Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality Function Deployment ( QIW ) : An Effective “ I ” cchnique For Requirements Acquisition

A general and accepted understanding of how to capture requirements, allocate or flow-down top-level requirements, verify and validate lower-level requirements, is at best sought in theory but not rigorously sought in practice. More often than not, the customers (or users) are blamed for not properly articulating their requirements or even understanding their own neecls. However, the problem is deeper than that, and it involves not only the customers but also the system analysts or engineers, and designers as well. This paper puts forward Quality Function Deployment (QFI>) as an effective tool for the accluisition of requirements. QFD when applied to a project will: (1) improve communications between customers, system engineers, programmers and testers and thus contribute to project success, (2) enable alignment between customer requirements, product (or design) requirements, and cost requirements (or constraints), by explicitly correlating key product requirements to customer needs and expectations, (3) improve the management of requirements through rigorous prioritization, built-in traceability, and explicit tradeoff analysis, and (4) facilitate reengineering of some key processes or subprocesses, through focus on key performance requirements. lntroductkm Requirements engineering is one of the most crucial parts of the development process of any project, yet it is the least supported or least understood part due to the following reasons: (1) requirements are particularly difficult to specify and analyze since they may be derived from the needs of many different customers or peo~jle; (2) difficulty to achieve a complete understanding of the application domain within which the proposed system will function, as discussed by Rubcnstein and Waters [6]; and (3) all relevant aspects of a proposed systcm may be difficult to capture in a single paradigtn. This is due to the fact that each paradigm is embodied in a single requirement language that may have. its own limitations to express some important requirement. The primary output of requirements engineering is a requirements specification that must be internally consistent; consistent with other existing documents; correct and complete with respect to satisfying users needs; understandable to users, designers and testers; and capable of serving as a basis for both design and test [4]. Hsia, et. al., [3] also assert that the quality of a product is only as good as the process that creates it; and that requirements engineering is one c)f the most crucial steps in this creation process. Hsia describes requirements engineering as the disciplined application of proven principles, methods, tools, and …
Developments of Swahili resources for an automatic speech recognition system

This article describes our efforts to provide ASR resources for Swahili, a Bantu language spoken in a wide area of East Africa. We start with an introduction on the language situation, both at linguistic and digital level. Then, we report the selected strategies to develop a text corpus, a pronunciation dictionary and a speech corpus for this under-resourced language. We explore methodologies as crowdsourcing or collaborative transcription process. Besides, we take advantage of some linguistic characteristics of the language such as rich morphology or shared vocabulary with English to improve performance of our baseline Swahili ASR system in a broadcast speech transcription task.
Cortbase version 2. Extensive updates of a nomenclatural database for corticioid fungi (Hymenomycetes)

Abstract Cortbase is a nomenclatural database for corticioid (resupinate) fungi ( Corticiaceae s.l. andrelated hymenomycetes) with basionyms, synonyms, taxonomically correct names, data onname usage, literature references, and evaluation of nomenclatural status. It is available as anon-line service (http://andromeda.botany.gu.se/cortbase.html) and as an MS-DOS executable forlocal installation. The database includes 8112 species names; of the 4412 basionyms included,2101 represent taxonomically acceptable species, 1434 are heterotypic synonyms, and 877 areof uncertain application. The improvements over the previous version include the new, platform-independent on-line search interface, some 800 more corticioid names, numerous additions tothe existing data, and six new categories for searching, including searches for location of typespecimens and for authors of species names. Introduction As traditionally perceived, corticioid fungi( Corticiaceae s.l.) form a group of higherfungi ( Basidiomycota
Global Intraurban Intake Fractions for Primary Air Pollutants from Vehicles and Other Distributed Sources

We model intraurban intake fraction (iF) values for distributed ground-level emissions in all 3646 global cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants, encompassing a total population of 2.0 billion. For conserved primary pollutants, population-weighted median, mean, and interquartile range iF values are 26, 39, and 14–52 ppm, respectively, where 1 ppm signifies 1 g inhaled/t emitted. The global mean urban iF reported here is roughly twice as large as previous estimates for cities in the United States and Europe. Intake fractions vary among cities owing to differences in population size, population density, and meteorology. Sorting by size, population-weighted mean iF values are 65, 35, and 15 ppm, respectively, for cities with populations larger than 3, 0.6–3, and 0.1–0.6 million. The 20 worldwide megacities (each >10 million people) have a population-weighted mean iF of 83 ppm. Mean intraurban iF values are greatest in Asia and lowest in land-rich high-income regions. Country-average iF values vary by a factor of 3 among the 10 nations with the largest urban populations.
An Analysis of Using Overlay Networks to Resist Distributed Denial-of-Service Attacks

Proxy networks based on overlays have been proposed as an architecture to protect Internet applications against denial-of-service attacks, however we know of no formal analysis of such schemes’ effectiveness. We describe a framework to analyze a class of these proxy network architectures. Based on an attack model and a system model, we analytically characterize how attacks affect two key factors of such schemes: resource availability and secrecy of applications’ locations. Our analytical models are applied to determine appropriate policies for resource recovery and system reconfiguration. Our conclusions show that: 1) intrusion detection-triggered recovery strategy is insufficient to avoid resource depletion, 2) true-positive rates of intrusion detectors have more impact on resource availability than detection speed, 3) simple reconfiguration approaches, such as random proxy migration, can effectively prevent attackers from discovering applications’ locations, 4) overlay network topology is critical; richly-connected topologies may reduce a proxy network’s effectiveness in resisting attacks.
Lack of an Association between Two BER Gene Polymorphisms and Breast Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis

Background The base excision repair (BER) pathway removes DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation, reactive oxidative species and methylating agents. ADPRT and APE1 are two important genes in the BER pathway. Several studies have evaluated the association between polymorphisms in the two BER genes (ADPRT Val762Ala and APE1 Asp148Glu) and breast cancer risk. However, the results are inconsistent. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation. A total of 8 studies were included in the meta-analysis (6 studies with 2,521 cases and 2,652 controls for ADPRT Val762Ala polymorphism and 5 studies with 2,539 cases and 2,572 controls for APE1 Asp148Glu polymorphism). For ADPRT Val762Ala polymorphism, no obvious associations were found for all genetic models (Val/Ala vs. Val/Val: OR = 0.960, 95% CI = 0.845–1.090; Ala/Ala vs. Val/Val: OR = 0.897, 95% CI = 0.683–1.178; dominant model: OR = 0.953, 95% CI = 0.843–1.077; and recessive model: OR = 1.084, 95% CI = 0.838–1.403). For APE1 Asp148Glu polymorphism, also no obvious associations were found for all genetic models (Asp/Glu vs. Asp/Asp: OR = 0.947, 95% CI = 0.829–1.082; Glu/Glu vs. Asp/Asp: OR = 0.958, 95% CI = 0.813–1.129; dominant model: OR = 0.946, 95% CI = 0.835–1.072; and recessive model: OR = 1.004, 95% CI = 0.873–1.155). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity or study design, still no obvious associations were found. Conclusions/Significance This meta-analysis indicates that ADPRT Val762Ala and APE1 Asp148Glu polymorphisms are not associated with increased breast cancer risk.
Predicting device performance from pass/fail transient signal analysis data

Transient Signal Analysis (TSA) is a Go/No-Go device testing method that is based on the analysis of voltage transients at multiple test points. In this paper a technique based on an extension to TSA is presented that is able to predict critical path delay using data from non-critical (predictor) path tests. A characterization phase is performed a priori in which both predictor path and critical path delays are measured from a set of defect-free devices. The characterization data is used to define the relationship between the power supply transient signal data and the actual delays. Once established, prediction is performed during production test by simply re-analyzing the data from the predictor path Go/No-Go TSA tests, and therefore, no speed bin testing is required. Simulations on an 8-bit multiplier are used to demonstrate a linear relationship between a range of supply rail Fourier Phase harmonics and delay under various process models. The accuracy of the prediction is evaluated statistically against the measured delays from an additional set of critical path simulations.
Ethics for Accountants and Auditors

How does a company best manage its ethical performance? What is the difference between personal and social ethical dilemmas? What moral obligations are expected from modern corporations? What factors need to be taken into account when making ethically-sound decisions? Ethics for Accountants and Auditors third edition covers the ethics course for accounting and auditing students in their second or third year. The text introduces students to the ethical dilemmas faced in the world of accounting and auditing, and equips them to deal with these issues in practice.
Macrophage polarization in metabolic disorders: functions and regulation

Purpose of review To discuss recent findings on the role and regulation of macrophage polarization in obesity and atherosclerosis. Recent findings Macrophages infiltrate the vascular wall during atherosclerosis and adipose tissue during obesity. At least two distinct subpopulations with different functions, the classically (M1) and the alternatively (M2) activated macrophages, have been found in these tissues. Reciprocal skewing of macrophage polarization between the M1 and M2 states is a process modulated by diet, humoral and transcription factors, such as the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. Summary Recent literature highlights the importance not only of the number of infiltrated macrophages, but also their activation in the maintenance of the inflammation state. Identifying mechanisms and molecules able to modify the balance between M1 and M2 represents a promising field of research.
Dynamic Routing on Networks with Fixed-Size Bu ersExtended

The combination of the buuer size of routers deployed in the Internet and the Internet traac itself leads routinely to routers dropping packets. Motivated by this, we initiate the rigorous study of dynamic store-and-forward routing on arbitrary networks in a model in which dropped packets must explicitly be taken into account. To avoid the uncertainties of traac modeling, we consider arbitrary traac on the network. We analyze and compare the eeectiveness of several greedy, on-line, local-control protocols using a competitive analysis of the throughput. One goal of our approach is for the competitive results to continue to hold as a network grows without requiring the memory in the nodes to increase with the size of the network. Thus, in our model, we have link buuers of xed size, B, which is independent of the size of the network, and B becomes a parameter of the model. Our results are in contrast to another adversar-ial traac model known as Adversarial Queuing Theory (AQT), which studies the stability and growth rate of queues as a function of the network and traac parameters. For example, in AQT the Furthest-To-Go (FTG) protocol is stable for all networks whereas Nearest-To-Go (NTG) can be unstable for some networks. Unlike AQT, in our setting NTG is preferable to FTG: we show that the NTG protocol is throughput-competitive on all networks whereas the FTG protocol has unbounded competitiveness whenever a network contains even small cycles.
Young people’s use of social networking sites in Ireland: “Socially anti-social”

There is little known about how and why most young people use online Social Networking Sites (SNS), from an Irish perspective. The purpose of this research dissertation is to present a qualitative study of online experiences of young people on social networking sites in Ireland. In this study 32 young people took part in two separate focus groups and semi structured interviews to explore their use of these SNSs. The voice of the young person was of vital importance throughout the research process. It was this voice that ensured that data relating to their media usage was from their perspective only and not that of the researcher. Herring (2008) maintains that media scholars view internet interactions through an adult lens and not that of the young person. Young people deem their media usage as quite ordinary and not in any way transformative. Results also indicate that young people use SNSs in a twotiered manner. Facebook and Snapchat are the two most preferred sites. Facebook is used as a tool for surveillance of their networks and to “creep” on connections both within their network and outside their network. They engage with Facebook in a one-to-many method and this use of social media is seen in no way as transformative from the young person’s perspective. They are both the author and the audience simultaneously on Facebook as they re-post content that they receive from connections in their network. Little time is spent in any meaningful way on Facebook, as most of their time on this platform is spent observing other’s content rather than posting any original content themselves. Snapchat is used in a different way by young people. Young people communicate on this platform in a one-to-one method or a one-to -few method as the numbers of connections on Snapchat are considerably smaller than Facebook, with strong emotional ties to all connections on Snapchat. iii These connections are friends in an offline environment and this platform is used for regular day to day communications. As these sites are used day to day they are taking shape as they develop, consistent with Baym (1995), who argues this environment should be understood to be organic. The use of these sites is discussed within the framework of Maffesoli’s (1996) and Bennett’s (1999) concept of tribes. These online social networks allow the introduction of the young person through public displays of connection to their peers (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Papacharissi, 2009). These and other online behaviours are investigated in this paper, including new behaviours such as back stalking (the act of re-surfacing old embarrassing content by commenting on their timeline) as discussed by Schoenebeck et al., 2016. Implications of the use of Social Networking Sites on the development of a young person’s identity, peer relationships, online privacy and trust are discussed herein.
Alcohol intake and mortality in middle aged men with diagnosed coronary heart disease

OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of alcohol on risk of mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiovascular disease, and all causes in men with established CHD. METHODS AND RESULTS In a population based prospective study of 7169 men aged 45–64 years followed for a mean of 12.8 years, 655 men (9.1%) had a physician diagnosis of CHD (myocardial infarction 455, angina only 200). In these 655 men, there were 294 deaths from all causes including 175 CHD deaths. Ex-drinkers had the highest risk of CHD, cardiovascular mortality, and all cause mortality even after adjustment for lifestyle characteristics and pre-existing disease. Using occasional drinkers as the reference group, lifelong teetotallers, occasional drinkers, and light drinkers all showed similar risks of mortality from CHD, cardiovascular disease, and all causes. Moderate/heavy drinkers showed increased risk of mortality from CHD, cardiovascular disease, and all causes compared to occasional drinkers. The adverse effect of moderate/heavy drinking was confined to the 455 men with previous myocardial infarction (adjusted relative risk for all cause mortality 1.50, 95% confidence interval 1.01 to 2.23). In contrast to lighter drinking, giving up smoking within five years of the start of follow up was associated with a considerable reduction in risk of all cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to those who continued to smoke. CONCLUSION Compared to occasional drinking, regular light alcohol consumption (1–14 units per week) in men with established coronary heart disease is not associated with any significant benefit or deleterious effect for CHD, cardiovascular disease or all cause mortality. Higher levels of intake (⩾ 3 drinks per day) are associated with increased mortality in men with previous myocardial infarction. In contrast, smoking cessation in men with established CHD substantially reduces the risk of mortality.
Spherule diagrams: A matrix-based set visualization compared with Euler diagrams

The explosive growth of the internet, the overall computerization of the engineering, medical, business and defense sectors have created a widespread need of visualization techniques to explore large and complex datasets. As the data keeps growing in complexity, users find it difficult to navigate and understand the relationships between the sets. There are limitations such as scalability and sub-optimal layouts being produced with the state-of-the-art visualization methods such as Euler diagrams, Treemap diagrams and ConSets. So, an effective visual method is in great need to produce an optimal layout and identify set properties with ease. This motivated us to develop a novel visual method called “Spherule diagrams” to improve the analysis of set relationships effectively. Then a small-scale user preference study was conducted to compare Euler diagrams with Spherule diagrams, where 80% participants preferred Spherule diagrams for its simplicity, navigation, better layout and set ordering characteristics. The other results based on error rate and rating, Spherule diagrams outperformed Euler diagrams. Thus, we provide evidence that Spherule diagrams are preferred over Euler diagrams for visualizing set relations.
Att skapa gemenskap hur beslut fattas i en EU-myndighet

Sedan 1993 har ett trettiotal EU-myndigheter inrattats for att samordna offentlig forvaltning i medlemsstaterna. Genom att till exempel bestamma vilka produkter som far saljas, enas om varornas tek .
Augmented Reality Smart Glasses (ARSG) visitor adoption in cultural tourism

ABSTRACT A number of organizations in cultural tourism have started to explore the use of augmented reality (AR) to enhance visitor experience. While many studies have been conducted to identify adoption criteria of mobile AR applications, research exploring the adoption of augmented reality smart glasses (ARSG) is still limited. This paper contributes to the technology adoption literature by investigating attributes of visitor adoption of ARSG in cultural tourism. Twenty-eight interviews were conducted with visitors to a UK art gallery, where they experienced an ARSG application. Findings inform an ARSG adoption framework that integrates societal impact, perceived benefits, perceived attributes of innovation, and visitor resistance as the main themes of ARSG adoption in cultural tourism.
Chip cooling with carbon nanotube heat sink

In this paper, lightweight heat sinks based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are presented. CNTs were attached on the surface of silicon chips and their heat dissipation performance were monitored. As the morphology of heat sinks is an important factor for the heat dissipation efficiency, two types of CNTs, CNT arrays and sponge CNTs, were used here. Besides, the influence of airflow on the two kinds of CNTs based heat sink was observed by controlling the wind speed. This work gives an excellent reference for a low-cost and high-performance micro-heat sink in the future.
Interactive 3D model acquisition and registration

The acquisition of geometric information from real-world objects has become a major way of modeling complex scenes and environments. Unfortunately, most optical methods for geometric model acquisition require the combination of partial information from different view points in order to obtain a single, coherent model. This, in turn, requires the registration of partial models into a common coordinate frame, a process that is usually done offline. As a consequence, holes due to undersampling and missing information often cannot be detected until after the registration. In this paper we introduce a fast, hardware-accelerated method for registering a new view to an existing partial geometric model in a volumetric representation. This method currently performs roughly one registration every second, and is therefore fast enough for on-the-fly evaluation by the user. Given more time, the same method is also capable of producing full geometric models at very high quality.
The applicability of the “Sniffin’ Sticks” olfactory test in a Turkish population

Background Olfactory assessment is often neglected in clinical practice, although olfactory loss can assist in diagnosis and may lead to significant morbidity. “Sniffin’ Sticks” is a modern test of nasal chemosensory performance that was developed in Germany and validated in many countries. Our aim was to validate the applicability of “Sniffin’ Sticks” in a Turkish population. Material/Methods The study included 123 healthy volunteers with a reported normal sense of smell and 51 patients complaining of a reduction in their olfactory function presenting either at rhinology or neurology clinics. The mean age of the subjects tested was 30.2±12.5 years in 126 males and 48 females. The participants were divided into 2 groups according to subjective olfactory function – healthy or abnormal. Each subject’s olfactory function was assessed using the “Sniffin’ Sticks” test. Results We found significant differences in “Sniffin’ Sticks” test results between the abnormal and healthy groups. In healthy subjects, the 10th percentiles of odor threshold score, odor discrimination score, odor identification score, and TDI score were 7.25, 12, 11, and 32, respectively. Considering the 2 groups together, apple and turpentine were the least well-recognized odors from the 16 odors presented. Conclusions Our study provides an update of normative values for routine clinical use of “Sniffin’ Sticks” in a Turkish population. Also, the present study validates that “Sniffin’ Sticks” olfactory test was applicable for clinical usage in a Turkish population.