Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Analog History of Procedural Content Generation

Procedural content generation (PCG) is typically considered a feature of digital games. Commonly cited “first” uses of PCG are usually digital games from the early 1980s: Rogue or Elite. However, when broadly construed, PCG simply means that content is generated following a formal procedure—the agent that enacts this procedure is merely assumed to be a computer. The precursors to what we now call PCG are to be found in games where it is a human who is asked to follow a procedure to generate game content, and the earliest digital uses are crude reproductions of those same games. This paper explores the role that PCG has played in analog games and how it has influenced PCG in digital games. In doing so, we can gain insight into the nature of content generation and can more easily define the boundaries of what we typically consider PCG to encompass.
The effect of flight deck automation and automation proficiency on cockpit task management performance

The fact that flight deck automation has improved aircraft performance and reliability is welcome. But although automation has generally been well received by pilots, the advent of advanced technology (so called "glass cockpit”) aircraft has raised several concerns. For example, Wiener (1989) argued that the promise of automation in reducing overall flight crew workload has not been realized. Workload appears to have decreased during low workload periods (e.g., in a cruise phase of flight), but to have increased during high workload periods (e.g., in the approach and landing phases of flight).
Comparison of Topical Versus Sub-Tenon's Anesthesia in Phacoemulsification at a Tertiary Care Eye Hospital

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of topical and sub-Tenon's anesthesia in providing pain relief during phacoemulsification. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was carried out at a tertiary eye care hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Patients who underwent phacoemulsification through self-sealing clear corneal incision with foldable intra-ocular lens implantation were randomized into two groups. Group 1 (n = 100) received topical anesthesia with 0.5% proparacaine (Paracaine, Sunways India Pvt. Ltd., India) drops. Group 2 (n = 100) received sub-Tenon's infiltration with 2% lignocaine (Xylocaine, AstraZeneca Pharma India Pvt. Ltd., India). As per study criteria, patients graded the pain during administration of anesthesia, during surgery and after surgery on a visual analogue pain scale. The surgeon graded overall patient co-operation. The complications were also noted. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 11. Student's t-test and Chi-square test were used for comparison of variables between the groups. Results: Sub-Tenon's anesthesia provided statistically significant better intra-operative pain relief and patient satisfaction than topical anesthesiat. No statistically significant difference was noted between the two groups regarding pain during administration, postoperative pain, and surgeon satisfaction. Conclusion: Sub-Tenon's anesthesia provides better pain relief than topical anesthesia during phacoemulsification.
Revisiting Again Document Length Hypotheses TREC 2004 Genomics Track Experiments at Patolis

The TREC-2004 Genomics track evaluation experiments at Patolis Corporation are described with a focus on the document length issues in different retrieval models such as TF*IDF or probabilistic language modeling approaches. In the genomics ad hoc retrieval task, combination of pseudo-relevance feedback and reference database feedback is applied. For the triage sub-task, we trained a SVM classifier using leave-one-out-cross-validation, and calibrated parameters to be optimal against the training set.
A New Sampling Clock Synchronization Method in OFDM System

A new sampling clock synchronization method using improved early-late gate and least-square fitting in OFDM system is proposed in this paper. Improved early-late gate is used to obtain symbol timing offset and least-square fitting works like a loop filter in the feedback branch which can be achieved by recursion. Recursion process is then amended to overcoming some shortcomings. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation demonstrate this method have a good performance.
A distributed adaptive QoS MAC protocol for mobile ad hoc networks

This paper presents a distributed adaptive QoS medium access control (DAQ-MAC) protocol for mobile ad hoc networks. The protocol assigns nodes accessing channel in three phases: the prioritization phase, the contention phase and the transmission phase. The prioritizations of data packets are expressed by a few binary signed digits. In the prioritization phase, when binary signed digit is “0”, nodes sense the channel by a Tslot, while binary signed digit is “1”, nodes send a forecast bursts (FB). Therefore, every node can differentiate the priorities by sending FB and sensing the channel. Thus only the nodes with higher priority packets can access in the contention phase. In the contention phase, only one node can access in the channel successfully without collisions by collision resolution algorithm. Simulation results show that with the number of the node increasing, the performance of the DAQ-MAC protocol is better than the HIPERLAN Type 1 (HIgh Performance Radio Local Area Networks) protocol in terms of throughput, average packets discard rate and average packet delay.
The 10% tax rate: where next?

In Budget 2007, the Government announced the abolition of the 10% starting rate of income tax alongside a wider set of reforms to personal taxes and tax credits to take effect during the period April 2008 to April 2010. Further changes to tax credits and state benefits were announced in PBR 2007 and Budget 2008, some to take effect in 2008-09, some in 2009-10 and others in 2010-11. During April 2008, the Government said that it was looking at ways of compensating the net losers from these changes (in practice, those for whom the losses from the abolition of the 10% band exceeded the gains from the other measures). On 13 May it announced a £600 rise in the income tax personal allowance for 2008-09, with a corresponding cut in the higher-rate threshold. In the light of these changes, this note looks at: * To what extent the rise in the personal allowance, and other measures in Budget 2007, PBR 2007 and Budget 2008, compensate those who lost out from the abolition of the 10% rate of income tax; * To what extent the Government's pre-announced changes to personal taxes, tax credits and benefits for 2010-11 provide compensation for these losers over the medium term; * What options the Government has for 2009-10 and beyond.
Signal Offset Optimization in Coordinated Signal Control System Based on Cointegration Theory

Coordinated signal control can effectively ease urban traffic congestion, because which can improve the continuity of traffic flow movement and reduce delay. Rea-time green light starting time setting is the key for practical engineering application of coordinated signal control system. Signal offset between adjacent intersections determines green light starting time. But traditional traffic control systems assuming signal offset being one or several fixed numbers can’t express the volatility and random of traffic flow movement. In order to increase the benefit of coordinated signal control, this paper adopts the nonlinear cointegration theory and model in economics to optimize signal offset based on a series of strict applicability tests with the practical data in Shanghai. The comparative results with actual statistical data are encouraging, the maximum reduction of travel time and delay are up to 38.12% and 45.65%.
Service of Searching and Ranking in a Semantic-Based Expert Information System

Selecting professional and authoritative experts to evaluate projects is an essential process in order to assure the quality of projects. In this paper, we present a semantic-based expert information system, which search for expert information based on semantic and knowledge reasoning, and rank the search results according to the scientific capability of experts. We design software architecture for semantic-based information service system (Esoogle). Expert information ontology is defined to store the information of experts, and reasoning rules are defined for semantic-based reasoning. Assessment model based on TOPSIS is built to estimate the scientific capability for ranking. Applications show Esoogle improves the recall and precision of semantic-based searching service compared to the traditional systems and ranking service is helpful for the users to select suitable experts quickly.
Quality of Experience of RIAs: A comprehensive subjective evaluation

Internet initially is designed for the transfer of data to the fixed addresses of the static computers that are connected to a single network. With further advancements in the technology more and more mobile devices are adding to the group and they may connect to different networks as they roam around. Therefore it becomes important for the service providers, application providers, networks and software engineers to deliver the applications with a high Quality of Experience (QoE) for the users. As the underlying networks are reworked to make way for newer technologies, the rich internet applications (RIAs) are another step in this evolutionary process. In this work, we use the software agents to record and provide the user feedback in the form of the clicks in response to various network parameters such as bandwidth, packet loss and delay jitter. We compare the collected user click behavior with the VQM. The result shows that the method can effectively measure the resulting user QoE. It can help the providers to know user QoE while using an application on a particular network with the help of a particular device. Thus they can better manage the scarce resources such as bandwidth in a more efficient way, to ensure high QoE for the maximum number of users in the network.
Leadership In Higher Education: Case Study Research of Canadian University Presidents with Unfinished Mandates

Within Canada, the ever-changing context of universities is paralleled by an increased number of unfinished presidential mandates, approximately 16 in the past ten years. “Never has Canadian university presidential leadership been under greater scrutiny than it is today” (MacKinnon, 2004, p. 132). The trend of an increasing number of unfinished mandates of university presidents in Canada leads to some important questions that require further exploration. Through an in-depth series of interviews with six of the 16 Canadian university presidents with unfinished mandates, this research dives deeply into leadership experiences and highlights patterns and trends within the individual trajectories leading to their shortened mandate. More precisely, the leaders’ transitional process within their presidential role is examined in order to gain insight into the challenges of transition, particularly for the person at the top of the organization. The findings are focused on the themes of board governance and communication, university transitions, relationships within the executive team, the role of the predecessor, and diversity and leadership. This dissertation contributes a unique piece of research to the higher educational literature, and also provides concrete recommendations to improve transitional practices for leaders within the higher education environment.
Latin America's new insertion in the world economy: towards systemic competitiveness in small economies

List of Tables - List of Figures - Notes on the Contributors - Acknowledgements - Preface - List of Abbreviations - Towards a New Insertion in World Markets: An Introduction P.van Dijck - The Gains from Trade Reconsidered H.Linnemann - The Exchange Rate as an Export-Stimulation Mechanism H.Visser - Structural Adjustment in the 1980s: Stimulus or Setback for Private Investment in the Industrialization Process? V.FitzGerald - The Scope for Industrial Policy in a Free Trade Environment J.Tavares de Araujo Jr. - Export Processing Free Zones as an Export Strategy for Central America and the Caribbean T.S. Weersma-Haworth - The Export Processing Free Zone San Bartolo in El Salvador G.Dijkstra & C.R. Aleman - The Historical Experience: Growth Accounting A.A. Hofman - Social Development during Periods of Structural Adjustment R.van der Hoeven & F.Stewart - Trade Policy and Changing Trade Patterns C.van Beers - Chile: from Early Liberalization to 'Second-Phase Export-led Growth' A.T.Seinen - Industrial Competitiveness and Government Policies in Uruguay A.Timpers - The Competitiveness of Manufacturing Firms: the Case of Venezuela C.Macario - Export Promotion in Costa Rica G.Dijkstra & J.van der Wijk - The Systemic Weakness of Guatemala's Competitiveness J.A. Fuentes K. - Conclusions R.Buitelaar & P.van Dijck - Notes - References - Index
Child Welfare: A Multicultural Focus

Most chapters include "Summary," "Endnotes," "Bibliography," and "Conclusion. " Preface. 1.Child Welfare: A Generalist Perspective. Background. Values. Generalist. 2.Child Welfare History in the United States. The Child-Saving Movement: 1600-1700. The Child-Rescue Movement: 1800-1850. Inception of Youth Serving Agencies: 1860-1900. National Awareness of Children's Needs: 1900-1930s. The Great Depression: 1930-1940. The Growth of Public Child Welfare Services: 1940-1967. The Social Service Decade: 1960s. Children's Rights: 1960s to the Present. 3.The Continuum of Child Welfare Services. Why Are Child Welfare Services Necessary? Continuum of Care. Supportive Services. Supplemental Services. Substitute Services. 4.Child Welfare and African-American Families. Current Child Welfare Issues. Child Welfare Practice. Child Welfare Intervention. Current Trends and Concerns for the Future. 5.Child Welfare and the American Indian Community. Contextual Issues. Demographic Issues and Health Statistics. Cultural Considerations. Children's Issues. 6.Child Welfare: Asian and Pacific Islander Families. Diversity among Asian/Pacific Islanders. Demographic Profile. Cultural Variables. Child Welfare Issues. Practice Implications. Current Trends and Concerns for the Future. 7.Generalist Child Welfare and Hispanic Families. Socio-Demographic Synopsis of Hispanics in the United States. Who Are the Hispanics? Employment and Education. Poverty and Income. Hispanic Socio-Cultural Diversity. Biculturalism. Hispanic Children, Families, and Psychosocial Stress. Ethnic-Sensitive Child Welfare Practice. Maltreatment and Hispanic Children. 8.Child Abuse and Neglect. Historical Background. Defining Child Maltreatment. Abused Children. Scope of Child Abuse and Neglect. Social Service Intervention. Treatment. Problems. Trends. 9.The Practice of Child Welfare in the Rural Setting. America: A Rural or Urban Nation? Child Welfare Issues in the Rural Environment. Rural Child Welfare Practice Implications. Community Resources. Cultural Heritage. Interviewing. Small Group Work. Services to Juveniles. New Technologies in Rural Practice. 10.The Year 2000 and Beyond: Summary and Future Directions. Emerging Trends. Generalist Practice. AHEADS = Cultural Awareness. AHEADS = The Practice of Child Welfare in the Rural Setting. AHEADS = Child Maltreatment. Index.
A Generalized Methodology For Partial Volume Correction In Emission Tomography

We describe a generic methodology to correct 3-D partial volume effects in clinical emission scans. It is based on prior knowledge of tracer biodistribution and tomographic imaging characteristics. We derive this information from registered and segmented MR/CT data. Two fast numerical algorithms are then used to estimate structure-specific recovery coefficients and activity spillover contributions. In this work we evaluate our method using MR/PET data acquired from a 3-D brain phantom. It is made of a human skull and plastic chambers to emulate radiotracer uptake in neuroreceptor imaging studies. Regional activity values among striatal structures are typically underestimated by 20-45 % depending on their spatial location. After correction they are restored to within 5 % of the true concentration. We also add several automatic steps to increase computational efficiency and simplify its usage in clinical environment.
A Syntactic Candidate Ranking Method for Answering Questions with a Main Content Verb

We present a technique for ranking the candidate answers of questions that have a main content verb. This novel ranking method uses the question head (the most important noun phrase) as an anchor for selecting the target subtree in the parse tree of the candidate sentence. The semantic similarity of the action in the selected subtree to the action asked by the question is verified using WordNet::Similarity. For verifying the syntactic similarity of the target subtree to the question’s parse tree, syntactic restrictions as well as word-based measures compute the unifiability of critical syntactic participants in the trees. Results show a precision of 48% on the TREC 2003 to 2006 non-copulative questions. This confirms our hypothesis of the applicability of a basic syntactic mapping for question answering. Finally, in order to apply the web redundancy statistics into our linguistic method, we fed Aranea answers into our linguistic QA system. We obtained a slight accuracy improvement for the selected TREC question sets compared to using Aranea alone.
A Novel Compact Ultra-Wideband Antenna with Single and Double Band Rejection

Band-notch characteristic has been of great interest recently to overcome the electromagnetic interference of Ultra-wideband systems (UWB) with other existing ones. In this paper, we present a novel microstrip-fed antenna with band rejection property appropriate for UWB applications. Band-notch characteristic has been achieved by adding a rectangular resonant element to the ground section. A prototype was fabricated and measured based upon optimal parameters. Experimental results show consistency with simulation results. Measurement results confirm that the antenna covers the UWB band and satisfies a band rejection in the frequency span of 5 GHz to 5.7 GHz to restrain it from interference with Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). Then, to achieve better isolation, a rectangular strip is appended to the band-notch creating part of the ground section to enhance obtained VSWR up to 30 through simulation. In addition, by applying a similar technique, a dual band-notched characteristic with an average simulated VSWR of around 13.75 has been achieved for WLAN and the downlink of X band satellite communication systems with each more than 10. Features such as small size, omnidirectional pattern and perfect isolation make the antenna suitable for any UWB applications.
DSP Based Series-Parallel Connected Two Full-Bridge DC-DC Converter with Interleaving Output Current Sharing

Input-series-output-parallel (ISOP) connected DC-DC converters enable low voltage rating switches to be used in high voltage input applications. In this paper, a DSP is adopted to generate digital phase-shifted PWM signals and to fulfill the closed-loop control function for ISOP connected two full-bridge DC-DC converters. Moreover, a stable output current sharing control strategy is proposed for the system, with which equal sharing of the input voltage and the load current can be achieved without any input voltage control loops. Based on small signal analysis with the state space average method, a loop gain design with the proposed scheme is made. Compared with the conventional IVS scheme, the proposed strategy leads to simplification of the output voltage regulator design and better static and dynamic responses. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified by the simulation and experimental results of an ISOP system made up of two full-bridge DC-DC converters.
The dormant blood microbiome in chronic, inflammatory diseases

Blood in healthy organisms is seen as a ‘sterile’ environment: it lacks proliferating microbes. Dormant or not-immediately-culturable forms are not absent, however, as intracellular dormancy is well established. We highlight here that a great many pathogens can survive in blood and inside erythrocytes. ‘Non-culturability’, reflected by discrepancies between plate counts and total counts, is commonplace in environmental microbiology. It is overcome by improved culturing methods, and we asked how common this would be in blood. A number of recent, sequence-based and ultramicroscopic studies have uncovered an authentic blood microbiome in a number of non-communicable diseases. The chief origin of these microbes is the gut microbiome (especially when it shifts composition to a pathogenic state, known as ‘dysbiosis’). Another source is microbes translocated from the oral cavity. ‘Dysbiosis’ is also used to describe translocation of cells into blood or other tissues. To avoid ambiguity, we here use the term ‘atopobiosis’ for microbes that appear in places other than their normal location. Atopobiosis may contribute to the dynamics of a variety of inflammatory diseases. Overall, it seems that many more chronic, non-communicable, inflammatory diseases may have a microbial component than are presently considered, and may be treatable using bactericidal antibiotics or vaccines.
Langerhans Cell Maturation and Contact Hypersensitivity Are Impaired in Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Null Mice1

Langerhans cells (LC) are professional APCs of the epidermis. Recently, it was suggested that they are tolerogenic and control adverse immune reactions, including against low molecular mass chemicals. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, is involved in low molecular mass chemical metabolism and cell differentiation. Growing evidence suggests a role for the AhR in the immune system, for example, by influencing dendritic cell and T cell differentiation. We found that the AhR and its repressor AhRR are expressed in LC of C57BL/6 mice. LC, unexpectedly, did not respond to a strong AhR agonist with induction of transcripts of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. To test for a physiological role of the AhR in LC, we investigated how AhR deficiency affects LC. We found that AhR-deficient LC were impaired in maturation; they remained smaller and less granular, did not up-regulate expression of costimulatory molecules CD40, CD80, and CD24a during in vitro maturation, and their phagocytic capacity was higher. Interestingly, the mRNA expression of tolerogenic Ido was severely decreased in AhR-deficient LC, and enzyme activity could not be induced in AhR-deficient bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. GM-CSF, needed for LC maturation, was secreted in significantly lower amounts by AhR-deficient epidermal cells. Congruent with this impaired maturity and capacity to mature, mice mounted significantly weaker contact hypersensitivity against FITC. Our data suggest that the AhR is involved in LC maturation, both cell autonomously and through bystander cells. At the same time, the AhR might be part of the risk strategy of LC against unwanted immune activation by potential skin allergens.
Hunting of the Snark: Finding Data Glitches using Data Mining Methods

Data quality is critical to data analysis because bad data can lead to incorrect conclusions. Problems with data are best detected early, before too much time and eeort are spent ingesting and analyzing it. In this paper, we propose the use of data mining techniques for the automatic detection of data problems commonly encountered in large multivariate data sets. Data mining methods are ideal for this purpose, since they are designed for nding abnormal patterns in large volumes of data. We discuss some important types of data integrity issues. We demonstrate the use of a data mining method, the DataSphere set comparison technique (from our earlier work 6]) to detect glitches that mimic the error conditions discussed, using artiicial data.