Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Nordic Path of Spain’s Mediterranean Welfare. CES Working Paper No. 163, 2008

Despite the fact that the Nordic welfare model has become less exceptional in recent times, it con-tinues to offer numerous examples for “best practices” in social policy provision, together with a high degree of welfare political legitimacy. This paper explores Nordic “benchmarking” as refer-ence to the case of welfare development in Spain. In the general process of convergence of the European welfare states towards the middle, the Spanish case stands out as the one Mediterra-nean EU country which has gone further in incorporating inputs and traits of the social-democratic Nordic world of welfare capitalism. While Spain’s welfare state has become more lib-eral in macroeconomic policies, and social policymaking has followed a pattern of universaliza-tion of welfare entitlements and provision, there has been a detachment from the Bismarckian principle of income maintenance. This paper deals with Spain’s evolution in two main areas, which have distinctively characterized Nordic welfare in contemporary times: (1) fiscal resources, and (2) female employment. The analytical purpose of the first section is to ponder the claim as to whether or not Spanish welfare has intensified a socioeconomic path in the direction of the Nor-dic model. Subsequently, Spain’s societal changes and welfare reforms are reviewed with relation to the two areas identified as having the greatest impact in the future evolution of Spain’s wel-fare: conciliation of work and family life, and the territorial politics of welfare provision. Con-cluding remarks speculate on the hypothesis that countries with fragmented political institutions and a decentralized state organization, such as Spain, may move faster and be more responsive in the development of new welfare polices. Likewise, the emergence of gender and family issues into the political arena is also regarded as generating pressure for major changes in Spain’s Medi-terranean welfare, and possibly intensifying its Nordic path or component.
Potential theory for elliptic systems

The existence and uniqueness theorem is proved for solutions of the Dirichlet boundary value problems for weakly coupled elliptic systems on bounded domains. The elliptic systems are only assumed to have measurable coefficients and have singular coefficients for the lower-order terms. A probabilistic representation theorem for solutions of the Dirichlet boundary value problems is obtained by using the switched diffusion process associated with the system. A strong positivity result for solutions of the Dirichlet boundary value problems is proved. Formulas expressing resolvents and kernel functions for the system by those of the component elliptic operators are also obtained.
A Scalable P2P Video Conferencing System Based on VCStream Model

Recently, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) based multi-party video conference systems have been widely deployed. However, those solutions suffer from high cost when multiple users simultaneously distribute video streams to receivers. Most existing systems only support up to a dozen of users at the same time. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to construct and manage a heterogeneous P2P network for scalable video conference. First, we design a new hybrid distribution model named VC Stream. It employs Tree-Model (i.e, high performance, real-time, and manageable) and random topology, and hence make the solution high performance, real-time, manageable, scalable and robust. Then we propose a passive algorithm to automatically deal with the nodes' dynamic join and leave in different conditions. After that, according to the four kinds of states of nodes' data buffer, we propose a Push-Pull algorithm to optimize the data transmission. We evaluate our approach in large-scale simulations. The results show that our approach significantly outperforms existing P2P based multi-party video conference solutions with a more scalable, efficient, and consistent performance.
Fine-grained resource sharing for concurrent GPGPU kernels

General purpose GPU (GPGPU) programming frameworks such as OpenCL and CUDA allow running individual computation kernels sequentially on a device. However, in some cases it is possible to utilize device resources more efficiently by running kernels concurrently. This raises questions about load balancing and resource allocation that have not previously warranted investigation. For example, what kernel characteristics impact the optimal partitioning of resources among concurrently executing kernels? Current frameworks do not provide the ability to easily run kernels concurrently withne-grained and dynamic control over resource partitioning. We present KernelMerge, a kernel scheduler that runs two OpenCL kernels concurrently on one device. KernelMerge furnishes a number of settings that can be used to survey concurrent or single kernel configurations, and to investigate how kernels interact and influence each other, or themselves. KernelMerge provides a concurrent kernel scheduler compatible with the OpenCL API. We present an argument on the benefits of running kernels concurrently. We demonstrate how to use KernelMerge to increase throughput for two kernels that efficiently use device resources when run concurrently, and we establish that some kernels show worse performance when running concurrently. We also outline a method for using KernelMerge to investigate how concurrent kernels influence each other, with the goal of predicting runtimes for concurrent execution from individual kernel runtimes. Finally, we suggest GPU architectural changes that would improve such concurrent schedulers in the future.
Educating School Teachers.

No part of this report may be reproduced in any form—except for brief quotation (not to exceed 1,000 words) in a review or professional work—without permission in writing from the author. 3 TABLE of CONTENTS 4 T his report, the second in a series of policy reports on the results of a four-year study of America's education schools, focuses on the education of classroom teachers, the people who have the greatest impact on our children's learning in school. Teacher education has taken on a special urgency because the United States needs to raise both the quantity and quality of our teacher force. The country is experiencing an acute shortage of teachers. At the same time, we are asking teachers to increase student achievement to the highest levels in history in a new standards-based, accountability-driven system of education. To address both demands simultaneously is an enormous challenge, made even more difficult because the nation is deeply divided about how to prepare large numbers of high-quality teachers. We don't agree about what skills and knowledge teachers need or how and when teachers should learn them. This is the context for the second report. The first report focused on the education of school administrators. The third report will examine the quality of education research and the preparation of the scholars and researchers who conduct it. The final report will be an overview of America's schools of education , where the overwhelming majority of our school leaders, teachers, and scholars are educated. The nation's 1,206 schools, colleges, and departments of education constitute a sprawling enterprise that is located at 78 percent of all four-year colleges and universities. 1 They award one out of every 12 bachelor's diplomas; a quarter of all master's degrees; and 15 percent of all doctorates, more than any other branch of the academy. 2 They have been the subject of mounting criticism over the past decade from 5 PREFACE The nation is deeply divided about how to prepare large numbers of high-quality teachers. academics, foundations, think tanks, professional and scholarly associations , and government. This four-part study is intended to go beyond the usual, untested assertions of education school critics and the too-often defensive posture of the schools themselves. The simple fact is that education schools have strengths that go unrecognized by their detractors and they have weaknesses that they are unwilling to acknowledge. This study began with the belief …
Complementary filtering approach to orientation estimation using inertial sensors only

Precise and reliable estimation of orientation plays crucial role for any mobile robot operating in unknown environment. The most common solution to determination of the three orientation angles: pitch, roll, and yaw, relies on the Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) that exploits inertial data fusion (accelerations and angular rates) with magnetic measurements. However, in real world applications strong vibration and disturbances in magnetic field usually cause this approach to provide poor results. Therefore, we have devised a new approach to orientation estimation using inertial sensors only. It is based on modified complementary filtering and was proved by precise laboratory testing using rotational tilt platform as well as by robot field-testing. In the final, the algorithm well outperformed the commercial AHRS solution based on magnetometer aiding.
Memory-Centred Cognitive Architectures for Robots Interacting Socially with Humans

The Memory-Centred Cognition perspective places an active association substrate at the heart of cognition, rather than as a passive adjunct. Consequently, it places prediction and priming on the basis of prior experience to be inherent and fundamental aspects of processing. Social interaction is taken here to minimally require contingent and co-adaptive behaviours from the interacting parties. In this contribution, I seek to show how the memory-centred cognition approach to cognitive architectures can provide an means of addressing these functions. A number of example implementations are briefly reviewed, particularly focusing on multi-modal alignment as a function of experience-based priming. While there is further refinement required to the theory, and implementations based thereon, this approach provides an interesting alternative perspective on the foundations of cognitive architectures to support robots engage in social interactions with humans.
Fas-associated protein with death domain (FADD) regulates autophagy through promoting the expression of Ras homolog enriched in brain (Rheb) in human breast adenocarcinoma cells

FADD (Fas-associated protein with death domain) is a classical adaptor protein in apoptosis. Increasing evidences have shown that FADD is also implicated in cell cycle progression, proliferation and tumorigenesis. The role of FADD in cancer remains largely unexplored. In this study, In Silico Analysis using Oncomine and Kaplan Meier plotter revealed that FADD is significantly up-regulated in breast cancer tissues and closely associated with a poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. To better understanding the FADD functions in breast cancer, we performed proteomics analysis by LC-MS/MS detection and found that Rheb–mTORC1 pathway was dysregulated in MCF-7 cells when FADD knockdown. The mTORC1 pathway is a key regulator in many processes, including cell growth, metabolism and autophagy. Here, FADD interference down-regulated Rheb expression and repressed mTORC1 activity in breast cancer cell lines. The autophagy was induced by FADD deficiency in MCF7 or MDA-231 cells but rescued by recovering Rheb expression. Similarly, growth defect in FADD-knockdown cells was also restored by Rheb overexpression. These findings implied a novel role of FADD in tumor progression via Rheb–mTORC1 pathway in breast cancer.
Unsupervised object extraction by contour delineation and texture-based discrimination

An unsupervised object extraction system capable of separating animal images from background in natural scenes has been developed. Edges are detected from original images at multiple reduced resolutions and used to identify object contours. In order to determine the inside and the outside of an object, texture information is compactly represented using oriented edges and analyzed. The contour information and the texture information are integrated so that they complement each other. As a result, the object region has been successfully extracted as is from the scene with a fairly-well defined boundary line. Simulation experiments were carried out on several natural images and promising performance has been demonstrated.
Cooperative Solutions in a Transboundary Fishery: The Russian-Norwegian Co-Management of the Arcto-Norwegian Cod Stock

In order to focus on the necessity of justifying a specific choice of cooperative solution for applied analysis, a cooperative game theoretic setting is used to describe possible solutions for the Russian-Norwegian joint management of the migratory Arcto-Norwegian cod stock. Three different cooperative solutions, as well as cooperative compensated solutions to the problem, are introduced and discussed. The cooperative solutions are compared to one another in terms of the parties' preferences, threats and maximum points, and further set into a context of compensated exchange. Based on the cooperative and compensated solutions discussed, a negotiation framework is established in which four distinct stages of decision making can be identified. Finally, the different solutions are discussed in the setting of Norway and Russia's current political and economic environment. The so called Salukvadze solution, compensated or not, can be seen to be an appropriate solution to the fisheries problem. The compensation must be paid over time to Russia.
Android forensics: Correlation analysis

With over 6 billion mobile phone subscribers, it is inevitable that such devices will be involved in criminal activities. Furthermore, the evolution of smartphones has changed the way people use their mobile phones in their everyday life. That is, a huge variety of services exist in the device that can be exploited for either perpetrating a criminal activity or being the subject of the crime. By conducting an analysis of existing forensic tools and the literature, it became evident that there is a significant lack of advanced tools that enable the correlation among the various events of forensic interest in order to facilitate an investigation and reduce the cognitive load on the analyst side. Motivated by this fact, the paper at hand proposes a novel tool that incorporates strong mechanisms to forensically analyze an Android device, aiming to reduce the workload of the investigator through advanced and intelligent correlation and visualization.
Imposing Security Awareness on Wearables

Bluetooth reliant devices are increasingly proliferating into various industry and consumer sectors as part of a burgeoning wearable market that adds convenience and awareness to everyday life. Relying primarily on a constantly changing hop pattern to reduce data sniffing during transmission, wearable devices routinely disconnect and reconnect with their base station (typically a cell phone), causing a connection repair each time. These connection repairs allow an adversary to determine what local wearable devices are communicating to what base stations. In addition, data transmitted to a base station as part of a wearable app may be forwarded onward to an awaiting web API even if the base station is in an insecure environment (e.g. a public Wi-Fi). In this paper, we introduce an approach to increase the security and privacy associated with using wearable devices by imposing transmission changes given situational awareness of the base station. These changes are asserted via policy rules based on the sensor information from the wearable devices collected and aggregated by the base system. The rules are housed in an application on the base station that adapts the base station to a state in which it prevents data from being transmitted by the wearable devices without disconnecting the devices. The policies can be updated manually or through an over the air update as determined by the user.
Improving the Separation of Concurrent Speech through Residual Echo Suppression

This paper investigates the use of acoustic echo cancellation components in a speech separation system. The basic system uses a classical beamformer architecture, which separates the speech from different speakers based on spatial diversity. In order to get a better suppression of concurrent speech, we add a residual echo suppression stage, which has originally been developed in the area of acoustic echo cancellation. The speech separation performance of the proposed system is evaluated by means of automatic speech recognition experiments. The results show a clear improvement over standard beamforming and postfiltering approaches, with a word error rate of 44.2% compared to 68.1% for a superdirective beamformer (SDB) and 59.8% for an SDB with Zelinksi postfilter.
Comparison analysis of H.264 and MPEG-4 digital video transport over wireless IPv4 networks

As the rapid growth of multimedia communication demand, it is inevitable to develop a method that could convey multimedia applications on IP network that is previously a text-based communication. In this research, we implement and investigate the H.264 and MPEG-4 video codec, as well as the quality of their transport over wireless environment, particularly Mobile IPv4 and Adhoc networks. Video quality measurement is conducted by means of PSNR and MOS parameters, while network QoS parameters embrace one way delay, inter arrival jitter, packet loss, and user throughput. The outcomes of this research present that the video quality is sufficiently prominent when the client/mobile node is locating either at Home Network or Foreign Network.
Influence of Age, Circadian and Homeostatic Processes on Inhibitory Motor Control: A Go/Nogo Task Study

Introduction The contribution of circadian system and sleep pressure influences on executive performance as a function of age has never been studied. The aim of our study was to determine the age-related evolution of inhibitory motor control (i.e., ability to suppress a prepotent motor response) and sustained attention under controlled high or low sleep pressure conditions. Methods 14 healthy young males (mean age = 23±2.7; 20–29 years) and 11 healthy older males (mean age = 68±1.4; 66–70 years) were recruited. The volunteers were placed for 40 hours in “constant routine”. In the “Sleep Deprivation SD” condition, the volunteer was kept awake for 40 hours to obtain a high sleep pressure condition interacting with the circadian process. In the “NAP” condition, the volunteer adopted a short wake/sleep cycle (150/75 min) resulting in a low sleep pressure condition to counteract the homeostatic pressure and investigate the circadian process. Performances were evaluated by a simple reaction time task and a Go/Nogo task repeated every 3H45. Results In the SD condition, inhibitory motor control (i.e., ability to inhibit an inappropriate response) was impaired by extended wakefulness equally in both age groups (P<.01). Sustained attention (i.e. ability to respond accurately to appropriate stimuli) on the executive task decreased under sleep deprivation in both groups, and even more in young participants (P<.05). In the NAP condition, age did not influence the time course of inhibitory motor control or sustained attention. In the SD and NAP conditions, older participants had a less fluctuating reaction time performance across time of day than young participants (P<.001). Conclusion Aging could be a protective factor against the effects of extended wakefulness especially on sustained attention failures due to an attenuation of sleep pressure with duration of time awake.
The Relationship Between Depression and Metabolic Syndrome: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Context Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between depression and metabolic syndrome, which have had conflicting results. The purpose of this study was a meta-analysis of studies that have examined the relationship between these two variables. Evidence Acquisition This meta-analysis systematically reviewed the relationship between depression and metabolic syndrome. Scientific databases including IranMedex, SID, Magiran, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct were searched and 17 articles were extracted from 2000 to 2014. Selected studies data were analyzed using meta-analysis and random effects model. Heterogeneity between the studies was examined using I2. Data were analyzed using STATA software version 12.1. Results Seventeen studies were analyzed with a sample size of 31880 people. Analysis by the type of studies showed that the relationship between the two variables in cross-sectional studies (OR = 1.51, CI 95% = 1.36 - 1.68) and cohort studies (OR = 1.6, CI 95% = 1.23 - 2.08) was significant. In general, the heterogeneity test results among the studies was not significant (P for heterogeneity = 0.08, I2 = 39.8%). Conclusions There is a relationship between depression and metabolic syndrome.
Properties of Realized Volatility and Correlation

The aim of this study is to measure and characterize one-day and one-week volatility and correlation on a number of German equities. For this purpose we measure the realized volatility from tick-by-tick data by summing up short term squared returns. Volume weighted average prices are used to filter the price series. The distributional properties of returns standardized by realized volatility are shown to be gaussian or close to gaussian. In accordance with the literature we also find that weekly returns are more normally distributed than daily returns. Also, weekly returns standardized by realized volatilities are found to be more normally distributed than daily standardized returns. In comparison to similar studies on U.S. equity data we can conclude that the distributional properties of returns and realized volatilities are alike. After examining the memory of realized volatility we find that it is highly unstable implying poor forecasting performance of parametric volatility models.
Pose Guided Matching for Aerial Images

The estimation of the geometric relationship between pairs of images is a core task for many computer vision applications. Frequently, prior information on the inter-image or inter-camera geometry is available from e.g., a motion model or external sensors. When the images to be aligned show a planar scene, this prior geometry can be used to predict the locations of corresponding feature pairs. A number of algorithms are proposed for forming putative matches between sets of points features utilizing this geometric similarity in concert with the appearance similarity. The algorithms are evaluated over both similar and strongly dissimilar pairs of aerial photographs. Definition of an explicit search area given the estimated geometry provides the best results, although the failure mode given an erroneous prior is absolute.