Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An improved artificial bee colony algorithm for numerical functions

The artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is an important branch of evolutionary algorithms and has been shown to be competitive with other algorithms for solving optimisation problems. However, there are always some insufficiencies in ABC algorithm such as lower convergence speed and easily get trapped in the local optima. To increase depth search capabilities of onlooker bees and ensure scout bees do not discard the current optimal solution, we proposed a modified ABC algorithm (denoted as ORABC) based on the optimisation strategy and retained strategy of the best individual in this paper. Compared with ABC algorithm, ABC* (added retained strategy to ABC) and ORABC algorithm, experiments are conducted on a set of numerical benchmark functions. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that ORABC algorithm improves the convergence characteristics of ABC algorithm and provides very remarkable performance in solving complex numerical optimisation problems compared to original algorithm.
Vitamin D and Cancer

Vitamin D system is a complex pathway that includes precursors, active metabolites, enzymes, and receptors. This complex system actives several molecular pathways and mediates a multitude of functions. In addition to the classical role in calcium and bone homeostasis, vitamin D plays “non-calcemic” effects in host defense, inflammation, immunity, and cancer processes as recognized in vitro and in vivo studies. The aim of this review is to highlight the relationship between vitamin D and cancer, summarizing several mechanisms proposed to explain the potential protective effect of vitamin D against the development and progression of cancer. Vitamin D acts like a transcription factor that influences central mechanisms of tumorigenesis: growth, cell differentiation, and apoptosis. In addition to cellular and molecular studies, epidemiological surveys have shown that sunlight exposure and consequent increased circulating levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced reduced occurrence and a reduced mortality in different histological types of cancer. Another recent field of interest concerns polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor (VDR); in this context, preliminary data suggest that VDR polymorphisms more frequently associated with tumorigenesis are Fok1, Bsm1, Taq1, Apa1, EcoRV, Cdx2; although further studies are needed to clarify their role in the cancer. In this review, the relationship between vitamin D and cancer is discussed.
Two-Dimensional Symmetric Half-Plane Recursive Doubly Complementary Digital Lattice Filters

 Abstract — This paper deals with the problem of two-dimensional (2-D) recursive doubly complementary (DC) digital filter design. We present a structure of 2-D recursive DC filters by using 2-D symmetric half-plane (SHP) recursive digital all-pass lattice filters (DALFs). The novelty of using 2-D SHP recursive DALFs to construct a 2-D recursive DC digital lattice filter is that the resulting 2-D SHP recursive DC digital lattice filter provides better performance than the existing 2-D SHP recursive DC digital filter. Moreover, the proposed structure possesses a favorable 2-D DC half-band (DC-HB) property that allows about half of the 2-D SHP recursive DALF’s coefficients to be zero. This leads to considerable savings in computational burden for implementation. To ensure the stability of a designed 2-D SHP recursive DC digital lattice filter, some necessary constraints on the phase of the 2-D SHP recursive DALF during the design process are presented. Design of a 2-D diamond-shape decimation/interpolation filter is presented for illustration and comparison.
Anticipating Team Roles and Interactions When Planning a Software Development Project

Most projects, no matter what the industry, require a team. Every team member has specified tasks designed to carry out the development and implementation of the project. But for successful projects, every team member not only performs their specified tasks, but members play a role as well. By definition, a role is defined as “a part or character to be played by an actor” (Random House 1979). Indeed, project roles are defined not by what a person does, but rather by what part they play or whom they act as. Project roles become extremely important in highly technical projects such as software development. In software development, the nature of the work becomes more complex, and time constraints are frequently imposed. Although powerful programming languages and advanced engineering concepts are the available tools for producing good software, multiple developers are required to produce sophisticated software systems. How the human resources of programming are organized and managed becomes critical in the success or failure of a software development project. The goal of this paper is to identify a model by which a manager can anticipate and build a software development team, and how the roles and interactions of chosen team members can contribute to the success (or failure) of a software project.
Improved FET characteristics by laminate design optimization of metal gates - Guidelines for optimizing metal gate stack structure -

A laminate design technology of metal gates is proposed to improve FET characteristics regardless of EOT and gate dielectric material. The laminated metal gate structures are basically composed of low-Rs(sheet resistance) metal/ WF(work-function)-lowering layer/ WFM(WF determining metal). A thin WFM (~2 nm) laminated by the Si-based WF-lowering layer such as poly-Si or TaSiN brings an additional benefit of dramatic improvements in mobility and PBTI in nFETs. A thick WFM (~10 nm) suppresses the WF-lowering in pFETs. The concept of the laminate design is indispensable for improving the performance in CMOSFETs.
The role of hope in school-aged children’s emotional well-being in relation to school environment and optimism/pessimism

Interactions between classroom climate, dispositional optimism, and hope were examined in the prediction of emotional well-being in early adolescent students. The present study consisted of 98 students (32 boys, 65 girls, 1 unknown) in grades six, seven, and eight with a mean age of 12.51 years (SD = .95). Participants completed questionnaires regarding their classroom environment, future expectations, hopeful thinking, depression, and life satisfaction. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed eleven interactions between classroom climate/dispositional optimism and hope in the prediction of depression and life satisfaction. As an example, it was found that classroom competitiveness was negatively related to satisfaction with friends for students low in hope but not for students with high hope. Implications of these interactions are discussed in terms of hope as a psychological strength and its role in promoting emotional wellbeing in early adolescent students.
Discovery of topological relations for spatial Activity Recognition

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is a challenging problem that could enable an outstanding number of applications in pervasive computing. Many approaches have been developed to overcome this issue, but they all suffer from major drawbacks. While some use invasive sensors such as video-cameras and wearable technology, other exploit complex models to only recognize coarse-grained activities. In this paper, we propose to exploit the largely neglected spatial aspects in the smart home to recognize the activity of daily living (ADLs) of a resident in a noninvasive fashion. To do so, we designed an extension to well-known data mining algorithms that we exploit to automatically learn the models of the resident ADLs. The models are built from the retrieval of spatial patterns corresponding to the topological relationships of the smart home entities. We demonstrate the advantages of our new semi-supervised system through comprehensive experiments inside a smart home and compare the results with expert defined models of activity.
P2A-1 Threshold Behavior of Vibrating Microbubbles

For individual phospholipid-coated microbubbles with a diameter smaller than 5 mum, highspeed camera recordings revealed threshold behavior in the onset of vibration. Previous studies showed a pressure-dependent attenuation for phospholipid-coated microbubbles. The aim of this study was to investigate if there is a relationship between microbubble threshold behavior and pressure-dependent attenuation. At a rising acoustic pressure from 5 to 200 kPa, the attenuation of BR14 increased linearly from 4.5 dB to 7 dB. In contrast to BR14, Levovist did not show pressure-dependent attenuation. For BR14 smaller than 3 mum diameter, attenuation increased from 4 to 12 dB. However, up to 50 kPa no increase of attenuation was observed. These observations can be explained by phospholipid-coated bubble threshold behavior. When the acoustic pressure increases above a threshold acoustic pressure, microbubbles smaller than 5 mum start to oscillate and contribute to the attenuation. Levovist is considered to be a free microbubble, for which threshold behavior is not expected. An imaging technique such as power modulation imaging could profit from the presence of an acoustic pressure threshold
The Cognitive and Neural Basis for Apathy in Frontotemporal Degeneration

The syndrome of apathy, defined as a reduction in goal-directed behavior (GDB), has profound consequences for morbidity and mortality in the patient and for family-caregiver burden. Apathy is one of the primary neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with the disruption of the frontal-striatal system, but the behavioral and biological mechanisms underlying apathy are not well understood. Apathy is especially prevalent in behavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration (bvFTD). In a sample of 20 apathetic adults with bvFTD and 17 normal controls (NC), impairments in three components of GDB--initiation, planning and motivation-were examined using a novel computerized reaction time test. Employing structural neuroimaging techniques, I then examined the neural basis of GDB in these apathetic bvFTD participants. I found evidence that apathy is associated with an impairment in any of the three GDB components. Initiation, planning, and motivation each map onto three distinct brain regions in the frontal lobe that work together in a large-scale neural network. Furthermore, I was able to identify participants with specific subtypes of apathy, depending on the impaired GDB mechanism. I developed and submitted a proposal for continued study of the phenomenon; the proposal was awarded. The long-term potential impact of this beginning program of research is profound for patients with neurodegenerative disease, their caregivers, and families. Current treatment of apathy has been hindered due to poor understanding of the mechanisms underlying this condition. This work will lead to a better understanding of these mechanisms and structures fundamental to the behavior, and, with this knowledge, tailored interventions can be designed and implemented by professional and lay caregivers. Thus, a more precise characterization of apathy will allow providers to implement the most appropriate therapy for a given patient. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Nursing First Advisor Lois K. Evans
Tiny Corpus Applications with Transformation-Based Error-Driven Learning : Evaluations of Automatic Grammar Induction and Partial Parsing of SaiSiyat

This paper reports a preliminary result on automatic grammar induction based on the framework of Brill and Markus (1992) and binary-branching syntactic parsing of Esperanto and SaiSiyat (a Formosan language). Automatic grammar induction requires large corpus and is found implausible to process endangered minor languages. Syntactic parsing, on the contrary, needs merely tiny corpus and works along with corpora segmented by intonation-unit which results in high accuracy.
The cognitive neuropsychology of false memories: Theory and data

Memory for past events can differ, sometimes in striking ways, from how they were initially experienced (Bartlett, 1932; Kopelman, 1999; Loftus et al., 1978; Neisser, 1967; Roediger, 1996; Schacter, 1995, 2001). Even exceptionally vivid and emotional memories, such as “ﬂashbulb memories”, are not immune from memory distortion. Schmolck, Buffalo, and Squire (2000) examined individuals’ memory for the events surrounding their learning the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial, such as where they were, who they were with, what they felt, etc. They tested their participants’ memory 3 days after the announcement of the verdict and then either 15 months or 32 months later. Surprisingly, nearly 43% of the individuals tested at the 32 month interval reported memories that contained major distortions, as compared to the account they gave just 3 days after learning the verdict. For instance, one individual reported at the 3 day interval that he learned about the verdict while in a lounge at college. When tested 32 months later, this individual remembered being at home with his sister and father when he learned about the verdict. Ironically, many individuals expressed conﬁdence in the accuracy of their recollection, despite its actual inaccuracy (for similar results, see Bohannon & Symons, 1992; Neisser & Harsch, 1992). How can a remembered episode differ so dramatically from how that episode was initially experienced? As Roediger & McDermott (2000, p. 149) ask in their review of memory distortion, “Where would the recollection come from, if not from stored traces of actual events? ” This chapter will review cognitive and neuropsychological research that illustrates mechanisms that promote or minimize the occurrence of distorted memories. First, we will outline a general framework for understanding the processes that contribute to constructive memory phenomena. We then will consider how false memories are inﬂuenced by factors operating primarily at the encoding or retrieval stages of memory.
Self-Assembly at the Macroscopic Scale

In this paper, we review half a century of research on the design of systems displaying (physical) self-assembly of macroscopic components. We report on the experience gained in the design of 21 such systems, exhibiting components ranging from passive mechanical parts to mobile robots. We present a taxonomy of the systems and discuss design principles and functions. Finally, we summarize the main achievements and indicate potential directions for future research.
A Robust Collaborative Filtering Algorithm Using Ordered Logistic Regression

The Internet offers tremendous opportunities for information sharing and content distribution. However, without proper filtering, the large amount of information may likely swarm the users rather than benefit them. Collaborative filtering is a technique for extracting useful information from the large information pool generated by interconnected online communities. In this paper, we develop a probabilistic collaborative filtering algorithm, which is based on ordered logistic regression and takes into account both similarities among the users and similarities among the items. We make inference with maximum likelihood and Bayesian frameworks, and propose a Markov Chain Monte Carlo based Expectation Maximization algorithm to optimize model parameters. The power of our proposed algorithm is its extensibility. We show that it can incorporate content and contextual information. More importantly, it can be easily extended to include the trustworthiness of users, thus being more robust to malicious data manipulation. The experimental results on a real world data set show that our proposed algorithm with the trust extension is robust under different types of attacks in recommendation systems.
Interactive Texture-Based Volume Rendering for Large Data Sets

To employ direct volume rendering, TRex uses parallel graphics hardware, software-based compositing, and high-performance I/O to provide near-interactive display rates for time-varying, terabyte-sized data sets. We present a scalable, pipelined approach for rendering data sets too large for a single graphics card. To do so, we take advantage of multiple hardware rendering units and parallel software compositing. The goals of TRex, our system for interactive volume rendering of large data sets, are to provide near-interactive display rates for time-varying, terabyte-sized uniformly sampled data sets and provide a low-latency platform for volume visualization in immersive environments. We consider 5 frames per second (fps) to be near-interactive rates for normal viewing environments and immersive environments to have a lower bound frame rate of l0 fps. Using TRex for virtual reality environments requires low latency - around 50 ms per frame or 100 ms per view update or stereo pair. To achieve lower latency renderings, we either render smaller portions of the volume on more graphics pipes or subsample the volume to render fewer samples per frame by each graphics pipe. Unstructured data sets must be resampled to appropriately leverage the 3D texture volume rendering method.
Effects of rosiglitazone on the cardiovascular profile in postmenopausal women without diabetes mellitus: interplay of thiazolidinediones and hormone therapy

Objective Thiazolidinediones have antiatherothrombotic effects on persons with diabetes. Hormone therapy among postmenopausal women has both positive and negative cardiovascular effects. However, the effects of rosiglitazone with or without concurrent long-term hormone therapy on the cardiovascular profile of nondiabetic postmenopausal women are unknown. Methods Thirty-eight nondiabetic postmenopausal women were enrolled in this double-blind and placebo-controlled study. Eighteen participants received 4 mg rosiglitazone, and 20 participants took placebo daily for 12 weeks. Global endothelial function and plasma biomarkers were measured. Results Baseline characteristics and parameters were similar between the groups. Rosiglitazone, but not placebo, significantly reduced leukocyte count and plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and inhibited the elevation of plasma levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and tissue plasminogen activator (P < 0.05 for all). Most of the favorable effects provided by rosiglitazone were still present in participants with concurrent hormone therapy. Increased body weight and waist size as well as elevation of the plasma levels of total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were noted after rosiglitazone treatment among participants without concurrent hormone therapy. No significant change in the global endothelial function occurred in response to treatment in either group. Conclusions Rosiglitazone treatment provided both protective and harmful cardiovascular effects in nondiabetic postmenopausal women. Concurrent hormone therapy resulted in the maintenance of the major beneficial effects while neutralizing the unfavorable effects of rosiglitazone.
UNIVERSITY PEER ADVISORS PURSUING CAREERS IN EDUCATIONAL ADVISING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY EXAMINING THE INFLUENCE OF LIVED- EXPERIENCES ON VOCATIONAL PURPOSE

3 Dedication 4 Acknowledgment 5 List of Tables 10 List of Figures 11 List of Abbreviations 12 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 13 Background 14 Situation to Self 16 Problem Statement 17 Purpose Statement 18 Significance of the Study 18 Research Questions 19 Delimitations 20 Research Plan 20 Definition of Terms 21 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 23 Introduction 23 Peer Advising Programs 24 A Description of Peer Advisors 25 Functions of Peer Advisors 28 Lived Experiences of Peer Advisors 30
Digital Physical Unclonable Functions: Architecture and Applications

The rapid growth of small form, mobile, and remote sensor network systems require secure and ultralow power data collection and communication solutions due to their energy constraints. The physical unclonable functions (PUFs) have emerged as a popular modern security primitive. They have the property of low power/energy, small area, and high speed. Moreover, they have excellent security properties and are resilient against physical and side-channel attacks. However, traditional PUFs have two major problems. The first is that current designs are analog in nature and lack susceptibility in environmental and operational conditions, e.g., supply voltage and temperature. The second is that due to the analog nature, the analog PUFs are difficult to be integrated into existing digital circuitry.Therefore, in this thesis, we propose the digital PUF, as a new type of security primitive. It preserves all the good properties of traditional analogy PUFs and is stable in the same sense that digital logic is stable. It has a small footprint, a small timing overhead, a low energy consumption, and can be easily integrated into existing designs. The key observation is that for any analog delay PUF, there is a subset of challenge inputs for which the PUF output is stable regardless of operation and environmental conditions. We use only such stable inputs to initialize the look-up tables (LUTs) in digital bimodal functions (DBFs) that are configured in such a way that the digital PUF is formed. We first demonstrate the concept and the FPGA-based architecture of the digital PUF. Then we present our security analysis on digital PUFs using standard randomness tests and confusion and diffusion analysis. Finally, we address security protocols of digital PUF: public key communication, and remote trust.
Improving Antimicrobial Use in the Hospital Setting by Providing Usage Feedback to Prescribing Physicians

Objective. To determine whether feedback on antimicrobial use improves physician compliance with local hospital guidelines on antimicrobial prescribing. Design. In this time series analysis, in which a historical control period was compared with an intervention period, all orders for antimicrobials (except those for surgical prophylaxis) placed from November 1, 2002, through April 30, 2004, were prospectively evaluated by an antimicrobial management team (AMT) for compliance with local hospital guidelines. During the control period, orders were evaluated to determine compliance with hospital guidelines before and after recommendations by the AMT were provided to physicians. Feedback was given for the second 9-month period in the form of a weekly report to prescribing physicians, a monthly hospital newsletter, and a quarterly report to various hospital committees. During the intervention period, orders were evaluated to determine compliance with hospital guidelines before and after recommendations by the AMT were provided to physicians. Setting. The Veterans Affairs Medical Center, a 110-bed facility, in Louisville, Kentucky. Participants. Internal medicine physicians and general surgeons. Results. A total of 2,807 antimicrobial courses were evaluated. Compliance with hospital guidelines before AMT recommendations was 70% during the control period and 74% during the intervention period (P = .02). Compliance after AMT recommendations was 90% during the control period and 93% during the intervention period (P ≤ .01). Conclusion. The use of feedback had a significantly favorable impact on physician compliance with the hospital's guidelines on antimicrobial prescribing. Use of feedback should be added to the list of interventions that promote appropriate antimicrobial use in the hospital setting.
Study of the Strategies of Measuring and Controlling Occupational Risks for an Auditor and their Impact on the Auditing Quality from the Viewpoint of the External Auditor

This study aimed to examine the strategies of measuring and controlling vocational risks for an auditor and their impact on the auditory process quality from the viewpoint of Jordanian authorized auditors whose number amounts to 347, according to the Jordanian Authorized Auditors Society statistics. 208 auditors were targeted. These auditors work for major auditing bureaus and audit the accounts of general incorporated companies in Jordan. Questionnaire forms were distributed to them, 200 forms of which were returned. The questionnaires, which were valid for statistical analysis, were analyzed according to the statistical program SPSS.