Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Improved BSCB Image Inpainting Method

Image inpainting is used to restore the damaged images which have cracks and scratches or to remove the specified objects and texts in order to reach specific goals.An improved BSCB model was proposed based on patch-similarity,which exploited property of patch-similarity anisotropic diffusion for denoising of smooth with damaged image areas,meanwhile the manual image of simple structure and natural image of complicated structure were inpainted.Experimental results show that the improved BSCB model can achieve good result of inpainting.Comparing with the BSCB-ASG model and the TV model,the BSCB model based on patch-similarity can reduce inpainting time and improve the inpainting effect of image,therefore it can fulfill the demands of image inpainting.
Examining the Tourism-Led Growth Hypothesis, Agricultural-Led Growth Hypothesis and Economic Growth in Top Agricultural Producing Economies

Most nations are striving to achieve sustainable economic growth. Among the diverse routes explored are tourism and agriculture. This study examines tourism-led growth hypothesis and agriculture-induced growth hypothesis in the context of the world top four agricultural producing economies in a multivariate balanced panel framework between 1995 and 2015. The findings from the bootstrap panel co-integration tests do not support a long-run relationship among the variables. Subsequently, causality test reveals a feedback relationship between international tourism receipt and economic growth. Thus, the tourism-led growth hypothesis is affirmed, while a uni-directional causality runs from agriculture to economic growth. Our findings affirm both the tourism-led and agriculture-led growth hypotheses. Hence, tourism and agriculture sectors are twin growth catalysts in the selected states, that is, both tourism and agriculture sectors have complementary effect on economic growth in the bloc investigated.
Innovations By Internet Of Things

The fields of computer science and electronics have merged to result into one of the most notable technological advances. Contemporary service innovation is to an important extent stimulated and enabled by developments of information technology[11]. A fairly recent technical development is labelled Internet of Things (IoT) based on the fact that also devices and objects are connected to the Internet. IoT also means that individual objects, and interrelated collections of objects e.g. in homes and cars, can be made uniquely identifiable by radio tags, sensors and actuators, and thereby become virtually represented in wireless and wired internet structures in the form of realization of the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT has the potential to deliver solutions that dramatically improve energy efficiency, security, health, education and many other aspects of daily life. This paper discusses the vision, the challenges, possible usage scenarios[13][14] and technological building blocks of the ―Internet of Things‖ and its various applications . This paper also discusses how the IoT is shaping the future of development and its challenges .
Expérimentation, comportements et normes

De nombreuses etudes en economie experimentale ont montre que les individus ne sont pas seulement concernes par leurs gains monetaires mais ont des " preferences sociales ". Ces preferences sociales peuvent etre " mesurees " par des protocoles deconomie experimentale. On montre que le choix des actions des individus ne se fait pas seulement par rapport a la distribution des consequences de ces choix entre les differents acteurs (presence ou non de preferences sociales) mais que cette distribution est souvent jugee par rapport a des criteres normatifs dependants du contexte (ce quil est normal de faire dans une situation pour une population donnee). La presence ou non dalternatives de choix compatibles avec la norme affectera le jugement porte par les individus sur une distribution particuliere de consequences. De plus, les croyances quant aux comportements appropries conditionnent les comportements eux-memes et entrainent lapparition de normes qui peuvent evoluer en fonction du contexte par un phenomene dapprentissage de la nouvelle norme.
Motion image deblurring based on visual saliency

Aiming at the blur of the fast moving object in video images,a new fast deblurring scheme base on the visual saliency was presented.Firstly,the image was divided into a significant part and a non-significant part through its saliency map,the blur kernel of the non-significant regional was estimated with an improved fast motion deblurring algorithm.Then,a compensation mechanism was proposed to convert the variable space blur of the significant part into the invariable space blur,and the estimated blur kernel mentioned before was applied to deblur the significant part.At last,the image was restored using the deconvolution algorithm.Experimental results show that the scheme can reduce the running time of the image deblurring process with the uniform blur and maintain the deblurring quality on the motion object.
Parallel Programming In C With Mpi And Open Mp

parallel programming in c with mpi and open mp is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our digital library hosts in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the parallel programming in c with mpi and open mp is universally compatible with any devices to read.
Empty Institutions in Global Environmental Politics

Why are some institutions without any policy powers or output? This study documents the efforts by governments to create empty international institutions whose mandates deprive them of any capacity for policy formulation or implementation. Examples include the United Nations Forum on Forests, the Copenhagen Accord on Climate Change, and the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Research is based on participation in twenty-one rounds of negotiations over ten years and interviews with diplomats, policymakers, and observers. The article introduces the concept of empty institutions, provides evidence from three empirical cases, theorizes their political functions, and discusses theoretical implications and policy ramifications. Empty institutions are deliberately designed not to deliver and serve two purposes. First, they are political tools for hiding failure at negotiations, by creating a public impression of policy progress. Second, empty institutions are “decoys” that distract public scrutiny and legitimize collective inaction, by filling the institutional space in a given issue area and by neutralizing pressures for genuine policy. Contrary to conventional academic wisdom, institutions can be raised as obstacles that preempt governance rather than facilitate it.
Critical Analysis of Steganography “An Art of Hidden Writing”

Steganography is the art of hiding information inside another medium while the presence of this embedding is invisible by human perception. In disparity to cryptography, steganography have a tendency to conceal the presence of the message or communication appearance, while cryptography tries to hide the content of the clandestine message. Hiding the presence of message or communication can be made by inserting a clandestine message into the clear cover medium which no one besides the correspondent and the receiver can imagine. This paper present the review and critical analysis of steganography methods projected during the recent years that are from 2011 to 2015. Many schemes are mentioned with their technical terms, main logic, advantages and disadvantages in terms of important measures. Critical analysis is based on the type of cover object used, domain of the algorithm and important properties that are used as evaluative measures for steganographic system.
The partisan–professional dichotomy revisited: Politicization and decision‐making of senior civil servants

Politicization has an ambivalent reputation among public administration scholars. While considered an effective instrument to safeguard political control over ministerial bureaucracy, partisanship of senior civil servants is likewise associated with patronage and deemed detrimental to professionalism and meritocracy. To scrutinize this contradiction, the article examines how a party-political background of senior civil servants influences their decision-making behavior. Two theoretically derived conceptions of loyalty are put therefore to the test: responsiveness and responsibility. Effects are captured by using vignette technique in 40 in-depth interviews with former senior civil servants from ministerial departments at federal and state level in Germany. The results are surprising insofar as they reveal that politicized senior civil servants neither act more responsive nor less responsible than their non-politicized peers. These findings challenge common assumptions and call for a more refined analysis of the conditions under which politicization leads to negative effects.
Meta-cell movement-based location management in LEO networks

Mobility management is an important aspect in the LEO systems. This paper introduces a modified movement-based location update and paging scheme in LEO networks. In this scheme we propose the meta-cellular concept, which includes two spot-beams of one satellite. First we present the location management scheme that use meta-cell model. Then an analytical model is applied to formulate the cost of location updating and paging for meta-cell and movement-based combined dynamic location update scheme. The comparison of performance between meta-cell method and normal-cell method is provided to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness and robust of the proposed scheme under various parameters. To reduce the impact of meta-cell on paging cost, we present forced location update strategy when the meta-cell includes the cells from different satellites.
Límite de la Deuda Pública y Espacio Fiscal: Análisis para Colombia y Otros Mercados Emergentes

En este documento se analiza el limite de la deuda publica y el espacio fiscal para Colombia y otras economias emergentes, bajo el enfoque de la fatiga fiscal (Ghosh et. al., 2013). El estado de fatiga se presenta en situaciones de incrementos continuos de la deuda y del pago de los intereses, que llevan a que los esfuerzos del gobierno para generar superavits primarios se deterioren. El trabajo utiliza la tecnica de los splines para estimar la reaccion del gobierno a la dinamica de deuda y plantea una prima de riesgo endogena a su evolucion. Las estimaciones se realizan con un panel desbalanceado de trece economias, seis de la region, para el periodo 1985–2016. Los resultados sugieren que el limite de la deuda publica de pais se situaria en 56% del PIB y el espacio fiscal ascenderia a 7 p.p. del producto, el cual luce estrecho especialmente por la sensibilidad de la deuda a los choques externos. Frente a otros paises de la region, Chile cuenta con el mayor espacio fiscal, al tiempo que Mexico y Ecuador, con endeudamientos cercanos al colombiano, disponen de menor espacio.
Individual estimates of life expectancy and consumption patterns

Previous research reveals a paucity of retirement preparedness in the United States. With the shift to defined contribution plans, retirement planning now falls on the shoulders of consumers. Using the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the relationship between subjective life expectancy and consumption is investigated. Specifically, regression analyses examine the relationship between subjective life expectancy and three indicators of consumption: financial assets, credit card debt, and saving behavior. A secondary analysis separated respondents near retirement (i.e., within 10 years) and far from retirement (i.e., more than 10 years) to determine if retirement saliency affects the relationship between life expectancy and consumption. The influence of life expectancy on consump- tion is analyzed by separating life expectancy into two periods: remaining work life and retirement life. Results indicate that remaining work life expectancy and retirement life expectancy are associated with financial assets and that retirement life expectancy is associated with savings behavior.
Inflation and Exchange Rate Targeting Challenges Under Fiscal Dominance

Countries have increased significantly their public-sector borrowing since the Global Financial Crisis, potentially changing debt service costs sensitivity to tightening monetary policy. In this context, we test for greater fiscal dominance over 2000-2017 under Inflation Targeting (IT) and non-IT regimes. We find that evidence consistent with the presence of fiscal dominance varies across countries and debt configurations. Higher ratios of public debt-to-GDP may appear associated with lower policy interest rates in Advanced Economies. However, we find that the pattern of lower rates and higher debt in these countries is largely explained by a declining natural rate of interest. The most robust evidence of fiscal dominance lies among Emerging Markets under non-IT regimes, composed mostly of exchange rate targeters. For these countries, policy interest rates are non-linearly associated with public debt levels, depending on both the level of hard-currency public debt-to-GDP and the currency composition of public debt. Sorting countries into low, medium, and high nominal exchange rate volatility bins, we also find that Emerging Market economies with more flexible exchange rates and high commodity exposure exhibit a robust association between public debt levels and policy interest rates.
An Empirical Research About Determining the Factors Effecting E-government Adoption: Evidence from Yalova

Bu adaptasyonunu etkileyen kritik faktorleri belirlemek amaclanmaktadir. Arastirma kapsaminda e-devlet hizmetleri kullanan 586 kullanici ile yuz yuze anket yapilarak bulgular elde edilmistir. Analizler sonucunda e-devlet kabulune etki edebilecek cesitli faktor gruplari ile e-devlet adaptasyonu arasindaki iliskiler istatistiksel olarak ortaya konmustur. Kaynaklarin kullanilabilirligi, algilanan fonksiyonel fayda ve algilanan hizmet yanitinin e-devlet adaptasyonunda pozitif bir etki olusturduklari gorulmustur. Ayrica algilanan hizmet yaniti ve kaynaklarin kullanilabilirliginin de fonksiyonel faydayi olumlu yonde etkiledigi gorulmustur
System Architecture for Mobile-phone-centric Ambient Intelligence Applications

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto. fi Author Iiro Jantunen Name of the doctoral dissertation System Architecture for Mobile-phone-centric Ambient Intelligence Applications Publisher School of Electrical Engineering Unit Department of Communications and Networking Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 81/2012 Field of research wireless systems Manuscript submitted 21 September 2011 Manuscript revised 5 March 2012 Date of the defence 14 June 2012 Language English Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Abstract The aim of this study is to develop an open architecture platform for mobile-phone-centric ambient intelligence applications. The two main application fields are 1) local wireless sensor networks for health-related applications and 2) ubimedia, meaning digital content embedded in the environment.The aim of this study is to develop an open architecture platform for mobile-phone-centric ambient intelligence applications. The two main application fields are 1) local wireless sensor networks for health-related applications and 2) ubimedia, meaning digital content embedded in the environment. In the proposed architecture, a mobile phone acts as a central node hosting applications and connecting a local, e.g. sensor, network to back-end servers in the Internet. The technologies used in the architecture include Simple Sensor Interface (SSI) protocol, nanoIP, and lowpower short-range radios, e.g. Bluetooth Low Energy (formerly BTLEE), Radio-frequency Identification (RFID), 5 kHz inductive links, and impulse ultra-wideband (UWB). The sensor network architecture has been implemented and successfully demonstrated using several applications with commercially available mobile phones with add-on electronics. A system architecture, including both the hardware and software architecture, enabling mobile phones to read Ubimedia with sufficiently high data rates for multimedia applications is also presented. This architecture could also be used as a new type of high-speed wireless internet access.
A PGIS-Based Climate Change Risk Assessment Process for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Dependent Communities

Climate change is affecting human and geophysical systems in a variety of complex and interdependent ways. For nature-based tourism-dependent communities like those along the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota, impacts to the region’s abundant natural resources can subsequently affect the livelihoods of individuals who depend upon those resources to provide essential ecosystem services and support the region’s economy. Many of the area’s natural and outdoor recreation resources are collaboratively managed, making cooperation essential to address climate change impacts. In this study, we engaged North Shore stakeholders in a climate change risk assessment process through an exploratory application of participatory geographic information systems (PGIS). Stakeholder involvement allows for the co-production of science to deliver locally-relevant data and information. Involving stakeholders through a PGIS-based climate change risk assessment process allows locally-relevant data and information to be represented and visualized spatially. We used PGIS focus groups, as well as pre- and post-surveys, to solicit stakeholders’ perceptions of risk thresholds (i.e., the time scale of impacts) and climate-related risk severity to sites with built infrastructure, natural amenities, and recreation and tourism destinations. The stakeholders’ knowledge, as well as their commitment to their communities and local environments, influenced general perceptions of region-wide climate-related vulnerabilities. The PGIS exercises generated important discussion among stakeholders and shed light on how to more efficiently collect spatially-explicit data and information from stakeholders that can be used to inform mitigation and adaptation efforts.
EFFICIENCY IN TEACHING MATHEMATICS: ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGHELECTRONIC VOTING

This academic year we have introduced a pilot project of integrating online voting into mathematics courses in order to increase students’ involvement in the educational process. The paper introduces basic concepts of classroom voting and summarizes our experience with the new interactive technology. The study results of interactively taught students were compared to those with traditional lessons. We found that the success rate was slightly better in the pilot group. We also evaluated students’ feedback from the course opinion poll to find out whether students consider interactive teaching interesting and beneficial. It proved that the students' perceptions of the teaching were significantly better in the seminary group using classroom voting.
Potentials of locally manufactured wound-field flux switching wind generator in South Africa

The China-based monopoly of high-energy permanent magnet materials used in modern wind generators impact the economic viability and local content value of most wind turbines installed in South Africa, especially large installations. It is possible to design with less expensive excitation technologies using locally-sourced wound-field electromagnets, which might promote local content. This study involves the optimum design performance comparison of the wound-field flux switching machine (WF-FSM) technology based on two variants – Design I and II (D-I and D-II) – the difference being in the arrangement of their DC wound-field coils. The machines are evaluated using finite element analyses (FEA) with optimum performance emphasised on design parameters such as torque density, efficiency and power factor. The selected design targets are meant to improve the performance to cost fidelity of the proposed wind generator variants. In 2D FEA, D-II can produce up to 18.8% higher torque density (kNm/m3) and 17.1% lesser loss per active volume (kW/m3) than D-I. In 3D FEA, the torque density of D-II remains higher at 10.6%, but its loss per active volume increases by 15% compared to D-I. The discrepancy observed in 2D and 3D FEA is due to an underestimation of the end-winding effects in D-II. The power factor of D-II is higher than D-I, both in 2D and 3D FEA, which may translate to lower kVA ratings and inverter costs. A higher total active mass ensues for the studied WF-FSMs than a conventional direct-drive PMSG, but avoiding rare earth PMs translate to significantly lower costs.
Are We All Amazon Primed? Consumers and the Politics of Platform Power

This article articulates a distinctive source of political influence of some technology firms, which we call platform power. Platform power inheres in companies of economic scale that provide the terms of access through which large numbers of consumers access goods, services, and information. Firms with platform power benefit from a deference from policymakers, but this deference is not primarily a function of direct influence through lobbying or campaign contributions, nor does it come from the threat of disinvestment. Companies with platform power instead benefit from the tacit allegiance of consumers, who can prove a formidable source of opposition to regulations that threaten these platforms. Focusing on the critical role played by consumers in explaining the powers platform firms wield in the rich democracies lends insight as well into their distinctive vulnerabilities, which flow from events that split the consumer–platform alliance or that cue citizen, as opposed to consumer, political identities.
Two Tales of Cities: Revisiting Sex-Based Occupational Segregation in U.S. Municipal Bureaucracies, 1991-2015

Drawing upon 24 years (1991-2015) of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data, we ask whether sex-based occupational segregation among professional and administrative employees in municipal bureaucracies is related to agency policy missions. We evaluate occupational segregation using two different benchmarks, 30% women and 50% women. At the 30% threshold in distributive and regulatory agencies, our findings suggest erosion of glass walls among professional workforces, but widespread occupational segregation among administrative workforces. At the 50% benchmark, we find a different story. Most cities reach or exceed gender parity in redistributive agencies; however, we observe widespread occupational segregation among administrative and professional workforces in distributive and regulatory agencies. Patterns of sex-based occupational segregation are related to agency policy missions. Analyses of glass walls should not be based on a single benchmark. One option is to supplement evaluations using the customary 30% threshold with evaluations employing a threshold of 50%, or true gender parity.