Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Definition of derived classes in OODBs

According to the ANSI/SPARC architecture, external schemas are derived from the database conceptual schema. In object-oriented databases (OODBs), an external schema map include classes defined in the conceptual schema just as it may also contain derived classes which are directly or indirectly defined on the basis of conceptual schema classes. In the definition of derived classes in OODBs three main issues have to be resolved, namely: the integration of derived classes with other classes in an object schema; the definition of classes with new objects; and the transmission of modifications between the objects in derived classes and those of the classes from which they are defined. A solution to the first issue was proposed by Samos (1998). In this paper, the two remaining issues are further studied and new conceptual level solutions are put forward. Our proposals are informally illustrated through some examples.
A Vision of Collaborative Verification-Driven Engineering of Hybrid Systems

Hybrid systems with both discrete and continuous dynamics are an important model for real-world physical systems. The key challenge is how to ensure their correct functioning w.r. t. safety requirements. Promising techniques to ensure safety seem to be model-driven engineering to develop hybrid systems in a well-defined and traceable manner, and formal verification to prove their correctness. Their combination forms the vision of verification-driven engineering. Despite the remarkable progress in automating formal verification of hybrid systems, the construction of proofs of complex systems often requires significant human guidance, since hybrid systems verification tools solve undecidable problems. It is thus not uncommon for verification teams to consist of many players with diverse expertise. This paper introduces a verification-driven engineering toolset that extends our previous work on hybrid and arithmetic verification with tools for (i) modeling hybrid systems, (ii) exchanging and comparing models and proofs, and (iii) managing verification tasks. This toolset makes it easier to tackle large-scale verification tasks.
Potential Games : Theory and Application in Wireless Networks Multiagent Systems

Potential games are subclass of strategic normal form games. Each potential game admits a potential function which is the key idea of potential games. Potential function characterizes special behavior of payoff functions. There are several notions of potential games. In this paper, I study some notions of potential games and explain the relation between potential games and potential functions. Among various properties of the potential games, I characterize two more important ones: existence of Nash equilibrium and convergence of the learning process to the Nash equilibrium. Two examples are presented in order to demonstrate the application of potential games in wireless network.
LDC Poverty Alleviation and the Doha Development Agenda: Is Tourism Being Neglected?

When tourism's impressive potential for poverty alleviation is considered, the lack of attention is even more striking. Reasons for the apparent neglect are complex, and include a lack of awareness of tourism as an export sector, the fragmented nature of the industry and low political influence, exaggerated concerns over "leakages", misunderstandings about poverty alleviation and tourism, and the "poker playing" characteristic of trade negotiations. The evident results are missed opportunities to address services infrastructure constraints (one of the greatest impediments to increasing LDC tourism revenues and value-added), as well as a failure to address sufficiently tourism's agricultural, industrial, and Aid for Trade linkages. Existing national-level investment promotion objectives, as well as DTIS and TPR reports can be helpful for identifying priorities for both GATS negotiations and Aid for Trade. The focus should not necessarily be on making GATS commitments, but rather on ensuring that the importance of tourism for LDCs is acknowledged and acted upon. Indeed, governments can always further liberalize on a unilateral basis; in the context of the DDA, however, they can request greater access to trading partners' markets in exchange, as well as gain valuable international attention and publicity.
Protective Immunity and Vaccination Against Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Although a great deal of knowledge has been gained from studies on the immunobiology of leishmaniasis, there is still no universally acceptable, safe, and effective vaccine against the disease. This strongly suggests that we still do not completely understand the factors that control and/or regulate the development and sustenance of anti-Leishmania immunity, particularly those associated with secondary (memory) immunity. Such an understanding is critically important for designing safe, effective, and universally acceptable vaccine against the disease. Here we review the literature on the correlate of protective anti-Leishmania immunity and vaccination strategies against leishmaniasis with a bias emphasis on experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis.
H1-conditional stability with explicit Lipshitz constant for a one-dimensional inverse acoustic problem

Abstract - In the present paper we formulate and investigate a one-dimensional inverse acoustic problem in the form of a nonlinear system of Volterra integral equations. We prove the conditional stability of the inverse problem with explicitly given Lipschitz constant depending only on the depth l and on bounds of the norms of the unknown coefficient and inverse problem data. The proposed technique can be applied to prove the local well-posedness of the inverse problem in L2(0, l).
Acceleration of Economic Reform in Japan and the Role of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy

Creation of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) made Japans economic and fiscal policy making more transparent, consistent and coherent. This new institutional arrangement accelerated structural reform and improved economic and fiscal policy making in general, thus contributing to the recent economic recovery. Success of this new institutional arrangement is, at least in part, attributable to a couple of virtues of CEFPs decision making process : transparency, an economy-wide view and an integrated approach. However, the CEFP is a new institutional setting and not deeply rooted in Japanese political system. In post-Koizumi era, further efforts should be made to make more use of the CEFP as a tool to improve policy making and an engine of economic reform.
Outcome measurements in economic evaluations of drug misuse interventions

This thesis critically evaluates the measurement of outcomes in economic evaluations of drug misuse interventions. Three different aspects of measuring outcomes are examined: one focusing on non-monetary outcomes at the individual patient level; one focusing on monetary outcomes within studies using individual patient level data; and one focusing on long-term outcomes, both monetary and non-monetary. The many limitations of measuring these outcomes in existing economic evaluations of drug misuse interventions are exposed and the problems with conducting such studies are identified. The importance of this thesis is thus in providing an overview and methodological critique of the extant economic evaluations of drug misuse interventions. In addition a decision analytic model for a drug testing in schools programme is developed to illustrate how the limitations highlighted in the methodological critique might be addressed by future research. The findings of the thesis reveal the problems with using EQ-5D as a generic outcome measure for economic evaluations of drug misuse interventions, as is recommended by NICE in the UK. The nature of drug misuse problems requires that a wide range of different measures, including drug misuse specific measures, must be taken into account when evaluating drug misuse interventions. Similarly, the limitations with existing studies that attempt to estimate the monetary outcome of drug misuse interventions are exposed, as many studies fail to take into account all of the costs that will determine the monetary impact of an intervention for society. The thesis stresses the complexity of drug misuse and the need to measure the long-term outcomes of interventions, which may be best achieved by developing drug misuse modelling studies. However, these models are then revealed to be themselves limited, in part due to the lack of real-world data available to set their parameters.
Clustering in growing neutrino cosmologies

We show that growing neutrino models, in which the growing neutrino mass stops the dynamical evolution of a dark energy scalar field, lead to a substantial neutrino clustering on the scales of superclusters. Nonlinear neutrino lumps form at redshift z≈1 and could partially drag the clustering of dark matter. If observed, large scale non‐linear structures could be an indication for a new attractive force stronger than gravity and mediated by the ‘cosmon’ dark energy scalar field.
EFFECTS OF LOCAL ACTUATOR ACTION ON THE CONTROL OF LARGE FLEXIBLE STRUCTURES

Abstract Active vibration damping of flexible structures requires the positioning of actuators and sensors along the structure. When the actuators become particularly small in comparison to the structure a large number of modes is necessary to accurately represent the response of the structure. Neglecting these higher modes may result in a spillover phenomenon which is capable of destabilizing the closed loop system. Therefore proper correction methods to account for the dynamics of higher modes in the structural model have to be found. One such possibility is the utilization of Frequency Response Modes (FRM), a special form of the particular solution of the equations of motion of a flexible structure. In this paper the FRM is defined and used for model correction of a simply supported beam. Finally correction terms are used to quantize local actuator action.
Path dependence and path creation: Framing the extra‐financial information market for a sustainable trajectory

Purpose - This paper aims to analyze so-called sustainability, corporate social responsibility or citizenship reports, as artefacts of a compromise between an institutional entrepreneur (IE), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and companies. Some companies take on this invitation but to which extent the information they produce as a result corresponds to the ideal promoted by the IE? Design/methodology/approach - A sample of ten reports from Canadian companies were analyzed using a combination of deductive and inductive coding techniques. The discourse and pictures were analyzed to identify whether they represent path creation (adherence to the sustainability ideal) or path dependence (the expression of traditional business interests and practices). Findings - The study findings show that companies adopt the sustainability reporting guideline and ideal promoted by IE, but only partially. Path dependence and path creation are in tension, a condition typical of innovative processes according to the actor network theory (ANT) framework. It suggests that the market for sustainability information is under construction. Originality/value - The value of the paper is that it examines voluntary disclosure of social and environmental performance by companies, using the notion of IE from the neo-institutionalist theory, as well as the innovation model from the ANT. The originality of the paper also lies in its methodology – particularly the use of a mixed method—including the composition of “poems” with “verses” extracted from the corporate reports.
A Fast Partial Distance Search Algorithm for VQ Codebook

Vector quantization (VQ) is an efficient technique for image compression. However, one of the most serious problems of VQ is the heavily computational load for searching the closest codeword to the input vector in the codebook. To overcome this problem, we propose a simple and fast partial distance search algorithm for VQ codebook by using the sum-norm pyramid structure of codewords. The proposed scheme can eliminate many codewords that are impossible to be closest to the input vector in the codebook. Therefore, it can save a great deal of computational time for the image encoding process of VQ. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme significantly reduces the encoding time of VQ and obtains approximately the same image quality as the full search algorithm (FSA). It also shows that our scheme outperforms the recent fast codeword search algorithms in terms of the coding time.
STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTION OF HYPERGLYCAEMIC EMERGENCIES IN NIGERIA

The mortality and morbidity of acute metabolic complications of diabetes, particularly DKA and HHS are unacceptably high in Nigeria. Prevention of occurrence of these hyperglycaemic emergencies (HE) is the only rational way for a resource poor country like Nigeria. Prevention requires careful identification of precipitating factors of HE. The leading precipitating factors of HE in Nigeria are infections, inadequate or inappropriate use of anti-diabetic agents, especially insulin. HE may also be the first presentation in persons previously unknown to have diabetes. Measures to prevent HE include creation of awareness in the public, effective and systematic education of the persons living with diabetes and capacity building and manpower development of the healthcare personnel. There should be critical appraisal of our healthcare system with a view to restructuring so it can be more accessible to patients and can deliver quality diabetes care. Finally government must sincerely provide an alternative of healthcare financing for the citizens, especially those living with chronic medical conditions like diabetes.
Backbone services as growth enabling factor - an Input-Output analysis for South Africa

While previous studies highlight the importance of the manufacturing sector in the economy, we argue that rather backbone services play a key role for economic growth. We perform an Input-Output analysis to determine the linkages between backbone services and manufacturing in South Africa. We find high and evenly spread forward linkages of backbone services to the rest of the economy which indicate strong growth- inducing downstream effects. Moreover, the interconnectedness between backbone services and manufacturing is twofold and depends on the level of technology intensity of industries. Especially the production of high technology goods requires a relatively higher share of inputs from backbone services. Thus, an efficient provision of backbone services is essential to induce manufacturing production and enable economic growth in South Africa.
Search-Based Structured Prediction as Classiﬁcation

Solutions to computationally hard problems often require that search be used. Integrating search into the learning phase has been previously proposed in an ad-hoc manner [2]. In this paper, we show that structured prediction can be mapped into a search setting using language from reinforcement learning, and known techniques for reinforcement learning [7] can give formal performance bounds on the structured prediction task
Dual-hop amplify-and-forward multi-relay maximum ratio transmission

In this paper, the performance of dual-hop multi-relay maximum ratio transmission (MRT) over Rayleigh flat fading channels is studied with both conventional (all relays participate the transmission) and opportunistic (best relay is selected to maximize the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)) relaying. Performance analysis starts with the derivation of the probability density function, cumulative distribution function and moment generating function of the SNR. Then, both approximate and asymptotic expressions of symbol error rate (SER) and outage probability are derived for arbitrary numbers of antennas and relays. With the help of asymptotic SER and outage probability, diversity and array gains are obtained. In addition, impact of imperfect channel estimations is investigated and optimum power allocation factors for source and relay are calculated. Our analytical findings are validated by numerical examples which indicate that multi-relay MRT can be a low complexity and reliable option in cooperative networks.
P. falciparum Modulates Erythroblast Cell Gene Expression in Signaling and Erythrocyte Production Pathways

Global, genomic responses of erythrocytes to infectious agents have been difficult to measure because these cells are e-nucleated. We have previously demonstrated that in vitro matured, nucleated erythroblast cells at the orthochromatic stage can be efficiently infected by the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. We now show that infection of orthochromatic cells induces change in 609 host genes. 592 of these transcripts are up-regulated and associated with metabolic and chaperone pathways unique to P. falciparum infection, as well as a wide range of signaling pathways that are also induced in related apicomplexan infections of mouse hepatocytes or human fibroblast cells. Our data additionally show that polychromatophilic cells, which precede the orthochromatic stage and are not infected when co-cultured with P. falciparum, up-regulate a small set of genes, at least two of which are associated with pathways of hematopoiesis and/or erythroid cell development. These data support the idea that P. falciparum affects erythropoiesis at multiple stages during erythroblast differentiation. Further P. falciparum may modulate gene expression in bystander erythroblasts and thus influence pathways of erythrocyte development. This study provides a benchmark of the host erythroblast cell response to infection by P. falciparum.
Towards genetic manipulation of wild mosquito populations to combat malaria: advances and challenges

SUMMARY Malaria kills millions of people every year, yet there has been little progress in controlling this disease. For transmission to occur, the malaria parasite has to complete a complex developmental cycle in the mosquito. The mosquito is therefore a potential weak link in malaria transmission, and generating mosquito populations that are refractory to the parasite is a potential means of controlling the disease. There has been considerable progress over the last decade towards developing the tools for creating a refractory mosquito. Accomplishments include germline transformation of several important mosquito vectors, the completed genomes of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae and the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, and the identification of promoters and effector genes that confer resistance in the mosquito. These tools have provided researchers with the ability to engineer a refractory mosquito vector, but there are fundamental gaps in our knowledge of how to transfer this technology safely and effectively into field populations. This review considers strategies for interfering with Plasmodium development in the mosquito, together with issues related to the transfer of laboratory-acquired knowledge to the field, such as minimization of transgene fitness load to the mosquito, driving genes through populations, avoiding the selection of resistant strains, and how to produce and release populations of males only.
Estimating the prevalence of disordered gambling behavior in the United States and Canada: a research synthesis.

OBJECTIVES This study developed prevalence estimates of gambling-related disorders in the United States and Canada, identified differences in prevalence among population segments, and identified changes in prevalence over the past 20 years. METHODS A meta-analytic strategy was employed to synthesize estimates from 119 prevalence studies. This method produced more reliable prevalence rates than were available from any single study. RESULTS Prevalence estimates among samples of adolescents were significantly higher than estimates among samples of adults for both clinical (level 3) and subclinical (level 2) measures of disordered gambling within both lifetime and past-year time frames (e.g., 3.9% vs 1.6% for lifetime estimates of level 3 gambling). Among adults, prevalence estimates of disordered gambling have increased significantly during the past 20 years. CONCLUSIONS Membership in youth, treatment, or prison population segments is significantly associated with experiencing gambling-related disorders. Understanding subclinical gamblers provides a meaningful opportunity to lower the public health burden associated with gambling disorders. Further research is necessary to determine whether the prevalence of disordered gambling will continue to increase among the general adult population and how prevalence among adolescents will change as this cohort ages.
An atlas of mid-infrared dust emission in spiral galaxies

We present maps of dust emission at 7 ma nd 15m/7m intensity ratios of selected regions in 43 spiral galaxies observed with ISOCAM. This atlas is a complement to studies based on these observations, dealing with star formation in centers of barred galaxies and in spiral disks. It is accompanied by a detailed description of data reduction and an inventory of generic morphological properties in groups dened according to bar strength and HI gas content.
Key components of a 130 GHz dicke-radiometer SiGe RFIC

This paper presents the design and characterization results of the key components of calibrated passive radiometer (Dicke-radiometer) operating in the low D-band (around 130 GHz) and realized in IBM's standard 0.12-um SiGe BiCMOS technology (IBM8HP, fT /fMAX =180/220 GHz). Several perspective candidates for the Dicke-switch, the low-noise amplifier and the square-law detector have been designed and characterized, obtaining fair agreement between the measured and the simulated performance.
A new AdaboostSVM algorithm based on multi-feature fusion for multi-pose face detection

To improve the performance of multi-pose face detection, the AdaboostSVM algorithm based on multi-feature fusion is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the Haar-like features and the triangular integral features are introduced and the edge-orientation field features based on morphological gradient are presented. Then, the AdaboostSVM Algorithm based on the above three kinds of features is proposed. The results of the experiment show that the proposed algorithm could improve the performance of multi-pose face detection effectively.
Covariance patterns among birds and vegetation in a California oak woodland

We sampled characteristics of vegetation and estimated abundances of bird species on 23 plots representing a continuum of tree densities of the blue oak phase of the Coast Range foothill woodland near Hopland, California. Fifty-one bird species were found breeding. Cavity-nesters dominated the bird community in number of species and individuals. Cavity nesters used a variety of tree species for nesting, highlighting the importance of tree species richness. Large deciduous oaks were found to be important as granary trees for acorn woodpeckers, as well as substrates for nest cavity excavation by primary cavity nesters. Large evergreen trees were important in providing natural cavities to many secondary cavity nesting bird species. Both individual bird species and guilds showed few covariations with tree density. We discuss why a guild approach is not always a useful way to describe relationships between bird abundance and vegetation. Effects of spatial scale and plot size on observed bird/habitat relationships are discussed.