Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Priority based maximum consuming power control in smart homes

Due to an increase in home appliances (HAs) the overall power consumption in home tends to grow and leads an increasing risk of losing stability. In this paper, we propose a system model for smart homes to control maximum power consumption by HAs based on HA priority. The proposed system consists of smart electric sensors (SESs), power provisioning controller (PPC) and HAs. The role of PPC is to gather ON/OFF status from each HA and instantaneous consuming power level from SES, and to send control signal back to each HA. After gathering information, along with HA priority, computes a final target power level for each HA is not a hard task. However, when ON/OFF status of HAs change, we may need to reassign an amount of consuming power from one HA to another, and the transient behavior due to such reassignment of power is not simple. This paper proposes a system to control the maximum total power consumption in detailed transient behavior considering heterogeneous HAs with different time constants. In order to guarantee the maximum power limit, we will compute the remaining power, and reassign it to HAs as their temporal target power levels. Simulation results show the effectiveness of our system in managing maximum power consumption.
Positioning Strategies for Existing Brands

This note illustrates a simple theoretical model in which rival brands compete in positioning strategies and prices. The model provides an interpretation of brand positioning in a familiar spatial model. The ability of firms to observe promotional choices of their rivals affords them higher price margins through differentiation. Finally a reaction function analysis suggests that when a rival positions its product in order to gain market share, it is optimal for the firm to position the brand toward a niche rather than trying to recapture lost market share.
Study of breathing pattern and thoracoabdominal movement in mitral valve disease.

BACKGROUND patients with mitral valve disease can progress to having pulmonary congestion, which increases the work the respiratory muscles. This overload can change the breathing pattern with a predominance of rib cage displacement or presence of paradoxical movements. OBJECTIVE a) to study the breathing pattern and thoracoabdominal movement of patients with mitral valve disease; b) to study the effect of body position on breathing parameters; and c) to correlate pulmonary hypertension with lack of coordination of thoracoabdominal movement. METHODS the breathing pattern and thoracoabdominal movement of patients with mitral valve disease were assessed using respiratory inductive plethysmography during quiet breathing in the dorsal decubitus and sitting positions for two minutes. The variables assessed were tidal volume, breathing time and thoracoabdominal movement. RESULTS of the 65 patients selected, 10 were excluded, 29 were in the mitral stenosis group and 26 in the mitral regurgitation group. Tidal volume, pulmonary ventilation and mean inspiratory flow significantly increased in the sitting position, with no difference between the groups. The thoracoabdominal movement remained coordinated in all groups and positions; except for five patients in the dorsal decubitus position, who lacked coordination (three in the mitral stenosis group; two in the mitral regurgitation group). A significant correlation with pulmonary artery pressure values was observed (r = 0.992; p = 0.007). CONCLUSION No difference in breathing pattern or thoracoabdominal movement was found between patients with mitral stenosis and regurgitation. The sitting position increased tidal volume without altering breathing times. The lack of coordination of the thoracoabdominal movement in the dorsal decubitus position was associated with pulmonary hypertension.
Evaluation of faba beans, white lupins and peas as protein sources in broiler diets.

2 Abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of faba beans (Vicia faba), white lupins (Lupinus albus) and peas (Pisum sativum) in two different basal diets on the performance, digestive tract development and carcass characteristics of broilers housed in floor pens over a 35 d grow-out period. The experimental design was a 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of treatments which evaluated two basal wheat-soy diets (with or without meat meal) and legume grains (no legume grain, or faba beans, white lupins and peas at 200 g/kg inclusion). All diets were formulated to contain similar levels of metabolizable energy and digestible amino acids. A 3-phase feeding programme (starter, grower and finisher) was employed. The starter, grower and finisher diets were offered from day 1-7, 8-21 and 22-35, respectively. During the starter period, legume x meat meal interaction was significant (p 0.05) on the performance and carcass recovery of broilers and the litter score. Weight gain and feed per gain of birds fed diets without meat meal were better (p<0.05) than those with meat meal. The main effect of legumes was significant (p<0.01 to 0.05) for the relative weight of liver and gizzard and the relative digesta weight of the crop and proventriculus. Birds fed meat meal diets had lower (p<0.05) relative weights of liver, pancreas and small intestine and relative digesta weight of small intestine than those fed diets with no meat meal diets. It was concluded that, when balanced for metabolizable energy and digestible amino acids, dietary inclusion of faba beans, white lupins and peas at 200 g/kg either in wheat-soybean meal or wheat-soybean meal-meat meal basal diets could support a good performance of birds over the 35-day grow-out period.
On the Integration of Expert Knowledge in Interpolating Controllers

Modelling and control of complex nonlinear plants is a challenging area where learning systems, i.e. systems that construct a nonlinear plant model or controller based on measurement data, are a promising approach. However, in real-world applications, the measured samples are corrupted with noise and often the distribution of the samples does not cover all relevant operating conditions of the plant. Therefore, it is essential that expert knowledge can easily be integrated in the nonlinear models and controllers. The paper at hand brieey summarizes the fundamentals of Delaunay networks for the eecient approximation of nonlinear mappings. After a learning algorithm for this type of network has been outlined, the paper focusses on methods for the integration of expert knowledge. Two applications, one from the automotive sector and another from the eld of robotics, are discussed and illustrate the approach.
A Survey of Reliable Broadcast Protocols for Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

Providing reliable multicast is a basic requirement to build more advanced distributed protocols such as total order or leader election, and much research has gone into providing this functionality for wired networks. However, the protocols developed for wired networks tend to be unsuitable for deployment on mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), as these do not take into account the node mobility or increased sensitivity to network load and conges-
Self-complexity and psychological distress: A test of the buffering model

Abstract Previous research by Linville (1987) has suggested that an individual's cognitive self-complexity can moderate his or her response to stressful life events. We sought to replicate and extend this finding by testing the ability of three distinct measures of self-complexity (a trait-sort procedure, a repertory grid task, and an analysis of the complexity of a narrative self-description) to function as buffers in a multiple regression model against variations over time in depression, stress, and physical symptoms in 127 college students. The three measures of self-complexity were substantially unrelated either to one another or to a measure of general intelligence. Moreover, results supporting the buffer hypothesis were approximated only when the trait-sort operationalization of self-complexity employed by Linville was used. Clearer confirmation of the buffer hypothesis might be obtained through further prospective studies that measure self-complexity in terms of the number and similarity of self-re.
Singletons and Coreference Resolution Evaluation

This paper presents an empirical study on the influence of singletons on the evaluation of coreference resolution systems. We present results on two English data sets used in the SEMEVAL 2010 shared task 1 and the CONLL 2011 shared task using the scorers of both shared tasks. We show that singletons, both in the gold standard and in the system output, have an immense impact on the overall evaluation ‐ in an experiment where the coreference resolution results remain unchanged over the different settings.
Assessment of business value from services re-use on SOA-based e-business platform

The top drivers for SOA adoption include the expectation of greater reuse in existing and newly-built Web services, business flexibility, simplification and speed of integration. So, in order to maximize the intended benefits of service-oriented architecture (SOA) implementation, organizations need to develop a well-articulated SOA quality strategy to promote trust and reuse. However, the shift to this strategy does not come easy and cheap. Building an effective SOA platform requires tight integration between new and existing product categories, and it may require large investments. For this reason, conventional investment valuation methods need to be combined with other modern techniques to reflect SOA's long-term strategic investment nature, the inherent uncertainty and the managerial discretion. Some emerging value-based analytical methodologies have started to be developed extensively under the umbrella concept of Business Value Analysis (BVA). Thus, in this paper, we apply modified CVP/BEP method developed under the BVA umbrella for the evaluation of SOA projects, in particular for the services reuse related.
Joint Agency: Intersubjectivity, Sense of Control, and the Feeling of Trust

Abstract In this paper, I am going to be concerned with the capacity of human beings to act jointly. In particular, I will focus on the phenomenal aspect of collective action. I shall suggest that the experience of being jointly engaged with another is complex: it comprises both a practical grasp of oneself and of the other person as single agents participating in the joint pursuit, and an experience of collective immersion in the activity, which includes a sense of joint control. This suggestion gives rise to a number of puzzles: firstly, what is the relation between jointly engaged agents' awareness of self and other and their sense of a joint engagement? Secondly, how are we to substantiate the idea of a sense of joint control if it is also obviously true that I don't, however close our psychological and bodily attunements, have control over your doings? I shall argue that a satisfactory solution to these puzzles is possible only if we take seriously the notion of a perceptually constituted “intersubjective perspective” that is shared by the participants in joint activities and gives rise to an attitude of mutual trust.
Mondragón's Algebra of Community Economics

Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC), headquartered in the Basque Country, may be the most notable example of workplace democracy that has ever existed. These cooperatives are typically presented from a labor-relations perspective. Studies often focus on process, and the unconventional way the cooperatives organize for innovation. At other times, the cooperatives are examined from a cultural or ethical perspective, which analyzes labor relations or the way MCC organizes internally. In contrast, we want to examine here MCC’s workplace democracy as a means for community economic development. This requires a philosophical analysis of its cultural ethos which underscores the wider potential for workplace democracy in economic and political life. As we’ll see, workplace democracy can serve the participatory life of citizens at the same time it serves their economic needs. Beyond the typical organizational details of this federation of one hundred or so producer, consumer, service,  nancial, insurance, research, and educational cooperatives, we can also examine MCC from an applied ethics orientation. This approach will re ect, among other things, my six  eld-study visits to the cooperatives in Arasate/Mondragón, and the surrounding region. My purpose is not to initiate those who have not yet been introduced to MCC, even though it has an international presence, or to reacquaint those who may even have already traveled there, but to offer a broad sense of the success this democratic workplace experiment has achieved. Workplace democracy, with MCC as an example, provides a progenitor for greater democracy in general, a form of community economics that serves and cultivates a community politically rather than a form of economics that imposes on a community for its service to the economic system. Workplace democracy is the practice of cultural-philosophical economics.
Experimenter bias and other possible biases in psychological research

Ajter a brief discussion of work on experimenter-bias, it is suggested that the possibility of less well documented biases should be considered. A number of such biases are suggested. They are presented in terms of their source, namely the political ideologies, cultural backgrounds, biographical characteristics and personal characteristics of scientists. In considering implications of biases, three reactions are discussed: ignoring, controlling and understanding them. In particular, it is proposed that understanding the operation of bias might be furthered by working towards a taxonomy of biases, organized in terms of the sources of biases and the points in the research process at which they intrude.
Polychlorinated Biphenyl-77 Induces Adipocyte Differentiation and Proinflammatory Adipokines and Promotes Obesity and Atherosclerosis

Background Obesity, an inflammatory condition linked to cardiovascular disease, is associated with expansion of adipose tissue. Highly prevalent coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) such as 3,3′,4,4′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB-77) accumulate in adipose tissue because of their lipophilicity and increase with obesity. However, the effects of PCBs on adipocytes, obesity, and obesity-associated cardiovascular disease are unknown. Objectives In this study we examined in vitro and in vivo effects of PCB-77 on adipocyte differentiation, proinflammatory adipokines, adipocyte morphology, body weight, serum lipids, and atherosclerosis. Methods PCB-77 or 2,2′,4,4,5,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB-153) was incubated with 3T3-L1 adipocytes either during differentiation or in mature adipocytes. Concentration-dependent effects of PCB-77 were contrasted with those of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). For in vivo studies, we treated C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) or aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)−/− mice with vehicle or PCB-77 (49 mg/kg, by intraperitoneal injection) and examined body weight gain. In separate studies, we injected ApoE−/− mice with vehicle or PCB-77 over a 6-week period and examined body weight, adipocyte size, serum lipids, and atherosclerosis. Results Low concentrations of PCB-77 or TCDD increased adipocyte differentiation, glycerol–3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, and expression of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ, whereas higher concentrations inhibited adipocyte differentiation. Effects of PCB-77 were abolished by the AhR antagonist α-naphthoflavone. PCB-77 promoted the expression and release of various proinflammatory cytokines from 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Administration of PCB-77 increased body weight gain in WT but not AhR−/− mice. ApoE−/− mice injected with PCB-77 exhibited greater body weight, adipocyte hypertrophy, serum dyslipidemia, and augmented atherosclerosis. Conclusions Our findings suggest that PCB-77 may contribute to the development of obesity and obesity-associated atherosclerosis.
Iron reduction before and during interferon therapy of chronic hepatitis C: Results of a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial

Patients with chronic hepatitis C and low serum and hepatic iron stores may have an improved response to interferon (IFN). We tested whether iron reduction before and during IFN therapy would lead to an improved sustained biochemical and virological response compared with IFN alone. Eighty‐two previously untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C were randomized to either: group A IFN‐α2b 3 MU 3 times per week for 6 months, or group B iron reduction before and during IFN‐α2b 3 MU 3 times per week for 6 months. Group B patients had lower mean serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels than group A patients during treatment and follow‐up. Group B patients had significantly lower mean hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐RNA levels at treatment weeks 4 and 12 (P < .05). Serum HCV RNA was undetectable at the end of treatment in 15 group B patients compared with 7 group A patients (P = .03); 7 group B patients and 3 group A patients had persistently undetectable serum HCV RNA 24 weeks after the end of therapy (P = .20). Paired pre‐ and posttreatment liver biopsies in 18 group B patients demonstrated significant improvements in 2 of the 3 inflammation scores of the Knodell histological activity index (P < .05). No changes occurred in the paired biopsies from 15 group A patients. We conclude that iron reduction via therapeutic phlebotomy improves the end‐of‐treatment virological and histological response to short‐term IFN therapy. Additional studies are needed to determine if iron reduction in combination with higher doses or longer duration of IFN may be of benefit.
Understanding the General Will

EW CONCEPTS in the history of political thought have proved so troublesome as Rousseau's notion of the general will. Rousseau must bear much of the blame for this, of course, for the discussion of the general will in his Social Contract is uncharacteristically terse and abstract. Troublesome as it has been, though, there is reason to believe that we are now approaching an adequate understanding of the general will. I say this because there seems to be growing agreement among Rousseau's commentators that the general will not only can be understood, but that it can best be understood in rationalistic terms. ' Indeed, where explications once were couched in terms of "real" and "higher" wills, one is now more likely to find the general will explained in terms of the prisoners' dilemma and Paretooptimality.2 While I do not accept all of these rationalistic readings of the general will, I do share the general conviction that we can make sense of Rousseau's concept, and his argument, without resorting to metaphysics or psychology. What I shall offer here, accordingly, is in some respects only a variation on a theme now well known to students of Rousseau's political philosophy. It is an important variation nonetheless, for it enables us to reconcile passages in the Social Contract which otherwise appear to be contradictory. That, at least, is what I shall argue in this essay. I proceed in the following manner. First I set out a general account of what Rousseau means by "the general will" an account which resembles in its main lines, if not all its details, Brian Barry's analysis of the general will.3 This account is defended in the second part of the essay, where I show how it helps us to understand two of the more controversial aspects of Rousseau's argument in the Social Contract. In part three I extend this account (and provide the variation mentioned in the last paragraph) by drawing a distinction, implicit and almost unmarked in Rousseau's writings, between the general will and a general will. With the aid of this distinction, I argue, we can make sense of Rousseau's baffling and apparently contradictory remarks about voting. Once this is demonstrated, I conclude by raising some questions about the utility of the concept of the general will.
Your Cheatin' Heart: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Correlates of Sexual Betrayal in Late Adolescents.

This study examines relations between self-reported acts of sexual betrayal against a romantic partner and three groups of correlates: acceptance of betrayal under a variety of different circumstances, sexual and intimacy variables, and demographic variables. Participants included 417 students at community, public, and private colleges in Northern California who had been in a romantic relationship. Results indicate that although acceptance of betrayal is extremely low, the incidence of betrayal is nevertheless quite high, occurring in more than one third of the sample. The acceptance of betrayal varied with the circumstances under which betrayal occurred. Betrayal was more acceptable in a bad relationship or when there was a magnetic attraction to a new partner than when the perpetrators were being vindictive or were certain they would not get caught. Betrayal behavior was significantly correlated with sexual and intimacy variables including attitudes to betrayal, sexual permissiveness, early onset of sex.
Psychology's essential role in alleviating the impacts of climate change.

Climate change is occurring: where is psychology? The conventional wisdom is that amelioration of the impacts of climate change is a matter for earth and ocean science, economics, technology, and policy-making. This article presents the basis for psychological science as a key part of the solution to the problem and describes the challenges to this both from within psychology and from other points of view. Minimising the personal and environmental damage caused by climate change necessarily is a multidisciplinary task, but one to which psychology not only should, but must contribute more than it has so far.
The “Blurring” of Special Education in a New Continuum of General Education Placements and Services

For nearly 10 years, the response-to-intervention (RTI) policy initiative has engendered enthusiasm at federal, state, and local levels and among various stakeholders. Nevertheless, there are basic and important disagreements about its nature and purpose. The authors describe two groups with contrasting perspectives on RTI in an effort to examine its multiple meanings, to argue that neither group has a credible plan to educate children and youth with severe learning needs, and to encourage all interested parties to think productively about what they want to accomplish in the name of RTI.
Public perceptions of plant biotechnology—a focus group study

Focus groups were conducted with plant biotechnology researchers, active environmental group members, university students and farmers in central Michigan. The study's objective was to gain a greater understanding of the factors that influence how plant biotechnology and genetically modified foods are viewed by these groups. Participants demonstrated a complex mental picture of plant biotechnology, including many related environmental, socio-economic and value-driven issues. The participants, including those generally supportive of the new technology, identified issues warranting further attention, including the issues of choice, control, equity, trust and scientific uncertainty. Participants with an ecocentric worldview perceived plant biotechnology as symptomatic of Western society's approach to solving problems through technological fixes. Participants believed that a meaningful public debate of the new technology had yet to occur in the US, but was warranted. Impediments to such a debate include scientific illiteracy, issue complexity, lack of public awareness and a lack of industry and regulatory agency openness or willingness to engage the public.