Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Bi-metric and Fuzzy c-means Based Intelligent Stakeholder Quantification System for Value-based Software

Requirements engineering (RE) deals with the software requirements elicitation, validation and verification processes and implementation of elicited requirements. The RE process, for value-based software (VBS) development, is one of the highly complex and non-linear processes which mainly depends on the key stakeholders. VBS systems are extremely different from traditional systems due to their association with financial streams. There is a need of value-based RE practices. Stakeholders’ analysis plays a vital role in the selection of critical stakeholders for RE phase in VBS development. Different stakeholders’ identification and quantification (SIQ) approaches are presented by researchers in order to identify and quantify the stakeholders. The existing approaches are not uniform in terms of process activities and different stakeholders’ attributes. Nonuniformity results in higher time consumption and higher complexity. The existing SIQ approaches are not suitable for current value-based RE practices. Hence, this research presents an intelligent decision support system for the VBS SIQP using stakeholder metrics and fuzzy logic. The data is finally divided into three clusters in order to select the highly prioritized stakeholders for VBS systems.
Health-related behaviors of women physicians vs other women in the United States.

OBJECTIVE To examine the health-related behaviors of women physicians compared with those of other women of high and not high socioeconomic status and with national goals. METHODS We examined the results of a questionnaire-based survey of a stratified random sample, the Women Physicians' Health Study, and a US telephone survey (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga). We analyzed 3 samples of women aged 30 to 70 years: (1) respondents from the Women Physicians' Health Study (n = 4501); (2) respondents from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 1316) of the highest socioeconomic status; and (3) all other respondents from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 35,361). RESULTS Women physicians were more likely than other women of high socioeconomic status and even more likely than other women not to smoke. The few physicians (3.7%) who smoked reported consuming fewer cigarettes per day, and physicians who had stopped smoking reported quitting at a younger age than women in the general population. Women physicians were less likely to report abstaining from alcohol, but those who drank reported consuming less alcohol per episode than other women and were less likely to report binging on alcohol than women in the general population. Unlike women in the general population and even other women of high socioeconomic status, women physicians' reported behaviors exceeded national goals for the year 2000 in all examined behaviors and screening habits. CONCLUSIONS Women physicians report having generally good health habits even when compared with other socioeconomically advantaged women and report exceeding all examined national goals for personal screening practices and other personal health behaviors. Women physicians' behaviors may provide useful standards for other women in the United States.
An Analysis of Security Patch Lifecycle Using Google Trend Tool

Information security audit has become more and more important nowadays. Among the audited items, the status of security patch could be the most important part. In this paper, we proposed a security patch lifecycle to assess the information security risk with the help of vulnerability databases. A case study using the Google Trend is also given to demonstrate that the proposed security patch lifecycle is both useful and practical.
An Extension of the Degeneration Theory of Genius: A Psychological and Physiological Explanation Why Creative Individuals could turn to be either Resourceful or Demanding

The present study aims to extend the degeneration theory of genius. As such, this study initially develops a logical assumption based on the contemporary research findings regarding the “dark side” of creative people (e.g., psychological issues), the concept of the degeneration theory of genius, and scientific research findings about disinhibition syndromes. A psychophysical approach that combines the knowledge of the brain science of creative people and the general aggression model (GAM) as well as positive environmental stimuli (from the perspective of the general learning model [GLM]) is then used to develop two inferred theoretical arguments for the purpose of supporting the proposed logical assumption. Based on the research results, the theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions, as well as implications for future research, are illustrated in detail in this study. Keywords : creativity; environmental stimuli; degeneration theory of genius; general aggression model (GAM); general learning model (GLM); brain science; disinhibition syndrome
Domain independent planning for space : Building a bridge from both shores

Most of the effort dedicated to bridging the gap between real life planning and domain independent planning has been put in enhancing the latter. In this paper we follow the opposite direction: what can we do in space engineering to narrow this gap? We present some of the problems that make impractical the use of domain independent planning when following the standard architectural design schemes used for space systems. We present a different architectural scheme that avoid these problems turning easier the use of domain independent planning. We briefly describe a real life application based on this new approach: a multi-mission multi-sensor ground station service that manages many Tracking, Telemetry & Command, and science data downloading antennas.
Improved LDA and LVQ for Face Recognition

We present a hybrid face recognition algorithm which is based on the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) improved by a fusion technique and learning vector quantization (LVQ) in the paper. Firstly, the improved LDA is utilized to reduce the sample vector dimension, and then the LVQ classifier is used to recognize human faces. We perform intensive set of simulation experiments and results show that the algorithm not only reduces the computation time of the entire algorithm, but also improves the algorithm classification. More accurately, the algorithm obtains higher classification capability for the standard databases such as ORL, Yale and AR.
EnTrack: a system facility for analyzing energy consumption of Android system services

Energy accounting is an essential requirement for optimizing energy consumption on mobile devices. State-of-the-art approaches consider application processes and threads as the sole components of energy consumption. In this framework, the energy consumption of system services is unclear and has not been comprehensively studied. In this paper, we suggest that the energy consumption of system services should be investigated to understand the behavior of applications. We propose a fine-grained energy tracing scheme, EnTrack, to enhance the accuracy of energy tracing by identifying and incorporating the energy portions consumed by system services. We implemented EnTrack on the Android platform and validated its functionality and usefulness. In addition, practical usage cases of EnTrack, which uses it as an energy behavior analysis tool, were introduced. The case studies demonstrated that EnTrack enables an understanding of fine-grained energy consumption, especially in system services, which have previously been concealed.
Quantifying Transmission of Campylobacter jejuni in Commercial Broiler Flocks

ABSTRACT Since meat from poultry colonized with Campylobacter spp. is a major cause of bacterial gastroenteritis, human exposure should be reduced by, among other things, prevention of colonization of broiler flocks. To obtain more insight into possible sources of introduction of Campylobacter into broiler flocks, it is essential to estimate the moment that the first bird in a flock is colonized. If the rate of transmission within a flock were known, such an estimate could be determined from the change in the prevalence of colonized birds in a flock over time. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of transmission of Campylobacter using field data gathered for 5 years for Australian broiler flocks. We used unique sampling data for 42 Campylobacter jejuni-colonized flocks and estimated the transmission rate, which is defined as the number of secondary infections caused by one colonized bird per day. The estimate was 2.37 ± 0.295 infections per infectious bird per day, which implies that in our study population colonized flocks consisting of 20,000 broilers would have an increase in within-flock prevalence to 95% within 4.4 to 7.2 days after colonization of the first broiler. Using Bayesian analysis, the moment of colonization of the first bird in a flock was estimated to be from 21 days of age onward in all flocks in the study. This study provides an important quantitative estimate of the rate of transmission of Campylobacter in broiler flocks, which could be helpful in future studies on the epidemiology of Campylobacter in the field.
Understanding Runoff Processes in a Semi-Arid Environment through Isotope and Hydrochemical Hydrograph Separations

The understanding of runoff generation mechanisms is crucial for the sustainable management of river basins such as the allocation of water resources or the prediction of floods and droughts. However, identifying the mechanisms of runoff generation has been a challenging task, even more so in arid and semi-arid areas where high rainfall and streamflow variability, high evaporation rates, and deep groundwater reservoirs may increase the complexity of hydrological process dynamics. Isotope and hydrochemical tracers have proven to be useful in identifying runoff components and their characteristics. Moreover, although widely used in humid temperate regions, isotope hydrograph separations have not been studied in detail in arid and semi-arid areas. Thus the purpose of this study is to determine whether isotope hydrograph separations are suitable for the quantification and characterization of runoff components in a semi-arid catchment considering the hydrological complexities of these regions. Through a hydrochemical characterization of the surface water and groundwater sources of the catchment and two- and three-component hydrograph separations, runoff components of the Kaap catchment in South Africa were quantified using both isotope and hydrochemical tracers. No major disadvantages while using isotope tracers over hydrochemical tracers were found. Hydrograph separation results showed that runoff in the Kaap catchment is mainly generated by groundwater sources. Two-component hydrograph separations revealed groundwater contributions of between 64 and 98 % of total runoff. By means of three-component hydrograph separations, runoff components were further separated into direct runoff, shallow and deep groundwater components. Direct runoff, defined as the direct precipitation on the stream channel and overland flow, contributed up to 41 % of total runoff during wet catchment conditions. Shallow groundwater defined as the soil water and near-surface water component (and potentially surface runoff) contributed up to 45 % of total runoff, and deep groundwater contributed up to 84 % of total runoff. A strong correlation for the four studied events was found between the antecedent precipitation conditions and direct runoff. These findings suggest that direct runoff is enhanced by wetter conditions in the catchment that trigger saturation excess overland flow as observed in the hydrograph separations.
The concepts of thresholds of ischaemia in relation to brain structure and function.

The relationship between the blood supply of a neurone and its capacity to function and survive remains of fundamental importance in the study of cerebral vascular disease from both the surgical and the medical standpoint. Thus it has been assumed that a matter of only a few minutes is necessary to cause complete and permanent loss of function of key neurones in the primate nervous system (Dennis and Kabat, 1939; Weinberger et al, 1940; Grenell, 1946; Boyd and Connolly, 1962), but everyday clinical experience confirms that dense neurological deficits following soon after a cerebral ischaemic episode may gradually resolve and finally even disappear. It has long been an intriguing clinical question whether such resolution of neurological deficits relates to the recovery of neurones so damaged following the ischaemic episode as to cease functioning, yet subsequently recover, or whether associated areas outwith the zone of immediate ischaemia are capable of assuming the function of structures rendered irreversibly damaged by the ischaemic event. The theory that certain cells probably survive in a state of structural integrity but functional paralysis has seemed to us for some years most likely, while possible explanations for the recovery of neurones have been either improvement in residual circulation with expansion of the collateral vessels from neighbouring cerebrovascular beds, or modification of the neuronal metabolism itself so that function may be resumed at a lower basal level of blood flow. The experimental findings in this paper relate attempts to elucidate the relationship between structure, function and blood supply in the nervous system. They have been stimulated by surgical rather than medical phenomena, since the occlusion of vessels during the excision of basal tumours, or the occlusion of portions of the cerebral circulation in the treatment of intracranial aneurysm, generally gives a human preparation less clouded by incidental vascular disease than occlusion in the course of the development of atherosclerosis with its attendant impairment of function of collateral vessels, and, possibly, disorder reactivity of the vascular system as a whole. In the experimental analysis of these phenomena the experimental stroke model described elsewhere has been used (Symon et al, 1971; Symon, 1975), in which the middle cerebral artery is occluded either by an intracranial approach along the sphenoidal wing, or by a transorbital approach after removal of the contents of the orbit and dissection through the enlarged superior orbital fissure. Temporary occlusion of the vessel in acute experiments is performed with a small spring clip such as a Scoville clip, while for permanent occlusion the artery is divided between two small 'haemo' clips. The site of occlusion used in this model is the first millimetre of the middle cerebral which, as Shellshear (1921) and Abbie (1934) have indicated, is free from perforating vessels. The intensity of ischaemia in the basal ganglia may be increased by simultaneous occlusion of the perforating vessels.
Binge-Like Consumption of a Palatable Food Accelerates Habitual Control of Behavior and Is Dependent on Activation of the Dorsolateral Striatum

Access to highly palatable and calorically dense foods contributes to increasing rates of obesity worldwide. Some have made the controversial argument that consumption of such foods can lead to “food addiction,” yet little is known about how long-term access to highly palatable foods might alter goal-directed learning and decision making. In the following experiments, rats were given 5 weeks of continuous or restricted daily access to sweetened condensed milk (SCM) before instrumental training for food reward. Subsequently we examined whether goal-directed performance was impaired in these groups using the outcome-devaluation task. Control rats reduced responding following devaluation of the earned outcome as did those with previous continuous access to SCM. Of interest, rats with previous restricted access to SCM responded similarly under the devalued and nondevalued conditions, indicating loss of goal-directed control of responding. To identify whether the loss of goal-directed control was accompanied by differences in neuronal activity, we used c-Fos immunohistochemistry to examine the patterns of activation during devaluation testing. We observed greater c-Fos immunoreactivity in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) and associated cortical regions in the group that received previous restricted access to SCM and demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to outcome devaluation. Infusion of the AMPA-receptor antagonist CNQX or dopamine D1-receptor antagonist SCH-23390 into the DLS before testing restored goal-directed performance in the restricted SCM group, confirming that this region is essential for habit-based performance. These results indicate that previous diet can alter subsequent learning and activity in the neural circuits that support performance.
Quality control in the secretory pathway: retention of a misfolded viral membrane glycoprotein involves cycling between the ER, intermediate compartment, and Golgi apparatus

Proteins synthesized in the ER are generally transported to the Golgi complex and beyond only when they have reached a fully folded and assembled conformation. To analyze how the selective retention of misfolded proteins works, we monitored the long-term fate of a membrane glycoprotein with a temperature-dependent folding defect, the G protein of tsO45 vesicular stomatitis virus. We used indirect immunofluorescence, immunoelectron microscopy, and a novel Nycodenz gradient centrifugation procedure for separating the ER, the intermediate compartment, and the Golgi complex. We also employed the folding and recycling inhibitors dithiothreitol and AIF4-, and coimmunoprecipitation with calnexin antibodies. The results showed that the misfolded G protein is not retained in the ER alone; it can move to the intermediate compartment and to the cis-Golgi network but is then recycled back to the ER. In the ER it is associated with calnexin and BiP/GRP78. Of these two chaperones, only BiP/GRP78 seems to accompany it through the recycling circuit. Thus, the retention of this misfolded glycoprotein is the result of multiple mechanisms including calnexin binding in the ER and selective retrieval from the intermediate compartment and the cis-Golgi network.
β-Asarone Rescues Pb-Induced Impairments of Spatial Memory and Synaptogenesis in Rats

Chronic lead (Pb) exposure causes cognitive deficits. This study aimed to explore the neuroprotective effect and mechanism of β-asarone, an active component from Chinese Herbs Acorus tatarinowii Schott, to alleviate impairments of spatial memory and synaptogenesis in Pb-exposed rats. Both Sprague-Dawley developmental rat pups and adult rats were used in the study. Developmental rat pups were exposed to Pb throughout the lactation period and β-asarone (10, 40mg kg-1, respectively) was given intraperitoneally from postnatal day 14 to 21. Also, the adult rats were exposed to Pb from embryo stage to 11 weeks old and β-asarone (2.5, 10, 40mg kg-1, respectively) was given from 9 to 11 weeks old. The level of β-asarone in brain tissue was measured by High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The Morris water maze test and Golgi-Cox staining method were used to assess spatial memory ability and synaptogenesis. The protein expression of NR2B subunit of NMDA receptor, Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc/Arg3.1) and Wnt family member 7A (Wnt7a) in hippocampus, as well as mRNA expression of Arc/Arg3.1 and Wnt7a, was also explored. We found that β-asarone could pass through the blood brain barrier quickly. And β-asarone effectively attenuated Pb-induced reduction of spine density in hippocampal CA1 and dentate gyrus areas in a dose-dependent manner both in developmental and adult rats, meanwhile the Pb-induced impairments of learning and memory were partially rescued. In addition, β-asarone effectively up-regulated the protein expression of NR2B, Arc and Wnt7a, as well as the mRNA levels of Arc/Arg3.1 and Wnt7a, which had been suppressed by Pb exposure. The results suggest the neuroprotective properties of β-asarone against Pb-induced memory impairments, and the effect is possibly through the regulation of synaptogenesis, which is mediated via Arc/Arg3.1 and Wnt pathway.
Energy-Efficient and Reliable Transport Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks: State-of-Art

New wireless sensor network applications (e.g., military surveillance) require higher reliability than a simple best effort service could provide. Classical reliable transport protocols like Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) are not well suited for wireless sensor networks due to both the characteristics of the network nodes (low computing power, strong energy constraints) and those of the main applications running on those nodes (low data rates). Recent researches present new transport protocols for wireless sensor networks providing various type of reliability and using new mechanisms for loss detection and recovery, and congestion control. This paper presents a survey on reliable transport protocol for WSNs.
Choice-based Valuation of Natural Resources In the Protected Area of the Evros Delta

The paper investigates the economic valuations individuals make about natural resources in the protected area of the Evros river delta in NorthEast Greece. A choice experiment is conducted to quantify in monetary terms the value of natural resources, focusing on four key aspects associated with a healthy local ecosystem, (a) the withdrawal of saline soils, (b) the decrease in the use of nitrates and phosphates, (c) the protection of habitats, and (d) transfer of labor to eco-friendly human activities. We apply choice models to analyze the preference structure of residents for alternative scenarios of ecosystem’s evolution in a ten years horizon. The main focus of the modeling approach is inference about welfare valuations and their relationship with the characteristics of the participants to the choice experiment and their perceptions about the importance of ecosystem services. We derive welfare estimates and detect a number of significant linear and non-linear effects that may inform environmental protection and regional development policies.
Relating GSR Signals to traditional Usability Metrics: Case Study with an anthropomorphic Web Assistant

This paper shows how GSR signals can be related to traditional usability metrics. The test case is an e-government Website, enriched with an animated face to help users' navigation. First, we present the results on the effects of the talking face, which have been assessed with traditional usability metrics in a within- group experiment. Then, we show how such traditional analyses have correspondence in GSR signals. As the GSR signal is very subjective, its log data must be analyzed with care, in order to have significant and robust results. Applying a differential analysis, the GSR traces supported some findings obtained with traditional usability metrics.