Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Static Loop Bound Analysis of C Programs Based on Flow Analysis and Abstract Interpretation

One of the important steps in processing the worst case execution time (WCET) of a program is to determine the loops upper bounds. Such bounds are crucial when verifying real-time systems. In this paper, we propose a static loop bound analysis which associates flow analysis and abstract interpretation. It considers binary operators (+, -, *, \) for the loop increment, nested loops, non-recursive function calls, simple loop conditions (==, ! =,, Gt=, &&) and loop upper bound values (instead of intervals). We present the result of our analysis on the Malardalen benchmark suite and compare them to the recent work of Ermedahl et al.
A new local temperature distribution function for X-ray clusters: cosmological applications

We present a new determination of the local tempera- ture function of X-ray clusters using a sample of X-ray clusters with fluxes above 2.2 10 11 erg/s/cm 2 in the (0:1 2:4) keV band, most of these clusters come from the Abell XBAC's sam- ple to which a handful of known non-Abell clusters has been added. We estimate this sample to be 85% complete, and should therefore provide a useful estimation of the present-day num- ber density of clusters. Comprising fifty clusters for which the temperature information is available, it is the largest complete sample of this kind. It is therefore expected to significantly im- prove the estimation of the temperature distribution function of clusters. We find that the resulting temperature function is higher than previous estimations, but it agrees with the temperature dis- tribution function inferred from the BCS and RASS luminosity function (Ebeling et al. 1997; De Grandi et al. 1999a). We have used this sample to constrain the amplitude of the matter fluc- tuations c on cluster's scale of 8 3 p 0 1 h 1 Mpc, assuming a mass-temperature relation based on recent numerical simula- tions. We find c 0:6 0:02 for an 0 =1 model (for which c = 8). Our sample provides a useful reference at z 0 to use in the application of the cosmological test based on the evo- lution of X-ray clusters abundance (Oukbir & Blanchard 1992, 1997). We have therefore estimated the temperature distribu- tion function at z =0 :33 using Henry's sample of high-z X-ray clusters (Henry 1997; hereafter H97) and performed a prelim- inary estimate of 0. We find that the abundance of clusters at z =0 :33 is significantly smaller, by a factor larger than 2, which shows that the EMSS sample provides strong evidence for evolution of the cluster abundance. A likelihood analysis leads to a rather high value of the mean density parameter of
Integrating 21st Century Skills into Teaching English: Investigating Its Effect on Listening and Speaking Skills.

st The present study intended to integrate some 21 century skills teaching into English classroom and investigate their effect on listening and reading comprehension skills. In so doing, the study used a quantitative, experimental design with 55 participants, 25 in the control group and 30 in the experimental group who were students of second high school grade in Birjand with convenience sampling. Final National listening and speaking examination was used as the pretest and posttest. The results of a pretest showed that, the students of the two groups were homogenous with regard to their proficiency level. Then, they were divided into experimental group who practiced speaking and listening by means of st 21 century skills, and control group who practiced the same speaking and listening activities with traditional education. st After the twelfth session, the participants took a posttest. And, the results of the post-test showed that learning 21 century skills have a positive effect on speaking and listening skills. st
Enhanced Modelling and Performance in Braided Pneumatic Muscle Actuators

Pneumatic technology has been successfully applied for over two millennia. Even today, pneumatic cylinder based technology forms the keystone of many manufacturing processes where there is a need for simple, high-speed, low-cost, reliable motion. But when the system requires accurate control of position, velocity or acceleration profiles, these actuators form a far from satisfactory solution. Braided pneumatic muscle actuators (pMAs) form an interesting development of the pneumatic principle offering even higher power/weight performance, operation in a wide range of environments and accurate control of position, motion and force. This technology provides an interesting and potentially very successful alternative actuation source for robots as well as other applications. However, there are difficulties with this approach due to the following. (i) Modeling errors. Models of the force response are still nonoptimal and for good results these models are highly complex, which makes accurate design difficult. (ii) Low bandwidth—the bandwidth of the actuator—link assemblies are often considered to be too low for practical success in many applications, particularly robotics. In this paper we address these limitations and show how the performance in each area can be enhanced with overall improvements in the response and utility of the braided pMAs.
Exploring the Effects of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy on the Irrational Beliefs and Self-Determined Motivation of Triathletes

The present study addresses proposals that Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) can influence self-determined motivation. Triathletes received REBT education, followed by either Rational Emotive Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing (REPDMS) or Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing. Measurements of irrational beliefs and self-determined motivation were collected prior to REBT (baseline), during the REBT education period, and after the REPDMS session (postintervention). An ABC single-case design was adopted, allowing for statistical and visual analysis of data over time and between groups. Findings indicate that REBT led to decreased irrational beliefs and increased self-determined motivation. REPDMS appeared to have no influence on irrational beliefs over and above REBT education.
Null Effects and Publication Bias in Special Education Research

Researchers sometimes conduct a study and find that the predicted relation between variables did not exist or that the intervention did not have a positive impact on student outcomes; these are referred to as null findings because they fail to disconfirm the null hypothesis. Rather than consider such studies as failures and disregard the null findings, it is important that these studies be published so that all research is available to the field, which (a) enables valid and complete research syntheses and (b) informs future policy, practice, and research. However, null findings are not always published, leading to the possibility of publication bias, a positively skewed research base, and policy and practices based on incomplete data. This special issue of Behavioral Disorders provides an outlet for methodologically sound studies with null findings. In this introductory article, we provide a context for the special issue by discussing the importance of null findings, the problem of publication bias, and ongoing efforts to publish null findings.
Sport Exercise Psychology Does Priming Really Put the Gloss on Performance? Contrasting Pre-performance Preparation Strategies: Theoretical Perspectives

Priming has recently emerged in the literature as offering advantages in the preparation for skilled performance. Accordingly, the current study tested the efficacy of imagery against a priming paradigm as a means of enhancing motor performance: in essence, contrasting a preparation technique primarily under the conscious control of the performer to an unconscious technique promoting automaticity. The imagery intervention was guided by the PETTLEP model, while the priming intervention took the form of a scrambled sentence task. Eighteen skilled field-hockey players performed a dribbling task under imagery, priming, skill-focus, and control conditions. Results revealed a significant improvement in speed and technical accuracy for the imagery condition as opposed to the skill-focus, control, and priming conditions. In addition, there were no significant differences in performance times or technical accuracy between the priming and control conditions. The study provides further support for the efficacy of imagery to elicit enhanced motor skill performance but questions the emerging emphasis on priming as an effective tool in preparation for physical tasks. Cognitive psychology has seen a resurgence of interest around the concept of consciousness (Velmans, 2000), which has subsequently transferred into the sport psychology literature. The emergence of cognitive science led to the idea of a cognitive unconscious (Reber, 1993) in the form of complex information processing that is conducted without conscious awareness. One such premise is automaticity, which is associated with the execution of skilled movement and is considered to be fast, effortless, and without the need for technical attention (Bargh & Chartrand, 1999). This is opposed to the defining features of conscious processing, which are mental acts of which individuals are aware that are intentioned, require effort, and are also controllable (Logan & Cowan, 1984). Automatic mental processes free one's limited conscious attentional capacity (Kahneman, 1973), allow rapid processing, and are manifested in the behavior of skilled performers as appearing not to have to think about what they are doing (Singer, Lidor, & Cauraugh, 1993). Within the realm of performance sport, appropriate self-direction of thought processes before and during task execution has been shown to make a significant difference Reflecting these stances, a debate is emerging about the comparative efficacy of strategies to develop conscious thoughts that are conducive for physical performance , as contrasted to the promotion of unconscious processing through automaticity approaches. Traditionally, the approach from the sport psychology literature has advocated the provision of mental Reed, 2009) focused on the …
Visual Analysis of Historic Hotel Visitation Patterns

Understanding the space and time characteristics of human interaction in complex social networks is a critical component of visual tools for intelligence analysis, consumer behavior analysis, and human geography. Visual identification and comparison of patterns of recurring events is an essential feature of such tools. In this paper, we describe a tool for exploring hotel visitation patterns in and around Rebersburg, Pennsylvania from 1898-1900. The tool uses a wrapping spreadsheet technique, called reruns, to display cyclic patterns of geographic events in multiple overlapping natural and artificial calendars. Implemented as an improvise visualization, the tool is in active development through a iterative process of data collection, hypothesis, design, discovery, and evaluation in close collaboration with historical geographers. Several discoveries have inspired ongoing data collection and plans to expand exploration to include historic weather records and railroad schedules. Distributed online evaluations of usability and usefulness have resulted in numerous feature and design recommendations
Automatically-Extracted Thesauri for Cross-Language IR: When Better is Worse

A statistical algorithm for extracting bilingual term dictionaries (thesauri) from parallel text is presented, along with reenements for improving their size and accuracy. Somewhat paradoxically , increasing the accuracy of the extracted thesaurus can in fact reduce the performance of an IR system using it to perform query translation for cross-language information retrieval.
Infection and inflammation in somatic maintenance, growth and longevity

All organisms must display a certain degree of environmental adaptability to survive and reproduce. Growth and reproduction are metabolically expensive and carry other costs that contribute to aging. Therefore, animals have developed physiologic strategies to assess the harshness of the environment before devoting resources to reproduction. Presumably, these strategies maximize the possibility for offspring survival. Current views of aging reflect a trade‐off between reproductive fitness and somatic maintenance whereby environmental stress induces an adaptive metabolic response aimed at preserving cellular integrity while inhibiting growth, whereas favorable environmental conditions (abundance of food and water, and optimal temperature, etc.) promote growth and reproductive maturity but simultaneously increase cellular damage and aging. Here we propose that the prevalence of infectious pathogens in a given niche represents an additional environmental factor that, via innate immune pathways, actively shifts this balance in favor of somatic maintenance at the expense of reproduction and growth. We additionally propose the construction of a genetic model system with which to test this hypothesis.
Performance probabilities and outcome effects in technical–tactical factors with bout phase changes of mixed martial arts

Abstract The purpose of this study was to realise an objectivity performance analysis based on technical–tactical actions in different MMA spatiotemporal phases (i.e. keeping distance, clinch and ground combat), and to estimate the extent to which technical–tactical actions in different combat phases could increase the probability of winning. The sample was composed of 1,752 rounds of 584 UFC bouts (Winning vs. Losing) from 67 events in 2013 and 2014. Technical–tactical actions during spatiotemporal changes (i.e. keeping distance, clinch and ground) were observed, according to frequency of attempted and landed strikes (separated in leg, body and head orientations), takedowns, chokes, locks and submissions. Wilcoxon was applied to compare outcomes, and a logistic regression analysis was used to confirm the effects of technical–tactical actions on the dichotomous performance (losing vs. winning), p ≤ . 05. The main results showed significant differences in all spatiotemporal changes, except for head and leg strike attempts while keeping the distance. The performance probability was 69.6% for outcomes, 64.5% for winning vs. 74.7% for losing. Furthermore, when verified the Wald’s criterion, it is possible to corroborate that Head Strikes Landed Keeping Distance, Offensive Passes and Takedowns Landed were the most significant variables, which contributed to probability of predicting winning bouts.
Parallel adaptations to nectarivory in parrots, key innovations and the diversification of the Loriinae

Specialization to nectarivory is associated with radiations within different bird groups, including parrots. One of them, the Australasian lories, were shown to be unexpectedly species rich. Their shift to nectarivory may have created an ecological opportunity promoting species proliferation. Several morphological specializations of the feeding tract to nectarivory have been described for parrots. However, they have never been assessed in a quantitative framework considering phylogenetic nonindependence. Using a phylogenetic comparative approach with broad taxon sampling and 15 continuous characters of the digestive tract, we demonstrate that nectarivorous parrots differ in several traits from the remaining parrots. These trait-changes indicate phenotype–environment correlations and parallel evolution, and may reflect adaptations to feed effectively on nectar. Moreover, the diet shift was associated with significant trait shifts at the base of the radiation of the lories, as shown by an alternative statistical approach. Their diet shift might be considered as an evolutionary key innovation which promoted significant non-adaptive lineage diversification through allopatric partitioning of the same new niche. The lack of increased rates of cladogenesis in other nectarivorous parrots indicates that evolutionary innovations need not be associated one-to-one with diversification events.
Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Phenolic-Enriched Extracts of Smilax glabra

Smilax glabra Roxb. has been used for a long time as both food and folk medicine. In the present study, phenolic-enriched extract of S. glabra (PEESG) was extracted with 70% ethanol and purified by HP-20 column chromatography. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated by radical scavenging assay, reducing power determination, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells assays, respectively. PEESG exhibited obviously scavenging capacity for DPPH and ABTS radicals, as well as significant reducing power for ferric ion. Particularly, PEESG (12.5–50 μg/mL) showed a significantly higher efficiency for scavenging ABTS than that of ascorbic acid and no significant difference with ascorbic acid for DPPH scavenging. PEESG also possessed a significant suppression effect on proinflammatory mediators production, such as nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. In addition, the main ingredients of PEESG were identified using ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray mass spectrometry (U-HPLC-ESI-MS). Seventeen components, including 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid, neoastilbin, astilbin, neoisoastilbin, isoastilbin, engetin and isoengeletin were identified. These findings strongly suggest the potential of PEESG as a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.
A New Design for Vibration-Based Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting Systems Using Coil Inductance of Microgenerator

In this paper, a new design methodology for low-voltage electromagnetic energy harvesting systems consisting of a microgenerator and power processing circuit is introduced. In the first section of this paper, a simple topology for a resonance-based electromagnetic generator is presented. The microgenerator is capable of producing a voltage of a few hundred millivolts. Since traditional two-stage power conversion schemes cannot be used for such a low ac voltage, a suitable single-stage ac-dc converter is utilized for power processing. The converter boosts the low ac voltage to a nominal dc voltage required by electronic devices. As a part of integrated design, the coil of the microgenerator is fabricated such that it can be utilized both for electromagnetic induction and power processing. Such an arrangement improves efficiency and makes the system compact. The converter is controlled to regulate the output voltage under varying input or load conditions. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the operation of the proposed converter with a low-voltage microgenerator.
Examples of Ramanujan and expander graphs for practical applications

Expander graphs are highly connected sparse finite graphs. The property of being an expander seems significant in many of these mathematical, computational and physical contexts. Even more, expanders are surprizingly applicably applicable in other computational aspects: in the theory of error corecting codes and the theory of pseudorandomness, which are used in probabilistic algorithms. In this article we present a method to obtain a new examples of families of expanders graphs and some examples of Ramanujan graphs which are the best expanders. We describe properties of obtained graphs in comparison to previously known results. Numerical computations of eigenvalues presented in this paper have been computed with MATLAB.
Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Prevalence of Nine Established Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Southern European Population

The evaluation of the gender-specific prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors across socioeconomic position (SEP) categories may unravel mechanisms involved in the development of coronary heart disease. Using a sample of 1704 community dwellers of a Portuguese urban center aged 40 years or older, assessed in 1999–2003, we quantified the age-standardized prevalence of nine established cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, sedentariness, abdominal obesity, poor diet, excessive alcohol intake and depression) across SEP and gender categories. Data on individual education and occupation were collected by questionnaire and used to characterize SEP. The prevalence of seven out of nine well-established risk factors was higher in men. Among women, the prevalence of most of the studied risk factors was higher in lower SEP groups. The main exception was smoking, which increased with education and occupation levels. Among men, socioeconomic gradients were less clear, but lower SEP was associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes, excessive alcohol intake and depression in a graded mode. The historical cultural beliefs and practices captured throughout the lifecourse frame the wide socioeconomic gradients discernible in our study conducted in an unequal European developed population. While men were more exposed to most risk factors, the clearer associations between SEP and risk factors among women support that their adoption of particular healthy behaviors is more dependent on material and symbolic conditions. To fully address the issue of health inequalities, interventions within the health systems should be complemented with population-based policies specifically designed to reduce socioeconomic gradients.
Mining sequential association rules for traveler context prediction

Recent work has focused on creating models for generating traveler behavior for micro simulations. With the increase in hand held computers and GPS devices, there is likely to be an increasing demand for extending this idea to predicting an individual's future travel plans for devices such as a smart traveler's assistant. In this work, we introduce a technique based on sequential data mining for predicting multiple aspects of an individual's next activity using a combination of user history and their similarity to other travelers. The proposed technique is empirically shown to perform better than more traditional approaches to this problem.
Lost and found: Identifying objects in long-term surveillance videos

What good are surveillance videos without knowing what objects are there? Object classification has been actively researched for images and more recently, for videos, but not in the long-term sense. Videos that span a long period of time has its arduous challenges in such a task. This paper intends to bridge that gap by exploring object classification in long-term surveillance videos. In this work, we introduce a complete framework for processing long-term surveillance videos with the aim of classifying moving objects into five distinct classes commonly found in these scenes. With effective extraction of moving objects and track creation, object features are then encoded in a bag-of-words model before performing classification. Extensive experiments were conducted on a selected portion of the recent LOST dataset. With state-of-the-art PHOW features, we are able to achieve the highest accuracy of around 92% using a track-based classification scheme that is robust against potential frame-level misclassifications.
Efficient keypoint detection and description via polynomial regression of scale space

Keypoint detection and description using approximate continuous scale space are more efficient techniques than typical discretized scale space for achieving more robust feature matching. However, this state-of-the-art method requires high computational complexity to approximately reconstruct, or decompress, the value at an arbitrary point in scale space. Specifically, it has O(M2) computational complexity where M is an approximation order. This paper presents an efficient scale space approach that provides decompression operation with O(M) complexity without a loss of accuracy. As a result of the fact that the proposed method has much fewer variables to be solved, the least-square solution can be obtained through normal equation. This is easier to solve than the existing method which employs Karhunen-Loeve expansion and generalized eigenvalue problem. Experiments revealed that the proposed method performs as expected from the theoretical analysis.