Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
WAVELET BASED DECOMPOSITION OF NATURAL IMAGES IN INDEPENDENT RESOLUTION LEVELS

Efficient coding of natural scenes requires the use of a proper filter to reduce their redundancy. In this work we show that nongaussian statistical properties of natural scenes uniquely define a wavelet filter that decomposes the image in a set of statistically independent resolution levels. The spatial statistical dependences still present at a fixed scale are extremely short-ranged.
AN EFFICIENT STRUCTURE TO FIND NEW EVASION TECHNIQUES ON NETWORK INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEM

These days, Signature based Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS), which apply a set of rules to identify hostile traffic in network segments are quickly updated in order to prevent systems against new attacks. The objective of an attacker is to find out new evasion techniques to stay unseen. Unfortunately, majority of the existing techniques are based on the ambiguities of the network protocols. As a result of the emergence of the new evasion techniques, NIDS system may fail to give the correct results. The central idea of our paper is to develop a network based intrusion detection system based on Apriori algorithm and other approaches for attack detection and test the input thus produced by the Apriori algorithm with the well known snort intrusion detection system, once candidate sets for detecting different attacks are generated. These candidates in turn will be passed as inputs to the snort intrusion detection system for detecting different attacks.
Hawaii's Marine Fisheries: Some History, Long-term Trends, and Recent Developments

- This paper provides an overview ofHawaii's marinefisheriesfrom J948 to the present. After three decades of decline following a briefperiod ofgrowth at the conclusion to World War lJ, Hawaii's commercial fisheries began a decade of sustained development in the J980's. At the same time, fisheries management is­ sues became more significant as different segments of the fishery came into more direct competition. This paper provides new estimates ofcommercial landings for the J977-90 period, and summarizes lim­ ited information on recreational and sub­ sistence fisheries in the J980's. Jt also provides some historical context which may be useful in evaluating fishery develop­ ment and management options.
Optimal budget allocation for university research and publication agenda through integer programming

Article history: Received 10 June 2017 Received in revised form 22 August 2017 Accepted 2 September 2017 Available online 20 September 2017 For the past few years, government-funded universities in Malaysia faced an uphill battle to strategize their management budget due to significant budget cut by the Malaysian Government. One portion of the budget will be spent towards achieving the key performance indicators (KPIs) set by the universities to achieve their annual targets. Unfortunately, some universities set up their specific strategies to achieve the KPIs without ample consideration to the limited available resources where less attention is channeled to the cost of achieving the KPIs. Setting priorities and making decisions on allocation and reallocation of resources based on the direction of the strategies must be executed with transparency and accountability and will be of great importance. In this paper we illustrate how integer programming was applied to allocate budget based on the KPIs set for one of the government-funded Malaysian universities’ (U-XYZ’s) research and publication agenda. Two models were developed and successfully solved. The first model was to determine the total budget needed if all the KPIs were to be achieved while the second model was to distribute the allocated budget set by U-XYZ, for all the activities planned for the agenda. The result showed that in order to achieve the target, U-XYZ has to increase its budget allocation by RM2.164 million. Otherwise, U-XYZ can only expect to obtain 1.578 out of 1.593 points that is required to be achieved.
Supporting Ecological Resilience to Address Ocean Acidifi cation and Hypoxia

This document offers a perspective developed by a working group of the West Coast Ocean Acidifi cation and Hypoxia Science Panel (Panel) intended for a broad audience. It provides pragmatic guidance about the opportunities to incorporate ocean acidifi cation and hypoxia into existing ecosystem-based management frameworks as an important near-term and actionable strategy to ameliorate the likely impacts of OAH on marine resources and ecosystems. The document is part of a suite of Panel products to inform decisionmaking, and has received input and review from the full Panel. The information provided refl ects the best scientifi c thinking of the Panel.
Laparoscopic resection for rectal cancer: the new standard of care?

The highly anticipated long-term oncologic outcomes of the landmark “Colorectal Cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection (COLOR) II trial” were finally released in the April 2015 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (1). The authors are to be congratulated for their success in designing and conducting a rigorous, large-scale trial, requiring a substantial investment in time and effort to answer a pertinent clinical question regarding the care of colorectal cancer patients worldwide.
On the number of perfect matchings of generalized theta graphs and the edge cover polynomials of friendship graphs

Let k ≥ 1 and q1, . , qk be some positive integers. The generalized theta graph Θq1 ,. ,qk is the graph that is formed by taking a pair of vertices u and v, and joining them by k internally disjoint paths of lengths q1, . , qk. Let CΘC be the graph that obtained by attaching some cycles to at most two vertices with degree k of the generalized theta graph Θq1 ,. ,qk . An edge covering of a graph is a set of edges such that every vertex of the graph is incident to at least one edge of the set. Let G be a simple graph with m edges. The edge cover polynomial of G is the polynomial E(G, x) = ∑m i=1 e(G, i)xi, where e(G, i) is the number of edge coverings of G of size i. Let t be a positive integer and Ft be the friendship (or Dutch windmill) graph with 2t + 1 vertices and 3t edges. In this paper we obtain the number of perfect matchings of CΘC graphs and then study the edge cover polynomial of friendship graphs. We show that the friendship graphs are determined by their edge cover polynomials. We find that all non-zero roots of the edge cover polynomial of friendship graphs are simple. Finally we prove that the edge cover polynomials of friendship graphs are unimodal.
Gene-environment Interactions Underlying the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Retrospective epidemiological studies of British cohorts have found an inverse relationship between birth size and rates of mortality from cardiovascular disease and stroke. Subsequently, further studies in humans and in animals have demonstrated that there is an inverse relationship with a combination of suboptimal prenatal and postnatal environments and the development of the metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, hypertension, obesity and dyslipidemia). However, recently it has been reported that not all individuals exposed to these environments develop these conditions, suggesting that an individual’s genotype may contribute to the eventual outcome. Phylogenetically distinct, murine strains allow the genetic dissection of complex phenotypic traits; however, to date, they have not been utilized to evaluate the geneenvironment interaction underlying these inverse relationships. Thus, A/J and C57BL/6J mice were subjected to prenatal undernutrition, to model an adverse intra-uterine environment, and although prenatal undernutrition resulted in fetal growth restriction of equal magnitude, remarkable strain differences were observed. At the end of gestation C57BL/6J mice showed significant alterations in fetal organ weights (liver, kidneys and placenta) and glucocorticoids (elevation). Postnatally, C57BL/6J offspring demonstrated catch-up growth, obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, increased blood pressure, liver dysfunction and altered cardiovascular function compared to strain and gender matched controls. The A/J strain was resistant to the development of prenatal and postnatal pathologies, except they also demonstrated alterations in cardiovascular function. Females of both strains displayed a more moderate phenotype than the males. Although feeding undernutrition mice an atherogenic diet postnatally did not exacerbate the phenotype, postnatal dietary supplementation of omega-3 long chain
Optical Crosstalk Improvement in Ring Resonator Based Add/Drop Multiplexers Using Controllable Reflectivity

─ In this paper, the topic of optical signal integrity is approached by studying crosstalk suppression in ring resonator based optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (OADM). The resonance splitting induced by surface corrugation is exploited to enhance signal integrity by increasing the crosstalk suppression bandwidth compared to that of a smooth-walled resonator. Sidewall roughness in silicon-on-insulator waveguides is studied using Coupled Mode Theory (time and space domain CMT). An analytical model of a corrugated ring resonator is presented, which is then exploited to estimate the spectral response of the different ports. Verification against results generated from full-wave electromagnetic numerical modeling of a randomized corrugated ring is performed. The analysis then examines the performance of an OADM with controllable reflectivity resulting from a predefined corrugation of sidewall. Gratings have been successfully used in optical filters; this paper proposes the use of a grating in an OADM, giving more controlled roughness. A grating-assisted design of a single ring OADM with 28 GHz crosstalk suppression bandwidth is presented. This bandwidth supports the dropping of 10 Gbps signals with mitigated crosstalk levels and improved signal integrity. Index Terms ─ Back reflection, crosstalk, grating reflectivity, ring resonators, sidewall roughness.
Four essays on performance measures based on patient-reported outcomes

Agency relationships, and associated information symmetries, exist in many areas of economic activity including healthcare. Information on healthcare providers’ relative performance can be used to reduce information asymmetries and hold providers to account. This collection of essays focuses on the appropriate derivation and use of performance measures to incentivise healthcare providers in the English National Health Service (NHS). It gives special consideration to the role of patient self-reported health status measures to assess the differential effect of healthcare providers’ care on their patients’ health. The thesis explores three themes: the relationship between variation in resource use and quality, the appropriate assessment and reporting of multidimensional hospital performance, and the use of performance information to motivate hospitals in a public reporting context. Chapter 2 examines cost variation between hospitals for the four surgical procedures covered by the national patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) programme. It explores the empirical relationship between costs and patient health outcomes to assess the claim of hospital providers that their higher costs are justified by better quality of care. Chapter 3 sets out an empirical methodology to conduct provider performance comparisons when there are multiple dimensions of health-related quality of life affected by treatment. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of analysing disaggregate PROM data for the purpose of informing prospective patients, clinicians and managers. Chapter 4 extends the previous chapter by providing a methodology for assessing and summarising multidimensional provider performance using dominance criteria. This methodology is then applied to study the performance of providers of hip replacement surgery with respect to length of stay, emergency readmissions, waiting time and improvements in PROMs. Chapter 5 estimates the demand elasticity of providers with respect to quality. It makes use of choice models to assess the usefulness of disseminating hospital PROM scores to prospective patients as a market-based incentive for providers to compete on quality.
Survey of Lyme disease management in primary care in Poland

Background. lyme disease (ld) is the most frequent tick-borne human disease in the world. in patients with nonspecific or late-onset symptoms, ld is still a challenge for family physicians (FPs). some studies which have been published on ld management by FPs revealed a deviation from the guideline recommendations and clinical practice. Objectives. the aim of this study was to determine the common practice of FPs in the treatment of ld and whether these practices align with the guideline recommendations. Material and methods. the study consisted of a survey of 54 FPs, including 46 women and 8 men at a mean age of 39.4 ± 10 years. an anonymous online questionnaire was used. the questionnaire was based on the guidelines for diagnosing and treating ld. Results. Most of the respondents work in a city (63%) or a small town (22.2%). 96.3% of them practice in primary care. 70.4% of the FPs had experienced a tick bite and 3.7% of them developed ld. 22.2% reported lyme disease in their family. all of the respondents indicated erythema migrans (eM) as a characteristic symptom of ld, but only 3.7% of them reported that they would send their patients for serological testing. 18.5% of FPs considered seropositivity to be an indication for prescribing antibiotics. 85.2% of FPs correctly classified whether other than eM signs and symptoms were related to ld. 85.2% of the respondents said they would report ld to the Polish Food safety and inspection service. Conclusions. our study did not reveal a major deviation from the guideline recommendations. we found some FP misinterpretation, such as serology testing or antibiotherapy for asymptomatic patients. FPs should be trained at the clinical and epidemiological level. up-to-date guidelines should be provided to FPs in order to limit inappropriate practices.
Causal Nexus of Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence for Selected Eight Asian Countries

In economic growth empirics, waves of neo-classical theories pioneered by Solow (1956) include capital and labor as variable inputs with technology as total factor productivity. They omitted the essential role of electricity consumption in economic growth enhancement. The seminal work of Kraft and Kraft (1978) that found evidence of a unidirectional causal flow from GNP to electricity consumption in the U.S. for 1947-74 inspired an expanding volume of academic research on this important subject for developing countries.
A FRAMEWORK FOR A MULTILINGUAL CONTEXTUAL AND BEHAVIORAL ONLINE ADVERTISING NETWORK: A CASE STUDY

An online advertising network connects web content providers and advertisers enabling the providers to monetize their content and the advertisers to reach online consumers. In this paper we study the workings of a successful state-of-the-art online advertising network with branch offices all over the world. The framework is designed to support different targeting strategies and advertising in multiple languages. We describe the implementation of contextual and behavioral targeting, and also discuss different methods to evaluating these strategies. Statistics show that by employing contextual targeting instead of random targeting we can achieve significantly higher CTR
EFFECT OF CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT ON THE STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE OF MONEY DEPOSIT BANKS IN NIGERIA

Credit risk is the possibility of losing the outstanding loan partially or totally, due to default risk and credit risk management are plans and activities put in place in order to combat risk/losses arising from credit activities (lending activities in the bank). The dependent variable of this study being Market performance and the independent variables being credit risk insurance and credit portfolio diversification. This study strives to find out the effect of credit risk management on the market performance of money deposit banks in Nigeria. The entire population of 22 listed money deposit banks in Nigeria were considered for the study and secondary data was obtained from their financial statement (2009-2016) which statutorily were released to the public for consumption. Both correlational and regression analysis were carried on the data obtained by using statistical package for social science (SPSS22). The findings of the study shows there was significant and positive relationship between two of the independent variable (credit risk insurance, credit portfolio diversification) and the dependent variable, all these was substantiated with the p-value of less than 0.05 recorded by each construct of the independent variable and the researcher concluded that the credit risk insurance and credit portfolio diversification has an effect on the market performance of money deposit banks in Nigeria Among the major recommendations of the study is that banks should banks should insure their credit as this gives a good impression in the market because it shows that the bank will be indemnified from future default from its credit counterparties. Also, banks should diversify their allocation of credit in order not to be susceptible to a class of risk.
Temperamental traits of children with HIV: A comparative study

Temperament is a very important aspect of functioning that needs to be understood in children with HIV. Temperament significantly influences the manner in which a child interacts with the environment over the long term. Temperamental traits may be an early sign of vulnerability to later development of psychological problems. The aim of this study was to analyze the temperamental traits associated with children with HIV. Three groups of thirty each of children with HIV staying with family, children with HIV staying at orphanage homes away from family attending outpatient services at paediatric ART centre and children without HIV staying at orphanage homes away from family attending paediatric outpatient clinic for minor ailments were matched for age, sex, education and social background. The Temperamental Measurement Schedule (TMS) was used for evaluating the temperamental dimensions. The characteristic temperamental traits associated with HIV children were low threshold of responsiveness and low rhythmicity.
The effect of corporate governance on carbon emission disclosures Evidence from Turkey

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether corporate governance characteristics impact the voluntary disclosure of carbon emissions. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical research was carried out in two stages. Initially, the carbon disclosures data were sourced from the annual and stand-alone sustainability reports of Turkish nonfinancial companies listed on Borsa Istanbul during 2011-2015. Later, the corporate governance characteristics that influence carbon disclosures were examined using panel data regressionmodels. Findings – The empirical findings of this study suggested that entities with a higher number of independent directors on their boards were more likely to respond to the Carbon Disclosure Project. In addition, board nationality diversity and the existence of a sustainability committee had a significant positive impact on the propensity to disclose carbon emissions and the extent of those disclosures. Originality/value – This research provides empirical evidence of the determinants of carbon emission disclosures, which could be useful for organizations and regulatory bodies. Such an understanding is crucial to specify necessary policies that will provide emission reduction practices and policies for entities. This paper fills some of the gap in the literature by concentrating on the association between corporate governance characteristics and disclosures of a more specific environmental issue, being carbon emissions.
Pragmatic TCM for 8-PSK in Satellite Communications

To improve satellit e transponders' bandwidth utili zation, trelli s-coded modulations using an "industry standard" 64-state, rate 1/2 convolutional code on Mary PSK constellations have be proposed and patented. We provide implementation details: simpler branch metric computations for a DSP-based 8-PSK trelli s decoder and a phase ambiguity resolution method using the R-S outer code.
Segmental markedness and complexity A cross-linguistic study of consonantal inventories

Affricates occur in over two thirds of the world’s languages. They are therefore a common type of segment, and, typologically, they are by far the most frequent type of “complex segment”. It is also common for languages to have some type of segmental modification, such as secondary articulation, aspiration or (pre)nasalisation. In traditional theories of feature geometry (e.g. Sagey 1986, Clements & Hume 1995), these different types of complexity are represented by branching within the segmental structure, at different organising nodes in the geometry, as shown in (1) below.
Kalp damar kliniğimizdeki 14 yıllık konjenital kalp hastalığı deneyimlerimiz

Amac: Klinigimizde konjenital kalp hastaligi tanisi ile tedavi edilen hastalarin tani ve tedavi sonuclarini tartismayi amacladik. Yontemler: Dicle Universitesi Kalp Damar Cerrahisi Anabilim Dalinda, 2000-2014 tarihleri arasinda konjenital kalp hastaligi tanilari ile tedavi edilen 78 hastaya ait kayitlar retrospektif olarak incelendi. Hastalar 16 yas ve alti (Grup I) ve 16 yas ustu (Grup II) olmak uzere gruplandirildi. Her iki grubun demografik ozellikleri, siklik sirasina gore gorulen patalojileri ve tedavi sonuclari karsilastirildi. Bulgular: Grup I\'de 35 hasta, grup II\'de 43 hasta vardi. Grup I\'deki olgularin 17\'si (%49) erkek, 18\'i (%51) kadin, yas ortalamasi 6,2 idi. Grup I\'deki hastalarin 17'si atrial septal defekt (ASD) mevcuttu. Bu ASD\' lerin birine pulmoner darlik (PD), birine kleft mitrale, birine patent duktus arteriozus (PDA), birine de total pulmoner venoz donus anomalisi (TPVDA) eslik ediyordu. Grup I\'deki diger hastalarin 11\'i de PDA 7\'si ventrikuler septal defekt (VSD) , 1\'i fallot tetralojisi (TOF), idi. Grup II\'deki olgularin 9\'u (%21) erkek, 34\'u (%79) kadin, yas ortalamasi 22,5 idi. Grup II\'deki hastalarin ise 36\'inde ASD mevcuttu.Bu ASD\'lerin 2'sinde PD, birinde kleft mitrale, birinde de PDA eslik ediyordu. Grup II\'deki diger hastalarin 3\'unde VSD, 2\'sinde TOF, 2\'sinde de PDA saptandi. Postoperatif erken donemde 1 hasta kaybedildi. Sonuclar: Birinci grupta en sik gorulen patoloji ASD, ikinci grupta ise PDA idi. Birinci grupta cesitli kompleks anomaliler gorulurken ikinci grupta daha cok izole ASD gibi basit patolojiler tespit edildi.
When It Is Not “Business as Usual”: Petro-states and International Conflict

While there is increasing recognition that petrostates are more militaristic than their counterparts, it remains unclear why economic dependence on oil revenue leads to such belligerence. In this paper, I argue that one important cause of petrostate aggression can be explained in a two-level theoretical framework of the commercial peace, which asserts that the extent to which economic interdependence reduces militarized conflict depends on the degree of influence businesses have on foreign policymaking. My research reveals that petrostates have significantly smaller private sectors than other states. Given the diminished business influence on policymaking in petrostates, these countries are not constrained by the effect of economic interdependence in contrast to their non-petrostate counterparts. Quantitative analyses show that the pacific effects of economic interdependence are nullified for dyads containing at least one petrostate. This paper also provides a process tracing study of Colombia-Venezuela relations in order to illustrate the pathways of business influence on policy, as well as the limitations of these interests in oil dependent nations.