Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From Potholes to Policy: How Invercargill City Council Informs Itself of and has Regard to, the Views of all of its Communities

In the 1990s, governments in the Western world were seeking solutions to the economic and social dysfunction resulting from a decade of pure neo-liberal policies. Increased inequalities in the distribution of wealth, the promotion of individualism at the expense of community and citizens feeling alienated from government had become critical problems, nowhere more so than in New Zealand. A solution that has been adopted is to reconnect government at all levels with citizens and the civic sector. The good governance agenda proposed increased transparency and accountability of government to citizens, and a new role for citizens as participants and partners. It became the foundation for a fundamental reform of local government in New Zealand, resulting in the Local Government Act 2002. However, the acquisition of a right to participate does not necessarily lead to knowledge of that right and the capacity to exercise it on the part of citizens: nor the willingness to allow it on the part of government. There are also more general questions about the exercise of power, about representation and about whose voices are heard. This thesis, through a case study of Invercargill City Council, a local government authority in Southland, New Zealand, examines these issues relating to citizen participation and the extent to which the Council has been able to create an environment and processes that enable all of its communities to participate. In doing so, it draws on a body of literature in the field of Development Studies, where participatory theory and practice have held centre stage for almost two decades. The thesis asks whether the lessons learned in that field could inform the practice of citizen participation in local government in New Zealand.
MIMO OFDM with ST Coding and Beamforming Adapted to Partial CSI

We study adaptive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) space-time (ST) OFDM transmissions capable of adapt- ing to partial channel state information (CSI) that is available at the transmitter. Our proposed transmitter includes an outer stage (adaptive modulation), and an inner stage (adaptive beam- forming). Specifically, the inner stage switches between a one- dimensional (1D) and a balanced two-dimensional (B2D) coder- beamformer, whereas the outer stage carries out joint power and bit loading across OFDM subcarriers. The adaptive transmit- ter based on 1D/B2D beamformer switching performs close to its counterpart based on a general 2D beamformer structure, while obviating the need for numerical search when carrying out the power splitting between two basis beams. I. INTRODUCTION
Women's Rights

Gender bias continues to create barriers to equal rights for women. The right to make decisions about one’s own body and reproductive health, to earn the same salary as a colleague doing comparable work, and to live free of sexual harassment are all key components of equal justice and fair treatment. Listen to Listen to i t t ADL’s podcast about how these issues impact women’s equality ADL’s podcast about how these issues i pact wo en’s equality ’ ’ ’ ’ t t t i i t lit .
Glucagon Receptor Knockout Prevents Insulin-Deficient Type 1 Diabetes in Mice

OBJECTIVE To determine the role of glucagon action in the metabolic phenotype of untreated insulin deficiency. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We compared pertinent clinical and metabolic parameters in glucagon receptor-null (Gcgr−/−) mice and wild-type (Gcgr+/+) controls after equivalent destruction of β-cells. We used a double dose of streptozotocin to maximize β-cell destruction. RESULTS Gcgr+/+ mice became hyperglycemic (>500 mg/dL), hyperketonemic, polyuric, and cachectic and had to be killed after 6 weeks. Despite comparable β-cell destruction in Gcgr−/− mice, none of the foregoing clinical or laboratory manifestations of diabetes appeared. There was marked α-cell hyperplasia and hyperglucagonemia (∼1,200 pg/mL), but hepatic phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA were profoundly reduced compared with Gcgr+/+ mice with diabetes—evidence that glucagon action had been effectively blocked. Fasting glucose levels and oral and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests were normal. Both fasting and nonfasting free fatty acid levels and nonfasting β-hydroxy butyrate levels were lower. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that blocking glucagon action prevents the deadly metabolic and clinical derangements of type 1 diabetic mice.
Onion Routing for Anonymous and Private Internet Connections

Abstract : Preserving privacy means not only hiding the content of messages, but also hiding who is talking to whom (traffic analysis). Much like a physical envelope, the simple application of cryptography within a packet-switched network hides the messages being sent, but can reveal who is talking to whom, and how often. Onion Routing is a general purpose infrastructure for private communication over a public network [8, 9, 4]. It provides anonymous connections that are strongly resistant to both eavesdropping and traffic analysis. The connections are bidirectional, near real-time, and can be used for both connection-based and connectionless traffic. Onion Routing interfaces with off the shelf software and systems through specialized proxies, making it easy to integrate into existing systems. Prototypes have been running since July 1997. As of this article's publication, the prototype network is processing more than 1 million Web connections per month from more than six thousand IP addresses in twenty countries and in all six main top level domains. [7]
Ex vivo lung perfusion to improve donor lung function and increase the number of organs available for transplantation

This paper describes the initial clinical experience of ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) at the Fondazione Ca’ Granda in Milan between January 2011 and May 2013. EVLP was considered if donor PaO2/FiO2 was below 300 mmHg or if lung function was doubtful. Donors with massive lung contusion, aspiration, purulent secretions, pneumonia, or sepsis were excluded. EVLP was run with a low‐flow, open atrium and low hematocrit technique. Thirty‐five lung transplants from brain death donors were performed, seven of which after EVLP. EVLP donors were older (54 ± 9 years vs. 40 ± 15 years, EVLP versus Standard, P < 0.05), had lower PaO2/FiO2 (264 ± 78 mmHg vs. 453 ± 119 mmHg, P < 0.05), and more chest X‐ray abnormalities (P < 0.05). EVLP recipients were more often admitted to intensive care unit as urgent cases (57% vs. 18%, P = 0.05); lung allocation score at transplantation was higher (79 [40–84] vs. 39 [36–46], P < 0.05). After transplantation, primary graft dysfunction (PGD72 grade 3, 32% vs. 28%, EVLP versus Standard, P = 1), mortality at 30 days (0% vs. 0%, P = 1), and overall survival (71% vs. 86%, EVLP versus Standard P = 0.27) were not different between groups. EVLP enabled a 20% increase in available donor organs and resulted in successful transplants with lungs that would have otherwise been rejected (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT01967953).
Cancer Phylogenetics from Single-Cell Assays

In the field of cancer biology, there is currently great interest in the development of “targeted therapeutics” that attack specific molecular abnormalities characterizing subsets of cancers. Computational methods have been essential in identifying subsets of tumors sharing a common molecular mechanism, making it possible to identify meaningful groupings for targeted therapy. To date, such approaches have been limited in their ability to infer the specific sequences of molecular changes, or progression pathways, by which a tumor forms and increases in aggressiveness. In the present work, we develop computational methods for inferring progression pathways from cell-bycell assays. Our methods bypass important limitations of the current approaches by recognizing and taking advantage of tumor heterogeneity. We define a model for tumor progression and introduce a procedure for cancer phylogenetics based on the inference of likely progression pathways in individual patients. This procedure is formulated as a set of easily tractable graph problems. We demonstrate the methods on a set of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays, which measure gene and chromosome gain and loss from a collection of fifty tumor samples. The results are consistent with prior knowledge about the role of the genes examined in cancer progression, and they suggest additional features of progression pathways involving the genes studied.
Fair and adaptive online set-based cache partitioning

In a multi-processing environment extra misses are endured in the last level shared cache because each process is trying to utilize the whole cache space, resulting in high interference between their working sets, and thus a degraded performance. In this paper, we propose a new cache partitioning scheme, which opposed to prior partitioning schemes in the literature, offers both high performance and fair allocation even with increasing number of simultaneously running processes and decreased cache associativity. The proposed scheme takes advantage of the broad number of sets in the cache by partitioning it dynamically set-wise. The partitioning presented is adaptive to accommodate to the changing requirements of the mix of running processes without the need for any offline information and with an eye on fair allocation of cache resources. Performance is evaluated by experimentation on different cache sizes with different associativity and comparison with the Least Recently Used baseline cache and partitioning schemes. We experimented on mixes from the Splash Benchmark Suite. The results shows a performance speedup up to 44% with an average speedup of 15% over all mixes, and also fairness improvement up to 46% in terms of the weighted harmonic mean, with an average of 14% over all mixes.
Balancing acts : the reality behind state balanced budget requirements

During the past two decades, the federal budget deficit has been a major focus of public concern. Many officials, commentators, and ordinary citizens have urged that the U.S. Constitution be amended to mandate a balanced budget, frequently citing the experience of states with such requirements. Richard Briffault analyzes the states' experience with balanced budget requirements and extrapolates lessons for a federal amendment. His focus is not on the wisdom of cutting the federal budget deficit, but rather on the role and effectiveness of these requirements in achieving budgetary balance. Briffault finds that, while the fiscal limitations on state governments do have consequences, their impact on the structure, function, and performance of states is not what federal balanced budget amendment advocates anticipate or desire. Many state budgets are balanced on paper only, and others are balanced because of political and fiscal constraints having little to do with constitutional or statutory provisions mandating a balanced budget.
Prophylactic Antioxidant Potential of Gallic Acid in Murine Model of Sepsis

Present study is to investigate the effect of Gallic acid pretreatment on survival of septic animals and oxidative stress in different organs like lungs, liver, kidney, spleen, and vascular dysfunction of mice. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in healthy adult male albino mice (25–30 g) and was divided into 3 groups each consisting of 6 animals, that is, sham-operated (SO group (Group I), SO + sepsis (Group II), and Gallic acid + sepsis (Group III)). Group III animals were pretreated with Gallic acid at the dose rate of 20 mg/kg body weight for 2 days before induction of sepsis. Animals were sacrificed on 8th day and the tissue samples were obtained for further investigation on lipid peroxidation (LPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase (GSH). Gallic acid pretreatment significant (P < 0.05) reduces kidney, spleen, liver, and lungs' malondialdehyde level in septic mice. However, it fails to improve reduced glutathione level in all given organs, while, Gallic acid pretreated mice showed significant improvement in SOD activity of kidney and spleen when compared to septic mice. Finally, the beneficial effects of Gallic acid pretreatment in sepsis are evident from the observations that Gallic acid partially restored SOD and catalase activity and completely reversed lipid peroxidation. Further studies are required to find out the possible mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of Gallic acid on large population.
Conservation Laws and Formation of Singularities in Relativistic Theories of Extended Objects

The dynamics of an M-dimensional extended object whose M+1 dimensional world volume in M+2 dimensional space-time has vanishing mean curvature is formulated in term of geometrical variables (the first and second fundamental form of the time-dependent surface $\sum_M$), and simple relations involving the rate of change of the total area of $\sum_M$, the enclosed volume as well as the spatial mean -- and intrinsic scalar curvature, integrated over $\sum_M$, are derived. It is shown that the non-linear equations of motion for $\sum_M(t)$ can be viewed as consistency conditions of an associated linear system that gives rise to the existence of non-local conserved quantities (involving the Christoffel-symbols of the flat M+1 dimensional euclidean submanifold swept out in ${\Bbb R}^{M+1}$). For M=1 one can show that all motions are necessarily singular (the curvature of a closed string in the plane can not be everywhere regular at all times) and for M=2, an explicit solution in terms of elliptic functions is exhibited, which is neither rotationally nor axially symmetric. As a by-product, 3-fold-periodic spacelike maximal hypersurfaces in ${\Bbb R}^{1,3}$ are found.
Obatoclax kills anaplastic thyroid cancer cells by inducing lysosome neutralization and necrosis

Poorly differentiated and anaplastic thyroid carcinomas are very aggressive, almost invariably lethal neoplasms for which no effective treatment exists. These tumors are intrinsically resistant to cell death, even when their driver oncogenic signaling pathways are inhibited. We have undertaken a detailed analysis, in mouse and human thyroid cancer cells, of the mechanism through which Obatoclax, a pan-inhibitor of the anti-apoptotic proteins of the BCL2 family, effectively reduces tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate that Obatoclax does not induce apoptosis, but rather necrosis of thyroid cancer cells, and that non-transformed thyroid cells are significantly less affected by this compound. Surprisingly, we show that Obatoclax rapidly localizes to the lysosomes and induces loss of acidification, block of lysosomal fusion with autophagic vacuoles, and subsequent lysosomal permeabilization. Notably, prior lysosome neutralization using different V-ATPase inhibitors partially protects cancer cells from the toxic effects of Obatoclax. Although inhibition of autophagy does not affect Obatoclax-induced cell death, selective down-regulation of ATG7, but not of ATG5, partially impairs Obatoclax effects, suggesting the existence of autophagy-independent functions for ATG7. Strikingly, Obatoclax killing activity depends only on its accumulation in the lysosomes, and not on its interaction with BCL2 family members. Finally, we show that also other lysosome-targeting compounds, Mefloquine and LLOMe, readily induce necrosis in thyroid cancer cells, and that Mefloquine significantly impairs tumor growth in vivo, highlighting a clear vulnerability of these aggressive, apoptosis-resistant tumors that can be therapeutically exploited.
機率式調變頻譜分解於強健性語音辨識 (Probabilistic Modulation Spectrum Factorization for Robust Speech Recognition) [In Chinese]

摘要 在自動語音辨識技術的發展上,語音強健性一直都是一門重要的研究議題。 在眾多的強 健性技術中,針對語音特徵參數進行強化與補償為其中之一大主要派別。 其中,近年來 已有為數不少的新方法,藉由更新語音特徵時間序列及其調變頻譜來提升語音特徵的強 健性。 本論文即是從語音特徵時間序列的調變頻譜域著手,採用機率式潛藏語意分析之 概念,對調變頻譜施以機率式分解並進行成分分析、進而擷取出較重要的成分以求得更 具強健性的語音特徵。 本方法之所有實驗皆於國際通用的 Aurora-2 連續數字資料庫進 行,相較於使用梅爾倒頻譜特徵之基礎實驗,本方法能達到 62.84%的相對錯誤降低率。 此外,我們也嘗試將所提方法跟一些知名的特徵強健技術做結合;實驗顯示,相對於單 一方法而言,此結合法可進一步提升辨識精確率,代表所提之新方法與許多特徵強健技 術有良好的加成性。 關鍵詞: 雜訊強健性、語音特徵參數強化、調變頻譜、機率式潛藏語意分析
Implementation of FM0/Manchester encoding using SOLS technique for DSRC application

DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) is an emerging technique that permits very high data transmission critical in communications-based active safety applications. DSRC standards usually adopt either FM0 code or Manchester code as a coding technique to enhance signal reliability, to reach dc balance. The codeword structure of FM0 and Manchester are different, thus limiting the hardware potential of existing DSRC systems. Similarity oriented logic simplification (SOLS) techniques merges hardware architectures of both FM0 and Manchester and integrated architecture gives better hardware utilization rate (HUR). The performance of this paper is validated on Xilinx ISE design suite 14.7. We have implemented the SOLS design at transistor level with 0.18-µm CMOS technology using mentor graphics tools.
Hardware and Software Aspects of the Design and Assembly of a New Humanoid Robot for RoboCup Soccer

This paper describes the design and development of a new humanoid robot named Newton, that is intended for applications in research and also to be used in the Robo Cup Kid Size League World Competition. Newton robot has been designed to work without any dedicated sub-controller implemented in low level hardware, often used to control the servomotors of the robot. Newton uses only a standard personal computer to do all processing and control necessary by the robot. To be able to deal with all the tasks involved in the robotic soccer domain, a new software architecture is proposed. This architecture is based on the hybrid paradigm, involving sensing, decision, planning, low level control, localization and communication. Preliminary tests show that the robot can walk properly while it performs tasks like finding the ball in an unknown position or positioning itself at the ball for kicking, exhibiting a very good performance.
Fuzzy Reliability of Mirrored Disk Organizations

Disk mirroring or RAID1 is a popular paradigm to achieve fault tolerance and high reliability, this paper describes four mirrored disk organizations: basic mirroring, group rotate declustering, interleaved declustering, chained declustering, then the membership function of the states is defined and the reliability of mirrored disk system is analyzed by using the reliability theory based on fuzzy state.
On shrinking binary picture patterns

A parallel processing algorithm for shrinking binary patterns to obtain single isolated elements, one for each pattern, is presented. This procedure may be used for counting patterns on a matrix, and a hardware implementation of the algorithm using large scale integrated tecnology is envisioned. The principal features of this method are the very small window employed (two-by-two elements), the parallel nature of the process, and the possibility of shrinking any pattern, regardless of the complexity of its configuration. Problems regarding merging and disconnection of patterns during the process as well as the determination of the maximum number of steps necessary to obtain a single isolated element from a pattern, are reviewed and discussed. An analogy with a neural network description, in terms of McCulloch-pitts “neurons” is presented.
Age-Dependent Regulation of Rat Intestinal Sodium-Phosphate Cotransporter (NaPi-IIb) by 1,25-(OH)2 Vitamin D3

The current studies were designed to characterize type IIb sodium-phosphate cotransporter (NaPi-IIb) expression and to assess the effect of 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 (vit-D3) on NaPi-IIb gene expression during rat ontogeny. Sodium-dependent Pi absorption by intestinal brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) decreases with age, and NaPi-IIb gene expression also decreases proportionally with age. Vit-D3 treatment increased intestinal BBMV Pi absorption by ~2.5 fold in suckling rats and by ~2.1 fold in adult rats. Vit-D3 treatment also increased NaPi-IIb mRNA abundance by ~2 fold in 14-day-old rats, but had no effect on mRNA expression in adults. Furthermore, in rat intestinal epithelial (RIE) cells, vit-D3 increased NaPi-IIb mRNA abundance, an effect that was abolished by actinomycin D. Additionally, human NaPi-IIb gene promoter activity in transiently transfected RIE cells showed ~1.6-fold increase after vit-D3 treatment. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the age-related decrease in intestinal Na/Pi absorption correlates with decreased NaPi-IIb mRNA expression. Our data also suggest that the vit-D3 effect on NaPi-IIb expression is at least partially mediated by gene transcription in suckling rats.
Speaker Independent Speech Recognition with Neural Networks and Speech Knowledge

We attempt to combine neural networks with knowledge from speech science to build a speaker independent speech recognition system. This knowledge is utilized in designing the preprocessing, input coding, output coding, output supervision and architectural constraints. To handle the temporal aspect of speech we combine delays, copies of activations of hidden and output units at the input level, and Back-Propagation for Sequences (BPS), a learning algorithm for networks with local self-loops. This strategy is demonstrated in several experiments, in particular a nasal discrimination task for which the application of a speech theory hypothesis dramatically improved generalization.
AUTOMATIC HULL FORM OPTIMISATION TOWARDS LOWER RESISTANCE AND WASH USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

SUMMARY This paper describes the procedure developed at MARINTEK for the automatic optimisation of hull lines to reduce the ship resistance as well as the wake wash generated by a ship within the given constraints. The methodology, developed computer programs and used constraints are described. The methodology is exercised using lines of a fast ship. A numerical comparison is performed between the resistance and wash performance of the original hull and that of an optimised hull. Artificial neural networks are used to simulate ship resistance, wash criterion and vessel displacement whereas genetic algorithm is applied in optimisation procedure.
Hausdorff symmetry operator towards retinal blood vessel segmentation

Automated retinal blood vessel segmentation is a fundamental component in computer aided retinal disease screening system and diagnosis. This paper presents a novel method of Hausdorff symmetry operator for automatic centerline pixel selection towards retinal blood vessel segmentation. Centerline pixels are determined by considering geometrical symmetry (distance and orientation) and Hausdorff distance based point set matching at the centerline pixel. This is performed in subpixel resolution to achieve higher accuracy. Then K-means clustering is applied to remove false centerline pixels. The selected centerline pixels act as seed points to be used in region growing to segment the retinal blood vessels. Our proposed method is evaluated on DRIVE and STARE databases. The experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed method is comparable with state-of-the-art techniques. The advantages of the proposed method include its ability to correctly segment thin blood vessels, vessels containing light reflex, and disc area is not misclassified as vessels.