Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Institutional Foundations of Legislative Speech

Participation in legislative debates is among the most visible activities of members of parliament (MPs), yet debates remain an understudied form of legislative behavior. This study introduces a comparative theory of legislative speech with two major implications. First, party rules for debates are endogenous to strategic considerations and will favor either party leadership control or backbencher MP exposure. Second, in some systems, backbenchers will receive less time on the floor as their ideological distance to the party leadership increases. This leads to speeches that do not reflect true party cohesion. Where party reputation matters less for reelection, leaders allow dissidents to express their views on the floor. We demonstrate the implications of our model for different political systems and present evidence using speech data from Germany and the United Kingdom.
A Novel PSO Algorithm for Optimal Production Cost of the Power Producers with Transient Stability Constraints

The application of a novel Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method called Fitness Distance Ratio PSO (FDR PSO) algorithm is described in this paper to determine the optimal power dispatch of the Independent Power Producers (IPP) with linear ramp model and transient stability constraints of the power producers. Generally the power producers must respond quickly to the changes in load and wheeling transactions. Moreover, it becomes necessary for the power producers to reschedule their power generation beyond their power limits to meet vulnerable situations like credible contingency and increase in load conditions. During this process, the ramping cost is incurred if they violate their permissible elastic limits. In this paper, optimal production costs of the power producers are computed with stepwise and piecewise linear ramp rate limits. Transient stability limits of the power producers are also considered as addi-tional rotor angle inequality constraints while solving the Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem. The proposed algo-rithm is demonstrated on practical 10 bus and 26 bus systems and the results are compared with other optimization methods.
Gallbladder sludge in a pregnant woman as a cause of severe complicated hemorrhagic-necrotizing pancreatitis with a spectacular manifestation

__________________________________________________________________________________________ Pancreatitis is an obvious but rare event in pregnancy. From mild disease to multiorgan failure and sepsis, acute pancreatitis has numerous causes and often an unpredictable outcome. The authors present a case of a 22-year-old pregnant woman with severe pancreatitis due to biliary sludge. The unusual clinical manifestation of pancreatitis in our patient is worth emphasizing: massive bleeding from the upper alimentary tract and two concomitant pancreatic fistulas. The bleeding was a manifestation of pancreatic juice-induced injury to the splenic artery, whereas the fistulas were a consequence of disconnected duct syndrome and superficial necrosis of the pancreatic head. After two and a half years of treatment, the patient was on a regular oral diet with supplementation of pancreatic enzymes, and showed normal glycaemia levels. She returned to full physical activity.
A Review on Factors Impinges Computer Usage in Education

The growing body of literature associated with educational computer use had examined numerous variables and interrelationships in order to gain a better understanding of computer beliefs and use of computers within education. Teachers’ computer acceptance is an important factor to the successful use of computers in education. Thus it is significant to draw attention to the factors affecting teachersâ computer use and its implications to teachersâ professional development strategies. This article would be useful for future researchers who are seeking directions to further examine the determinants of computer technology acceptance and its utilization based on the technology acceptance model.
Vibration Suppression Control for a Flexible Beam with Sliding Mode Observer

In this study, the vibration suppression of smart structure is performed by using piezoelectric patch structure. The smart structure consists of a beam, as a host structure, and piezoelectric patches, attached to the surface of the beam, as actuation and sensing elements. Two sources of instabilities, namely, the observer spillover and the control spillover, are considered in the current design of the controller based on a reduced order model of the large scale system.To design a controller, that will attenuate the vibration, the balance realization is used to select the reduced order model that is most controllable and observable. Eight state is selected for the reduced model in the present work.The sliding mode observer, which based on the equivalent control, is designed to estimate eight states of the reduced model where the state estimation error is proved bounded. By using the estimated state via sliding mode observer an optimal LQR controller is designed that attenuate the vibration of a smart cantilever beam using piezoelectric element. To overcome the control spillover problem, an avoidance condition was derive, that will ensure the asymptotic stability for the proposed vibration control design.The numerical simulations are preformed to test the vibration attenuation ability of the proposed optimal control. For 10 mm initial tip displacement, the piezoelectric actuator found able to reduce the tip displacement to about 1.3 mm after 15s, while it equal to 7 mm with the open loop case.The simulations show, also, that the optimal control action is performed with minimum effort where only 30 voltage is required while piezoelectric actuator is saturated at 200 voltage.
Automated Safety Monitoring: A Review and Classification of Methods

Yiannis Papadopoulos holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, an MSc in Advanced Manufacturing Technology from Cranfield University and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of York. In 1989, he joined the Square D Company where he took up a leading role in the development of an experimental Ladder Logic compiler with fault injection capabilities and a simulator for the Symax programmable logic controllers. Between 1994 and 2001 he worked as a research associate and research fellow in the department of Computer Science at the University of York. Today he is a lecturer in the department of Computer Science at the University of Hull where he continues his research on the safety and reliability of computer systems and software. Dr. Papadopoulos is the author of more than 20 scientific journal and conference papers. His research engages with a body of work on model-based safety analysis and on-line system diagnosis and contributes to that body of work with new models and algorithms that capture and usefully exploit the hierarchical organisation of the structure and behaviour of the system. His work currently develops through extensive technical collaborations with the European Industry, mainly with DaimlerChrysler, Volvo and Germanisher Lloyd.
Continuum model for inelastic behaviour of masonry

A continuum model capable of modelling the inelastic behaviour of masonry is presented. The model includes the description of viscoelasticity, orthotropic damage and tensile crack localization. The theoretical framework is summarized. The model has been implemented in a FE package and validated through the analysis of a complex masonry construction and the simulation of experimental tests on shear walls.
Genetic variability for vegetative and yield traits in maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes

Nine open-pollinated maize genotypes were evaluated for two seasons in 2007/08 and 2008/09 at the experimental farm, University of Sudan Science and Technology, Shambat. The study was conducted to assess the magnitude of genetic variability in maize genotypes for vegetative, yield and yield components under field conditions. Randomized complete block design with three replications was used for laying out the experiment. The results showed that there were non-significant differences for most character under study, except the plant height, stem diameter, number of rows cob -1 and ear length in the first season and for days until 50% flowering and 100-seed weight in the second season. Frantic genotype had maximum average seed weight (426.8g) in the first season while Huediba-1 had maximum seed weight (590.2g) in the second season. Giza 2 genotype had maximum grain yield (0.821 ton/ha) in the first season, while maximum grain yield ton/ha was recorded in Panama (0.456 ton/ha). Data recorded for heritability showed that stem diameter had maximum heritability (67.02%) in the first season while the maximum heritability (84.57%) was recorded for days to 50% flowering in the second season. The present study revealed considerable amount of diversity among the tested populations which could be manipulated for further improvement in maize breeding.
Epidemiological Study of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers Qazvin Province, Iran

and statistical tests including t-test and chi-square tests. Results: Of the 484 patients, 294 (60.7%) were male and 190 (39.3%) were female. Most cases of carcinoma were found in basal cells (77.7%) and the rest of squamous cells. The most common sites of involvement were the head and scalp. The most frequent predisposing factors were working in the open air (70.7%), history of previous radiation for treatment of tenia capitis (26.1%), and chronic skin diseases such as burn eschar, chronic lesion, fistula and actinic keratosis (35.7%). The most prevalent Fitzpatrick skin phenotypes were II or III (75.4%). There were significant correlations between the incidence of NMSC and hookah smoking and oral contraceptive pill (OCP) consumption. Conclusions: Skin phenotypes II and III were the most common types found in the present study and this could be due to the higher frequency of these phenotypes among the study population. The lower incidence of NMSC in areas other than the neck and scalp could be associated with the importance of covering style used by the population under study. Known risk factors for the incidence of NMSC were also observed in the present study. A history of radiotherapy for treatment of tenia capitis was observed in a considerable percentage of patients, which could lead to the incidence of cancer several decades later. Further studies are needed to determine the role of hookah smoking and the use of OCP in the occurrence of NMSC.
Extreme Programming: Aiming towards Quality Assurance

Agile methodologies are among the most popular methodologies to develop software in recent times. They aim to build up software wherein requirements are constantly changing and seek to make development easy while ensuring quality. The different agile techniques like XP, Scrum etc. use best ways that help to improve Quality. Thus ensuring Software Quality Assurance (SQA) in the product delivered. The agile process extreme programming is targeted towards smaller development teams and requires relatively few details. In this paper Quality Assurance techniques of extreme programming has been focused upon. The analysis of the different techniques has been carried out on basis of important features, quality factors achieved, timing, and cost.
SPEED DETECTION OF VEHICLES FROM AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

A new object-based method is developed to extract moving vehicles and subsequently detect their speeds from two consecutive images automatically. Several global and local parameters of gray values and sizes are examined to classify the objects in the image. Vehicles and their associated shadows can be discriminated by removing big objects such as roads. To detect speed, firstly vehicles and shadows are extracted from two consecutive images. The corresponding vehicles from the two images are then linked based on the similarity in shape and size and on the distance within a threshold. Finally, using the distance between the corresponding vehicles and time lag between two images, we can detect the moving speed and azimuth angle. Our test shows promising results for detecting vehicles speeds. Further development will employ the proposed method to a pair of QuickBird panchromatic and multi-spectral images, which are at a coarser spatial resolution.
AIS Quality and Effectiveness of the Decision Making Process in the use of the ERPS

The use of the Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (hereafter, ERPS) in Indonesia showed a significant growth. This growth has lead to the need to have an empirical evidence about the accounting benefits from using that systems. The existences of accounting research on ERPS has created an opportunity for further research on the Accounting Information Systems (AIS) quality and effectiveness in the decision making process related to the level of the use of the ERPS. This research is using alternative methods of Partial Least Square (PLS). The result suggest that the manager’s perceptions of the AIS quality affect the effectiveness of the decision making process. The breadth of the use of the ERPS can be a moderating factor in the relationship between manager's perception of the AIS quality and the effectiveness of the decision-making process. Finnally, there was no difference between the perceptions of the different department managers regarding the AIS quality and the effectiveness of the decision making process on the breadth of the use of the ERPS. Keywords: ERPS capabilities, AIS quality, Decision Making Process Effectiveness, manager perceptions
Fish assemblage in shallow areas of Baía da Babitonga, southern Brazil: structure, spatial and temporal patterns

Fish assemblage structure and physical-chemical characteristics were analyzed in shallow areas of Baia da Babitonga, southern Brazil, by seasonal sampling at 13 sites distributed along the bay's shoreline. Two sectors (outer and inner) were defined within the bay according to salinity. In total, 71,085 fishes belonging to 70 taxa and 30 families were collected. The majority of collected taxa (45) were exclusively represented by juvenile fishes. Unidentified engraulids, Eucinostomus spp. , Mugil spp. , Atherinella brasiliensis, Anchoa januaria, Harengula clupeola, Anchoa tricolor, Oligoplites saliens and Sphoeroides greeleyi were numerically dominant, contributing 93.8% of captured fishes. Taxa exclusive of one or the other sector showed low abundance, but several species clearly tended to occupy specific regions of the estuary. Spatial variations in body size were indicated for the nine dominant taxa. The number of species, individuals and equitability varied significantly among months but not sectors. However, a high turnover in species composition occurred among sampling sites, with the average number of taxa per site (30.8) corresponding to less than half of the total number of registered taxa (70).
The effect of emigration on household labor supply: Evidence from Central Asia and South Caucasus

Using a novel data set, this paper find that households with migrants experience a 26% drop in the labor force participation rate in four economies (Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan) from the Central Asia and South Caucasus region. It is twice as large for households with permanent migrants as for households with seasonal migrants. The results do not alter in the presence of selection on unobservables, model misspecification, and selection bias due to the absence of more productive workers. Direct evidence on the remittances that each household received is not available. The empirical findings do, however, suggest the possibility of an increase in reservation wages.
The star-forming environment of an ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 4559: an optical study

We have studied the candidate optical counterparts and the stellar population in the star- forming complex around the bright ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the western part of the spiral galaxy NGC 4559, using the HST Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), XMM-Newton/Optical Monitor and ground-based data. We find that the ULX is located near a small group of OB stars, but is not associated with any massive young clusters nor with any extraordinary massive stars. The brightest point source in the Chandra error circle is consistent with a single blue supergiant (BSG) of mass ≈20 Mand age ≈10 Myr. A few other stars are resolved inside the error circle: mostly BSGs and red supergiants (RSGs) with inferred masses ≈10-15 Mand ages ≈20 Myr. This is consistent with the interpretation of this ULX as a black hole (BH) accreting from a high-mass donor star in its supergiant phase, with mass transfer occurring via Roche-lobe overflow. The observed optical colours and the blue-to-red supergiant ratio suggest a low metal abundance for the stellar population: 0.2 Z/Z� 0.4 (using the Padua tracks), or 0.05 Z/Z� 0.2 (using the Geneva tracks). The age of the star-forming complex is30 Myr. Hα images show that this star-forming region has a ring-like appearance. We propose that it is an expanding wave of star formation, triggered by an initial density perturbation, in a region where the gas was only marginally stable to gravitational collapse. We also suggest that the most likely trigger was a collision with a satellite dwarf galaxy going through the gas-rich outer disc of NGC 4559 less than 30 Myr ago. The culprit could be the dwarf galaxy visible a few arcsec north-west of the complex. If this is the case, this system is a scaled-down version of the Cartwheel galaxy. The X-ray data favour a BH more massive (M > 50 M� ) than typical Milky Way BH candidates. The optical data favour a young BH originating in the recent episode of massive star formation; however, they also rule out an association with young massive star clusters (none are present in the X7 field). We speculate that other mechanisms may lead to the formation of relatively massive BHs (perhaps M ∼ 50-100 M� ) from stellar evolution processes in low-metallicity environments, or when star formation is triggered by galactic collisions. Ke yw ords: accretion, accretion discs - black hole physics - galaxies: individual: NGC 4559 - X-rays: galaxies - X-rays: stars.
GENDER DIFFERENCES ON LOWER LIMB COORDINATION DURING ELITEPLAYERS JUMP

The results from an experimental analysis of the jump in basketball female and male players are presented. Coordination of seventeen lower limb is analyzed in a high risk movement frequently performed by athletes during jump It is showed that on the sample studied several differences on relative phase are found entailing particularly transverse movement plane of knee. These results show that during some core moments of the jump, gender can influence the lower limb joint coordination. The comparison of relative phase shows a female propensity for moving in less synergy on jump reception. Such findings highlight the need for including on preparation program of athletes a prevention plan that is not necessarily identical on both genders.
Body-Centric Wireless Communications: A Survey of Hearing-Instrument Antennas

A survey of hearing-instrument antennas used for body-centric wireless communications is presented. One challenge is to transmit a radio signal from a hearing instrument on one ear to a hearing instrument on the other ear to improve the hearing quality. Transmission through the head is not an option due to the losses at the ISM-band at 2.4 GHz. This is overcome by the use of surface waves, i.e., a wave that creeps on the top of the head. A major challenge is to construct antennas that effective launches surface waves for different types of hearing instruments.
Determination of the parameters in the designed hemodynamic response function using Nelder-Mead algorithm

In this paper, we have investigated the use of the Nelder-Mead algorithm in determining the parameters of a designed hemodynamic response function (dHRF) instead of using fixed parameters for functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The hemodynamic response (HR) is supposed to be a linear combination of the baseline, the dHRF, and physiological noises (Mayer, cardiac, and respiration). The linear combination of three gamma functions is used to model the dHRF including the initial dip, the conventional HR, and the undershoot afterward. In this formulation, fifteen parameters (9 for dHRF and 6 for physiological noises) are unknown. An objective function is designed and solved using the iterative optimization Nelder-Mead algorithm to determine the unknown parameters of dHRF and physiological noises. The performance of the algorithm is tested using simulated and experimental datasets. The fNIRS experimental data were acquired from five healthy subjects during right-hand thumb finger flexion/extension tasks from the left motor cortex. The results demonstrate that inter-subject differences existed in the dHRF parameters. Therefore, it will be worthwhile to use subject-dependent dHRF parameters for a better estimation of the cortical activation using fNIRS.
SwapCodes: Error Codes for Hardware-Software Cooperative GPU Pipeline Error Detection

Intra-thread instruction duplication offers straightforward and effective pipeline error detection for data-intensive processors. However, software-enforced instruction duplication uses explicit checking instructions, roughly doubles program register usage, and doubles the arithmetic operation count per thread, potentially leading to severe slowdowns. This paper investigates SwapCodes, a family of software-hardware cooperative mechanisms to accelerate intra-thread duplication in GPUs. SwapCodes leverages the register file ECC hardware to detect pipeline errors without sacrificing the ability of ECC to detect and correct storage errors. By implicitly checking for pipeline errors on each register read, SwapCodes avoids the overheads of instruction checking without adding new hardware error checkers or buffers. We describe a family of SwapCodes implementations that successively eliminate the sources of inefficiency in intra-thread duplication with different complexities and error detection and correction trade-offs. We apply SwapCodes to protect a GPU-based processor against pipeline errors, and demonstrate that it is able to detect more than 99.3% of pipeline errors while improving performance and system efficiency relative to software-enforced duplication—the most performant SwapCodes organization incurs just 15% average slowdown over the un-duplicated program.
High-Accuracy Localization of Passive Tags With Multisine Excitations

This paper proposes an extensive study of multisine excitations to enable high-accuracy localization of battery-less tags, by harvesting the higher order harmonics, generated by the rectifier nonlinearity. Usually, these harmonics are either filtered out or terminated, to increase the conversion efficiency. A dual-mode rectifier with the output section splitted into two paths is designed. One dc path is the common one used to deliver the converted dc power to an optimum load and the second path is broadband and collects the higher harmonics obtaining an ultrawideband radiated signal to communicate with the receivers for tag localization. To this purpose, a variety of multisine excitation signals, with different tones, spacing among tones and bandwidth, is accurately evaluated to characterize the system-level localization performance. Both the modeled and experimental results are presented demonstrating the excellent performance of such a dual-mode rectifier, despite of the limited add-on circuitry if compared to those used in standard rectennas. For an average received power of −10 dBm, measurements show that the localization of a tag with centimeter-level accuracy can be achieved at more than 10 m distance from the receivers having a 4 dB noise figure.