Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EUROPEAN AID CONTROL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

ing from the fact that the Commission obviously wanted or had to satisfy different national preferences with the individual options and that the variety of regulations follows, for that reason, no recognizable, systematic criteria, the most interesting aspect of this variety is the very fact that the Commission authorises in the area of the “unloved” operating aid significantly higher aid intensities than in the realm of investment aid: in some cases, additional costs can be reimbursed up to 100%. This must be backed by the hypothesis that, in these cases of energy measures, there is no private ‘own interest’ in the promoted measures – an assumption that should, in general, either apply to no case of environmental state aid, or that should apply to investment aid as well. In view of the approved, far-reaching opportunities to give support to renewable energy, it is surprising, on the other hand, that the Commission (in another context) has reservations about exempting electricity from renewable energy sources from environmentally motivated energy taxes, even though such exemptions are unobjectionable from the perspectives of systematic tax policy and rational environmental policy, as well. Thus, in the technical definitions of state aid, and in its practical application, the Community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection feature numerous inconsistencies. Many of the associated fundamental problems have been, so far, masked by relatively liberal regulations for energy aid. Environmental protection measures not directly affected by energy matters are handled inadequately and unsystematically, however. With respect to their incentive functions, integrated environmental protection and the use of economical market instruments receive no adequate treatment. The management of aid programmes is considerably complicated, and especially burdens small and mid-sized enterprises. 6 Evaluation of the Community Guidelines in Summary The evaluation of the new Community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection must, for the time being, limit itself to the analysis of the textual representation, without being able to take into account their (future) practical handling by the Commission. However, since the guidelines are meant to offer the Member States orientation and certainty on how to devise aid policies and individual aid measures that are environmentally sensible and, at the same time, compatible with the common market, such an evaluation of the text alone appears adequate to the guidelines’ objective. Under legal aspects, above all, the question is whether the new Community guidelines correspond to Article 6 of the EC-Treaty, i.e. whether environmental protection requirements have been integrated into the definition and implementation of the Community aid control policy in a manner that reflects the intentions of the Treaty. The authoritative, legal provisions result from the EC-treaty in the version of the Amsterdam Treaty. The Community guidelines on environmental state aid give the Fifth Environmental Action Pro-
ScienceDirect International Conference on Current Trends in ELT Using Conceptual Metaphors Manifested in Disney Movies to Teach English Idiomatic Expressions to Young Iranian EFL Learners

This study attempts to put into practice a strategy (as using conceptual metaphors manifested in Disney Movies) for teaching English idiomatic expressions to young EFL Learners proposed by Rodriguez & Moreno (2009). Given the importance and difficulty of learning idioms, one could be tempted not to lose the golden opportunity of teaching idioms to children. So, this study applies this theoretically proposed strategy on young Iranian EFL learners in real context of classroom. The results revealed high effectiveness of cooperation of conceptual metaphors and their visual manifestations in Disney Movies in teaching English idiomatic expressions to young Iranian EFL Learners. © 2014 Khoshniyat and Dowlatabadi. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Urmia University, Iran
An experimental approach to verifying prognoses of floods using an unmanned aerial vehicle

The Department of Geoinformatics and Cartography of the University of Wrocław, Poland, is host institution of a project, financed by the National Science Centre in Poland, whose objective is to predict riverflow in real-time. If inundation is predicted, the problem of the verification of the overbank flow prognosis arises. This verification can be attained by utilizing an unmanned aerial vehicle that may be used for remote sensing applications. The unmanned aerial vehicle in question can take sequential photos with the unprecedented resolution of 3 cm/pix. Both the resolution and the opportunity for frequent flights – due to the low cost of the entire operation – allow us to compare prediction maps showing the forecasted overbank flow during an extreme hydrological event with the true observation obtained from the air. Although such verification is siteand event-specific, it can provide us with an objective technique for checking our system in a spatial domain. The main part of the system, known as HydroProg, produces multimodel ensemble hydrograph predictions and compares single-model prognoses; visualizations of them are then published in a web map service. The spatial predictions, along with the aerial orthophoto images, will also be presented online so that the user is able to observe the functioning of the system. Regular research flights have been carried out in Kłodzko County since 2012. The study areas correspond to sites where our Partner, the County Office in Kłodzko (SW Poland) – owner of the Local System for Flood Monitoring in Kłodzko County – has automatic gauges, and thus spatially reflect the hydrologic observation network. The aforementioned aerial module is experimental and will be incorporated into the entire system.
Validation of Criteria Used to Predict Warfarin Dosing Decisions

VALIDATION OF CRITERIA USED TO PREDICT WARFARIN DOSING DECISIONS Nicole Thomas Smith Department of Statistics Master of Science People at risk for blood clots are often treated with anticoagulants, warfarin is such an anticoagulant. The dose’s effect is measured by comparing the time for blood to clot to a control time called an INR value. Previous anticoagulant studies have addressed agreement between fingerstick (POC) devices and the standard laboratory, however these studies rely on mathematical formulas as criteria for clinical evaluations, i.e. clinical evaluation vs. precision and bias. Fourteen such criteria were found in the literature. There exists little consistency among these criteria for assessing clinical agreement, furthermore whether these methods of assessing agreement are reasonable estimates of clinical decision making is unknown and has yet to be validated. One previous study compared actual clinical agreement by having two physicians indicate a dosing decision based on patient history and INR values. This analysis attempts to justify previously used mathematical criteria for clinical agreement. Generalized additive models with smoothing
Discontinuities in Continuous Scatterplots

The concept of continuous scatterplot (CSP) is a modern visualization technique. The idea is to define a scalar density value based on the map between an n-dimensional spatial domain and an m-dimensional data domain, which describe the CSP space. Usually the data domain is two-dimensional to visually convey the underlying, density coded, data. In this paper we investigate kinds of map-based discontinuities, especially for the practical cases n = m = 2 and n = 3 | m = 2, and we depict relations between them and attributes of the resulting CSP itself. Additionally, we show that discontinuities build critical line structures, and we introduce algorithms to detect them. Further, we introduce a discontinuity-based visualization approach – called contribution map (CM) – which establishes a relationship between the CSP’s data domain and the number of connected components in the spatial domain. We show that CMs enhance the CSP-based linking & brushing interaction. Finally, we apply our approaches to a number of synthetic as well as real data sets.
Applying Motivation Theory to Achieve Increased Response Rates , Respondent Satisfaction and Data Quality

Response rates to surveys are declining in most countries. Attempts to persuade or pressure sample persons to increase response might be counter-productive in the longterm because they can negatively affect attitudes towards future surveys. Targeting respondents’ own motivation to participate in surveys is an alternative approach to achieving higher response rates. Self-Determination Theory provides a theoretical framework for how intrinsic motivation can be stimulated. We used Self-Determination Theory as inspiration to redesign a selfadministered health-related survey. Two versions of the questionnaire and two data collection methods were used in an experimental design. Effects were measured in terms of response rates, respondent satisfaction and data quality. The results suggest that it is possible to improve response rates in a way that also promotes data quality and positive experiences for the respondents.
Optimal algorithm portfolios for computationally hard real-time problems

Various hard real-time systems have a desired requirement which is impossible to fulfill: to solve a computationally hard optimization problem within a short and fixed amount of time T , e.g., T = 0.5 seconds. For such a task, the exact, exponential algorithms, as well as various Polynomial-Time Approximation Schemes, are irrelevant because they can exceed T . What is left in practice is to combine various anytime algorithms in a parallel portfolio. The question is how to build such an optimal portfolio, given a budget of K computing cores. It is certainly not as simple as choosing the K best performing algorithms, because their results are possibly correlated (e.g, there is no point in choosing two good algorithm for the portfolio if they win on a similar set of benchmarks). Our main contribution is a solution of the optimization problem of choosing K algorithms out of n, for a machine with K computing cores, and the related problem of detecting the minimum number of required cores to achieve an optimal portfolio, with respect to a given training set of benchmarks. As benchmarks we took instances of a hard optimization problem that is prevalent in the real-time industry, in which the challenge is to decide on the best action within time T . We include the results of numerous experiments that compare the various methods.
Symptom management by a community palliative care team

Introduction: The Malta Hospice Movement is a community palliative care team (CPCT) established in 1989. A service evaluation was carried out to check on reduction in physical distress for patients referred to the CPCT. Method: During a period of ten weeks, all new cases referred for community palliative care services were included in the evaluation. A modified version of the Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS) was used as a tool. The modifications done and symptoms inserted were informed by literature available on the frequency of symptoms in palliative care. The version of STAS used in this particular evaluation is available on http://www.kcl. ac.uk/schools/medicine/depts/ palliative/qat/stas.html. The modified STAS was delivered at referral, and subsequently every two weeks for a total of three assessments. The STAS was delivered by the same nurse. Results: Of the 56 newly referred patients, 34 completed three assessments. The most common diagnosis was GIT cancer, while the most common reason of referral was “support”. There was a significant (1.7, p=0.039) reduction in overall mean STAS scores, with non-significant reductions in individual item scores. Males exhibited greater score reductions than females. The symptom prevalence of patients remained unaltered throughout the evaluation. Conclusions: There was reduction in physical distress for patients referred to the CPCT due to a variety of factors interacting at community level. However, symptom prevalence was unaltered. The results may be explained by the setting of care (community), lack of awareness of the present service to other stakeholders including family doctors and problems with access to relevant medications and out-of-hours cover.
ScaledFastPass : A Scalable , Centralized Arbiter For Zero-Queue Data Centers , Beyond

Data centers are becoming more and more important in a cloud-connected, internet-based world. Facebook serves over 1 billion daily active users per day, and most of the photos, videos, and media content is hosted on internal servers in data centers all throughout the world. There have been many attempts to increase the efficiency of data center networks to improve performance. Hedera is an example of a dynamic flow scheduling system to improve load-balancing in multiple data center topologies [1]. In this paper, we first introduce Fastpass [2]. Fastpass is a data center network architecture that features a centralized arbiter, that uses fine-grained control to direct each packet through a proper path in the network at an assigned timeslot a to avoid queueing delays. However, there are a number of concerns over the centralized arbiter approach. Firstly, there are concerns over the ability to parallelize the pipeline process. Secondly, FastPass makes requirements about the topology of the data center. Lastly, its easy for a single arbiter to become a computational bottleneck in a network of hundreds of thousands of nodes, because FastPass uses an edge coloring algorithm to assign paths for all traffic within a data center. We propose a system for scaling Fastpass by distributing computational work between multiple arbiters. We partition the network so that local arbiters handle only a subset of network requests while a single global arbiter can coordinate traffic in between the different subsets. We show that FastPass is able to handle more demand and more endpoints under this system.
From the SelectedWorks of Riccardo Pelizzo 2007 the political economy of polarized pluralism

The purpose of the article is to argue that polarization, in polarized pluralist party systems, reflects not simply the number and the depth of political cleavages but also changes in contextual conditions. We test whether the polarization of party systems in the French Fourth Republic, the Italian First Republic, the Spanish Republic and the Weimar Republic was influenced by changes in economic conditions. Specifically, we test whether worsening economic conditions led to higher levels of polarization. The data analysis reveals that, with the exception of the Spanish republic, the levels of party system polarization increase when economic conditions worsen. In the concluding section we address both the theoretical and the practical implications of our findings.
The Scleroderma Book: A Guide for Patients and Families

An autoimmune disease in the family with Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Polymyositis, Scleroderma afflicts hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. And yet there are very few sources of information for men and women with this disease. Now, in The Scleroderma Book, one of the nation's leading authorities provides a comprehensive guide written specifically for patients and their families. Dr. Maureen Mayes has drawn on her extensive experience treating scleroderma to provide up-to-date, practical information that will help patients manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. Dr. Mayes begins with an easily accessible description of the basic facts, distinguishing between the many manifestations of the disease, ranging from localized scleroderma (small patches of hardened skin, most common in children, which tend to clear up over time) to systemic scleroderma, which can attack the lungs, the kidneys, and the blood vessels, and can be life threatening. Equally important, she offers sympathetic and reassuring advice on matters that often concern patients, such as the best course of action for those who want children, what to do if the disease affects your sex life, and what you can do to help your doctor treat your illness more effectively. The book concludes with a good-humored, frank discussion about how to cope, day in and day out, with an uncertain future - how to be a "person living with" scleroderma, not a "victim suffering from" it. Touching on virtually every aspect of this disorder, The Scleroderma Book can be used as a reliable source of information and reassurance for patients of any age and no matter how severe their form of the disease.
SPARQL Faceter—Client-side Faceted Search Based on SPARQL

The faceted search paradigm is widely used in web applications, and there are various tools available for implementing it on the server side. In contrast, this paper presents an HTML based component tool on the client side that can be plugged on virtually any public SPARQL endpoint on the web, using only SPARQL API for data retrieval. To test and demonstrate the idea and the tool, application of the tool in a large in-use semantic portal is presented.
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF COST-EFFICIENT AES CRYPTOGRAPHIC ENGINE

This paper addresses a low-cost VLSI implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cryptographic engine. The proposed basis transformation approach from Galois Field (2 8 ) to Galois Field (2 4 ) can significantly reduce the hardware complexity of the Substitution Byte function (S-box). Besides, the on-the-fly Key Expansion function is used to replace the RAM-based, and resource-sharing scheme will also be employed. This AES chip is implemented in a typical 0.35 µ m CMOS cell-library technology. The simulation result shows that the AES chip works at 70MHz clock and the target throughput rate is 831Mb/s. The hardware cost of the AES design is about 31.1K gate count.
Production of Voicing Contrast in Children with Cochlear Implants

Previous research has documented variability in speech production by speakers with CI. With reference to stop production, VOT duration has been reported to differ for children with Cochlear Implants (CI) and normal hearing (NH) in different languages. As the voicing contrast differs across languages, it is important to examine VOT production in the speech of individuals with CI in different languages. The Greek stop consonant inventory consists of voiceless unaspirated stops and prevoiced stops at the bilabial, dental and velar places of articulation. In this study, VOT duration is examined for voiceless and voiced word initial stops in the context of the vowel /a/ produced by 24 Greekspeaking children with CI and 24 agematched children with NH. Results showed a tendency for longer VOT duration for the voiceless stops produced by the children with NH than with CI and longer prevoicing for the children with CI compared to their NH peers.
Related work 2 . 1 Estimates of ransomware victimization

Ransomware has received considerable news coverage in recent years, in part due to several attacks against high-profile corporate targets. Little is known, however, about the prevalence and characteristics of ransomware attacks on the general population, what proportion of users pay, or how users perceive risks and respond to attacks. Using a detailed survey of a representative sample of 1,180 American adults, we estimate that 2%–3% of respondents were affected over a 1-year period between 2016 and 2017. The average payment amount demanded was $530 and only a small fraction of affected users (about 4% of those affected) reported paying. Perhaps surprisingly, cryptocurrencies were typically only one of several payment options, suggesting that they may not be a primary driver of ransomware attacks. We conclude our analysis by developing a simple proof-of-concept method for risk-assessment based on self-reported security habits.
A Quasi-Normal Scale Elimination ( QNSE ) theory of turbulent flows with stable stratification and its application in weather forecast systems

The QNSE model is a new theory of turbulence with stable and weakly unstable stratification. The model explicitly resolves the stratification-induced disparity between the transport processes in the horizontal and vertical directions and accounts for the combined effect of turbulence and waves. The theory predicts various important characteristics of stably stratified flows, such as the dependence of the vertical turbulent Prandtl number on Froude and Richardson numbers, anisotropization of the flow filed, and decay of vertical diffusivity under strong stratification, all in good agreement with computational and observational data. The theory also yields analytical expressions for various 1D and 3D kinetic and potential energy spectra that reflect the effects of waves and anisotropy. The model’s results are suitable for immediate use in practical applications. The QNSE-based K-l model and surface layer parameterization have been implemented and tested in numerical weather prediction systems WRF and HIRLAM. Key-Words: Turbulence, stable stratification, anisotropy, boundary layers
Semi-automated immunohistochemical staining of the VEGF-A-protein for clinical use and the identification in NHG-graded breast carcinoma

Angiogenesis has a crucial influence on tumour development and identification of microvessels in malignant breast cancer tissue is an indicator for worse prognosis. Angiogenesis is partially governed by the family of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and their receptors, by which the VEGF-A-protein seems to be the most important factor. The aims of this work were to first establish a method for immunohistological (IH)-staining of the VEGF-A-protein for clinical use and then to label and evaluate the expression of this protein in 31 Nottingham Histology Graded (NHG I-III) breast carcinoma. Formaldehyde-fixated tissues from invasive breast neoplasms and control tissues were labelled with monoclonal antibodies against VEGF-A and CD31-proteins using a semi-automated IH-system from Ventana BenchMark. Positively stained vessels were counted from digital copies of microscopic pictures related to mm2 tissue. A method of IH-labelling with VEGF-A protein was successfully established before staining of the breast tissue and in 19 of the 31 breast cancers. Vessels were counted for both antibodies. The VEGF-A-antibody stained 2.7 ± 2.3 (mean ± SD) vessels/mm2 and the CD31-antibody stained 27.3 ± 19.3 in the breast carcinoma tissue. The percent of VEGF-A-stained vessels in relation to CD31-stained were 7.6% in the NHG-I- (n=3), 7.8% in the NHG-II- (n=10) and 15.0% in the NHG-III-group (n=6). The results demonstrate that increased NHG-grade and lower differentiation can be associated with higher percent of vessels expressing VEGF-A-protein. The result was not statistically certified because of the small number of stained breast cancers and additional investigations are recommended before clinical use.
Stability and Welfare of an Enlarged Common Market : A Cooperative Game Approach

The issue of the enlargement of a common market or more generally of a preferential trading area (PTA), that is, the addition of new members to an existing common market, which is high on the political agenda as recent events in Europe indicate, raises the following question: Under what conditions is an enlargement beneficial to its members, and therefore desirable? We argue in this paper that this is possible, when the benefits derived from such a policy, are elements of the core, that is, an outcome from which no deviations are profitable. We investigate the economic conditions of the existence of a core, in an enlarged common market, using the flexible approach of the theory of cooperative games, and find that a sufficient condition for this to happen occurs when the average gains from trade, derived from the enlargement of a common market (or PTA) exhibit non-decreasing returns relative to the size of the market. JEL Classification: C62, C71, F15.