Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A parallel implementation of the symmetric tridiagonal QR algorithm

The authors propose a novel and simple way to parallelize the QR algorithm for computing eigenvalues and eigenvectors of real symmetric tridiagonal matrices. This approach is suitable for all parallel computers, ranging from multiprocessor supercomputers with shared memory to massively parallel computers with local memory. The authors report on numerical experiments completed on a Cray-Y-MP, an Alliant FX-80, a Sequent Symmetry S81b, a nCUBE 2, a Thinking Machines CM200, and a cluster of Sun SPARCstations. The numerical results indicate that the proposed algorithm is suitable for parallel execution on the whole range of parallel computers. While the results obtained on the computers with vector facilities did not show very high efficiencies, those obtained with multiprocessor computers with scalar CPUs had very good speedups. <<ETX>>
An Ontology-based Model for Contextual Recommendations in e-learning

Dramatic increase of learning resources has made the process of learning a time-consuming task for learners to find relevant resources. Recommender systems are increasingly being developed in E-Learning systems to find relevant resources and facilitate both learning and teaching process. The learning style is defined as the learners’ preferences in the way they seek and understand information in the learning process. Although many work have been published in the field of recommender systems in E-learning systems, more research should be conducted to study contextual information such as learning style to create more relevant recommendations. We focus the leaning style in order to create an ontology model for recommender systems. To establish this goal, the following objectives should be achieved: to review six aforementioned learning style models, to investigate what are the basic components (properties) of users’ learning style and to present an ontology model for creating recommendations using learning style.
The effect of perceptual training on the learning of english vowels by brazilian portuguese speakers

THE EFFECT OF PERCEPTUAL TRAINING ON THE LEARNING OF ENGLISH VOWELS BY BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE SPEAKERS DENIZE NOBRE-OLIVEIRA UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA 2007 Supervising Professor: Barbara Oughton Baptista Recent research has shown perceptual training to be an effective tool for improving L2 learners’ ability to perceive certain non-native sounds, especially when done with enhanced acoustic-perceptual cues. This study investigates the effect of perceptual training on the learning of the English vowels /i/, /I/, /E/, /Q/, /U/ and /u/, whose misperception can potentially cause comprehension problems. Secondary objectives include (i) the effect of training with enhanced stimuli, (ii) generalization of the acquired knowledge to new contexts and speakers, (iii) transfer of the perceptual improvement to the production domain, and (iv) long-term effects. The training on these vowels was given over a three-week period to twenty-nine Brazilian EFL learners, who were distributed within two groups: fifteen trained with natural stimuli (NatS group) and fourteen with synthesized stimuli (SynS group). The synthesized stimuli consisted of computer-generated utterances with enhanced spectral cues and no variation in duration, whereas the natural stimuli were recorded normally by native speakers of American English. Results show that the experimental groups improved significantly after training, and there was more improvement in the SynS group than in the NatS group. Considering that the training given the SynS group involved only synthesized stimuli and the tests involved only natural stimuli, this finding suggests also that the knowledge acquired with artificially enhanced stimuli is transferred to stimuli produced naturally. The improvement was also maintained one month after the training was over. These findings support the claim that perceptual training may serve as an effective tool for teachers to help learners overcome potential perceptual difficulties, and thus prevent potential miscomprehension. Number of pages: 158 Number of words: 34,853 (excluding appendixes)
LOTERIA DESCENTRALIZADA EM BLOCKCHAIN EOSIO

In 2008, an anonymous researcher published his newest invention: the Bitcoin, a peer to peer decentralized protocol of electronic cash that is quickly and signiﬁcantly disrupting the ﬁnantial sector. Less than 10 years later, its traction keep steadily growing and attracting more and more investors and speculators, inaugurating a new subarea of Computer Science which is the study of blockchains. There are great and extensive discussions about the scalability of the system proposed by Nakamoto (2008) and, in that sense, the goal of this work is to explore a new scalable architecture called EOSIO, proposed by Larimer (2017b), in a practical manner.
A multilingual grammar model of honorification: using the HPSG and MRS formalism

2015. A multilingual grammar model of honorification: using the HPSG and MRS formalism. and Information 20.1, 25-49. Honorific forms express the speaker’s social attitude to others and also indicate the social ranks and level of intimacy of the participants in the discourse. In a cross-linguistic perspective of grammar engineering, modelling honorification has been regarded as a key strategy for improving language processing applications. Using the HPSG and MRS formalism, this article provides a multilingual grammar model of honorification. The present study incorporates the honorific information into the Meaning Representation System (MRS) via Individual Constraints (ICONS), and then conducts an evaluation to see if the model contributes to semantics-based language processing. ( Incheon National University ) present study offers a fine-grained way of modelling honorification within the formalism of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (Pollard and Sag, 1994, HPSG) and Minimal Recursion Semantics (Copestake et al ., 2005, MRS). The present study suggests using Individual CONStraints (henceforth, ICONS) for modelling honorification with an eye toward grammar-based language processing (a.k.a. grammar engineering). The grammatical core is built up in the spirit of meta-grammar engineering (Fokkens, 2011). 1 In other words, the current model is largely concerned with a grammatical framework that works across grammars of human language (i.e. MRS+ICONS).
Mapping System Level Behaviors with Android APIs via System Call Dependence Graphs

Due to Android's open source feature and low barriers to entry for developers, millions of developers and third-party organizations have been attracted into the Android ecosystem. However, over 90 percent of mobile malware are found targeted on Android. Though Android provides multiple security features and layers to protect user data and system resources, there are still some over-privileged applications in Google Play Store or third-party Android app stores at wild. In this paper, we proposed an approach to map system level behavior and Android APIs, based on the observation that system level behaviors cannot be avoided but sensitive Android APIs could be evaded. To the best of our knowledge, our approach provides the first work to map system level behavior and Android APIs through System Call Dependence Graphs. The study also shows that our approach can effectively identify potential permission abusing, with almost negligible performance impact.
An Advanced Emergency Warning Message Scheme based on Vehicles Speed and Traffic Densities

In intelligent transportation systems, broadcasting Warning Messages (WMs) by Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) communication is a significant task. Designing efficient dissemination schemes for fast and reliable delivery of WMs is still an open research question. In this paper, we propose a novel messaging scheme, Advanced Speed and Density Warning Message (ASDWM). ASDWM is a broadcast-based scheme that meets design objectives and achieves high saved rebroadcast and reachability, as well as low end-to-end latency of WM delivery. The ASDWM uses vehicle speeds and vehicles density degrees to help emergency vehicles to send WM according to a road condition, adaptively. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the ASDWM over its counterparts.
Generating adaptive models of dynamic systems with recurrent neural networks

Presents a method for building adaptive neural network models based on the real-time recurrent learning (RTRL) algorithm developed by Williams and Zipser (1989). The author introduces the error injection method as adaptation principle. This method consists of feeding back the model error as input to the network what causes the model to react to it. The main advantages of this method are a higher stability, and a better and faster model compared to networks using only the RTRL algorithm as adaptation rule. The author demonstrates the properties of this technique with a mathematical example and with an example based on a bioreactor model. <<ETX>>
The dietary management of irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder defined by the presence of recurring episodes of abdominal pain in association with altered bowel habits and no evidence of a structural or easily identifiable biochemical abnormality that might explain these symptoms. 1 IBS affects up to 20% of the population, making it a fairly common gastrointestinal (GI) disorder, and affects more women than men. As a chronic, functional GI disorder, it significantly decreases patients’ quality of life. 1-3
Definição do melhor posicionamento de sensores de temperatura para determinação da fonte de calor no Processo de Soldagem por Fricção (FSW)

This work aims at examining some of the thermal parameters involved in Friction Stir Welding (FSW), by studying the mechanism of heat transfer during the process, through numericalcomputational methods (the finite volumes), for the solution of the governing equations. Starting from a study that examines friction stir welding of two aluminum plates AA 2195-T8, the objective was to determine the best locations for the placement of temperature sensors, on the surface of the plates, in order to determine the rate of heat generated by friction of the tool and also the value of some heat transfer coefficients. Using the principle of inverse analysis, the temperature numerically "measured" was considered the input data of the problem, and the output data were the desired parameters, where the main parameter is the heat source. It was found that the results obtained for the best configuration of sensors had errors of 0,4% in the inverse analysis, and these sensors were placed diagonally on the aluminum plate surface. For cases with measurement uncertainties, the errors were mostly 10%. Still, it was found that the sensitivity of a “group” is not the main factor to determine the placement of sensors, which also depends on the temperature gradient imposed by the heat source, represented by the deviation of the measurements.
Interlaminar Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injections in Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Patients Dejeneratif Stenozlu Hastalarda İnterlaminer Epidural Steroid Enjeksiyonlari

Aim: Epidural steroid injections are one of the treatment modalities for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) patients although the efficacy of injection therapies has not yet been made clear. This study aims to analyses the effects of single-shot interlaminar lumbar epidural steroid injections (ILESI) under fluoroscopic guidance in DLSS patients. Material and Method: 115 patients who were treated in Pain Clinic of Ordu Training and Research Hospital between November 1, 2009 and October 31, 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. These 115 patients underwent ILESI under the guidance of fluoroscopy for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. Afterwards, ILESI, patients were followed up regularly in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th month. Satisfaction scores were evaluated using the North American Spine Society Scale. Results: A total of 72 patients were included in this study. In the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th month, the number of patients who were followed were 72 (100%), 62 (85%), 57 (78.1%), 46 (63%), and 30 (41.1%), respectively. Pre-injection VNRS scores were average 7.9 ± 1.6. Post-injection, VNRS scores in months 1,3,6,9 and 12, dropped significantly (p<0.001). Forty-seven patients (65.3%) reported their satisfaction with the recovery period. Discussion: In spite of the studies which show that the therapeutic effect of epidural steroid applications (without fluoroscopy) is smaller or less than expected, our study concluded that ILESI under fluoroscopy significantly decreased the pain scores of central DLSS patients during a 12-month follow-up period.
Rola wybranych składników odżywczych we wspomaganiu leczenia farmakologicznego choroby Alzheimera

Choroba Alzheimera (AD, Alzheimer’s disease ) jest najczestszą, postepującą chorobą neurodegeneracyjną, charakteryzującą sie utratą pamieci i utratą zdolności do samodzielnego zycia u osob w podeszlym wieku. W mechanizmie choroby podstawową role odgrywa niedobor acetylocholiny oraz upośledzenie przekaźnictwa cholinergicznego. Na podstawie badan przedklinicznych, w ktorych wykazano, ze niektore skladniki odzywcze, takie jak nukleotyd urydyny, cholina i wielonienasycone kwasy tluszczowe omega 3, dzialając synergistycznie, zwiekszają stezenie fosfolipidow w blonach komorkowych synaps, prowadzą do tworzenia nowych synaps i poprawy ich funkcji, opracowano i poddano badaniom klinicznym wieloskladnikowy preparat Souvenaid ® (Nutricia N.V., Zoetermer, Netherlands). W przeprowadzonych badaniach klinicznych, ktorym poddano 438 chorych z wczesną postacią AD, dowiedziono, ze Souvenaid ® jest bezpieczny, dobrze tolerowany przez pacjentow i powoduje statystycznie znamienną poprawe pamieci odroczonej i natychmiastowej. Konieczne są jednak dalsze badania kliniczne w celu potwierdzenia skuteczności tej koncepcji terapeutycznej.
Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Assessment: Literature Review and Laboratory Protocol

Unlike sub-metering, which requires that individual loads are equipped with their own meters, nonintrusive load monitors (NILM) use algorithms to discern the individual loads from a single metering point. Although a number of these technologies are now commercially available to utilities and homeowners, with several more to become available in the coming years, it is not yet understood how accurately these technologies can disaggregate a home's electrical load. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and its partners at the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) have identified and acquired six of these technologies and will be testing them in the PNNL Lab Homes as well as the owner-occupied Residential Test Bed operated by NEEA. As a result of this testing, PNNL and NEEA will evaluate the selected NILMs against a repeatable test protocol so that their accuracy can be compared across NILM technologies. In the field deployment in the NEEA Test Bed Homes, PNNL and NEEA will evaluate the real-world accuracy of the NILMs responding to dynamic loads. To evaluate the accuracy of NILM technologies regardless of their intended application, a standardized test protocol is required that applies representative loads and establishes consistent metrics against which the NILM can be evaluated and compared. To establish this standardized test protocol, a literature review was conducted to identify any test protocols or standardized testing approaches currently in use. The literature review indicated that no consistent conventions were currently in place for measuring the accuracy of these technologies. Consequently, PNNL developed a testing protocol and metrics to provide the basis for quantifying and analyzing the accuracy of commercially available NILM technologies. This report discusses the results of the literature review and the proposed test protocol and metrics in more detail.
ECLiPSe: A Platform for Constraint Logic Programming

This paper introduces the Constraint Logic Programming (CLP) platform ECL i PS e. ECL i PS e is designed to be more than an implementation of CLP: it also supports mathematical programming and stochastic programming techniques. The crucial advantage of ECL i PS e is that it enables the programmer to use a combination of algorithms appropriate to the application at hand. This beneet results from the ECL i PS e facility to support ne-grained hybridisation. ECL i PS e is designed for solving diicult "combinatorial" industrial problems in the areas of planning, scheduling and resource allocation. The platform ooers a conceptual modelling language for specifying the problem clearly and simply, in a way that is neutral as to the algorithm which will be used to solve it. Based on the conceptual model it is easy to construct alternative design models, also expressed in ECL i PS e. A design model is a runnable program, whose execution in ECL i PS e employs a speciic combination of algorithms. Thus the platform supports experimentation with diierent hybrid algorithms. Technically the diierent classes of algorithms mentioned above have two aspects: constraint handling, and search. Various diierent constraint handling facilities are available as ECL i PS e libraries. These include nite domain propagation, interval propagation and linear constraint solving. In ECL i PS e the same constraint can be treated concurrently by several diierent handlers. With regard to search behaviour, CLP and also mathematical programming typically impose new constraints at lower levels in the search tree. By contrast, stochastic techniques search for good solutions by locally repairing an original solution, and repeating the process again and again. ECL i PS e supports both kinds of search, and allows them to be combined into hybrid search techniques.
Cuidados paliativos en oncología

The palliative care attend patients with advanced diseases, without possibilities of oncological treatments and very short life expectancy. The patient's perception is determined by multiple and complex symptoms, expressed in all human dimensions (physical, psychological, social), and by the explicit or implicit menace of a near death. The aims planned by un interdisciplinary team are the symptom control, the psychological support and the social advising.
Privatization of medical education in India: A health system dilemma

Background: Privatization of medical education can widen its scope and availability via creation of large no of medical professionals in allopathic system for Indian people, but can it be an alternative to create human resources with appropriate skill mix, especially when services in health system involves lives of the human being needs rethinking on an urgent basis. Objectives: To review the issues related with privatization of medical education system of India. Materials and Methods: A systematic review on key search word: Privatization of medical Education in India was done from main indexed journals of key medical search engines i.e. Pubmed, Cochrane, Bio-med Central, and Google Scholar etc. in all forms including e-journals till 15 th August 2013 since last 20 years. Conclusions: Indian allopathic medical education system is one of the largest in the world. Medical Colleges in India have rapidly progressed in last 25 years, especially in private set ups; there is no doubt that they can help Indian health care system, but the need of hour is, to critically look at the quality of students opting M.B. B.S course, quality of medical faculties in terms of their skill mix for clinical as well as para-clinical services, and quality of medical education imparted by these institutions, which can be achieved by strict implementation of strict Medical Council of India (MCI) norms, in order to ultimately improve the health care system of India in long run.
Intelligent Organizations: An Integrative Framework

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how cybernetic theories open new paths towards organizational intelligence. This is illustrated by means of three theoretical models from organizational cybernetics. These models are integrated into a framework for a virtuous design, (self-)control and (self-)transformation of organizations. It is proposed that changes in activities, structure and behaviour-three of the dimensions of this framework-have to be synchronized among one another, and aligned with a fourth dimension: fundamental parameters such as organizational identity, ethos and vision. It is also claimed that a continued and integrative application of the models outlined can trace the path towards excelling organizational intelligence more effectively than merely punctual uses of one or more of them.
Why a Journal of Negative Results

Sixteen years ago, I wrote a ‘funny’ piece for New Scientist on the need for a journal of negative results (‘Think Negative’ 29.10.1987: 72). And now my dream has come true, and I am asked to be the real JNR ’s (unofficial) patron! The editors have kindly invited me to share a few personal reflections.
Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and Juvenile Xanthogranuloma

Background: Histiocytoses represent a large, puzzling group of diseases which may involve the skin and other organs. At present, juvenile xanthogranuloma is the disorder most often confused with Langerhans cell histiocytosis. A complex overlap exists between juvenile xanthogranuloma and Langerhans cell histiocytosis, with lesions showing clinical and/or pathological features of both disorders. Observations: We report 2 patients affected by Langerhans cell histiocytosis who, during chemotherapy, presented cutaneous lesions with clinical and histological features of juvenile xanthogranuloma. During the therapy, in both cases, histological examination of new biopsies revealed the presence of Touton giant cells in the dermis with a few histiocytic cells; immunohistochemical staining was negative for CD1a, and no Birbeck granules were seen by ultrastructural examination. Results and Conclusion: A possible explanation for the link between Langerhans cell histiocytosis and juvenile xanthogranuloma regards the lineage development and the relationships of histiocytes. We suggest that chemotherapy can modify the production of cytokines by influencing the conversion or ‘maturation’ of pathological cells into macrophages or xanthomatous cells and fusing them to form multinucleated giant Touton cells. In our opinion, the modification of the cutaneous lesions during chemotherapy in Langerhans cell histiocytosis patients, as observed in our cases, could be a favorable prognostic factor.
Analysis of cost functions and structured light patterns for modern dynamic programming stereo algorithms

Stereo vision has been an active research field that has produced a myriad of excellent algorithms. Unfortunately most of the algorithms that produce superior results rely on non-linear optimisation techniques that are computationally expensive and therefore not practical for real-time applications such as tele-immersion. Our target application is to reconstruct a 3D model of a user's head in real time at sufficient detail too allow communication between users while enabling motion parallax and therefore realism. This paper will examine dynamic programming (DP) stereo algorithms that operate in the space-time domain. Specifically we will look at the trade-offs in using different cost functions and different structured light patterns. We will compare the recent DP algorithms of Criminisi et al. (2003) and Birchfield et al. (1998). We have extended both to work in the space-time domain, to use different cost functions and to work in conjunction with structured light patterns. The performance of both algorithms will be examined using synthetic images, the impact of different cost functions with regards to each algorithm and the type of structured light pattern will be evaluated as well as the impact of extending the support region into the time domain. These results will be presented and discussed within the context of the target application.