for the substitution process at equilibrium and for the response to a sudden decrease in population size.
"A Regulatory Conundrum: Industrial Relations and the 'Social Dimension'"

This chapter portrays the process of regulatory policy-making in the 'social dimension' as an ongoing attempt to resolve this regulatory conundrum. It begins by considering the context from which European level of social and labour market policy has begun to emerge: the actors, competing interests, institutions, pressures and counter-pressures which have simultaneously helped and hindered the construction of the limited regulatory regime that currently constitutes the 'social dimension'. It then proceeds to consider the emergence of an embryonic system of governance in this area in terms of the three essential characteristics of a regime identified in the work of Oran Young: the substantive (the cluster of rights and rules associated with the regime), theprocedural (the forms of decision-making) and the mode of implementation.8 This will be carried out via an examination of the twin 'pillars' of the 'social dimension'. The first (the legislative pillar) which comprises substantive and procedural developments (involving EC legislative acts and treaty arrangements) will be discussed in section two. The second (the social dialogue pillar) which comprises a potentially important second instrument of governance - agreements between the so-called social partners - will be discussed in section three. Section four considers developments since the Maastricht summit of December 1991. The Treaty on European Union attempted, via its Social Protocol and Agreement, to create a new architecture of social and labour market policy-making by reforming the procedural and implementation components of the nascent regime: firstly by eliminating the single Member State veto on a wide range of policy areas; secondly by bridging the legislative and social dialogue pillars to allow for decision-making and implementation via 'collective agreement'; and thirdly, by enhancing the powers of the European Court of Justice to penalise Member State failure to implement directives.
A study of cursor trajectories of motion-impaired users

This paper describes a study of the cursor trajectories of motion-impaired users in "point and click" interactions. A characteristic of cursor movement is proposed that aims to capture the spatial distribution of cursor movement about a target. This characteristic indicates that users often exhibit increased cursor movement in the vicinity of the target, have more difficulty performing the "clicking" part of the interaction as compared to the navigation part, and tend to navigate directly toward the target during the middle portion of the cursor trajectory. The implications of these characteristic behaviours on interface design are discussed.
Enabling Advanced Business Intelligence in Divino

This paper presents the system targeted in the Divino project, funded under the Industria 2015 framework of the Italian Ministry of Industry. The resulting platform embodies an innovative portal technology where Social Web functionalities, User Profiling and Aspect-based Opinion Mining are integrated through Liferay, a well known Enterprise Portal Technology. The proposed approach allows analysts to bootstrap an opinion-mining system by interacting with data-driven functions based on effective Online Machine Learning paradigms. The evaluation of the proposed methods is carried out in the targeted domain, i.e. the marketing of national wine products, one of the major focus area of the Made in Italy track of Industria 2015.