Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fast tuning procedures for emergency controls using eigenvalue computations

In this paper, we propose a novel method for tuning the amount of generation tripping thatwould be used in conjunction with remedial action schemes (RAS) or special protection schemes.The method is motivated by the concept of unstable limit cycles and it utilizes fast eigenvaluecomputations. Unstable limit cycles play a crucial role in determining the transient stability marginsof the power systems with weak interarea oscillatory modes. The western American power systemWECC is an example where the transient stability is closely related to the existence of unstable limitcycles under certain operating conditions. For these systems, fast computational procedures basedon estimation of the damping of the interarea modes, can be used for assessing the RAS generationtripping amounts. Eigenvalue based rules are presented in the paper and the results are illustratedon simulations of the phenomena in the standard Kundur two area test system which exhibits aninterarea oscillatory mode.
Electronic Information Systems for Consumers: An Evaluation of Computer-Assisted Formats in Multiple Decision Environments

The performance of three formats in three choice sets was studied. In choice sets with negatively correlated attributes, the computer-assisted LINEAR format led to superior decisions in comparison with a computer-assisted CUTOFF format and a simple RAN DOM-order format. Decision quality, however, was high and the same across the formats in a choice set with non-negatively correlated attributes. The LINEAR format was highly regarded by subjects, resulted in timely decisions, and is recommended on the basis of its performance in the study.
Population structure of the yellow‐footed rock‐wallaby Petrogale xanthopus (Gray, 1854) inferred from mtDNA sequences and microsatellite loci

The yellow‐footed rock‐wallaby Petrogale xanthopus is considered to be potentially vulnerable to extinction. This wallaby inhabits naturally disjunct rocky outcrops which could restrict dispersal between populations, but the extent to which that occurs is unknown. Genetic differences between populations were assessed using mitochondrial DNA (control region) sequencing and analysis of variation at four microsatellite loci among three geographically close sites in south‐west Queensland (P. x. celeris) and, for mtDNA only, samples from South Australia (P. x. xanthopus) as well. Populations from South Australia and Queensland had phylogenetically distinct mtDNA, supporting the present classification of these two groups as evolutionarily distinct entities. Within Queensland, populations separated by 70 km of unsuitable habitat differed significantly for mtDNA and at microsatellite loci. Populations separated by 10 km of apparently suitable habitat had statistically homogeneous mtDNA, but a significant difference in allele frequency at one microsatellite locus. Tests for Hardy‐Weinberg equilibrium and micro‐geographical variation at microsatellite loci did not detect any substructuring between two wallaby aggregations within a colony encircling a single rock outcrop. Although the present study was limited by small sample sizes at two of the three Queensland locations examined, the genetic results suggest that dispersal between colonies is limited, consistent with an ecological study of dispersal at one of the sites. Considering both the genetic and ecological data, we suggest that management of yellow‐footed rock‐wallabies should treat each colony as an independent unit and that conservation of the Queensland and South Australian populations as separate entities is warranted.
Effective climate change adaptation strategies for biodiversity conservation

Effective Climate Change (CC) adaptation strategies for biodiversity conservation have been heavily discussed recently. Currently, there are ∼650 CC adaptation recommendations such as managing healthy vegetation on slopes (Veech, 2003), terrestrial and inland water systems (Settele et al., 2014), landscape restoration efforts (Pradhan and Shrestha, 2007), creation and protection of climate refuges (Lindenmayer et al., 2010), wildlife conservation (Mawdsley et al., 2009) among several others (Grabherr, 2009; Khattak et al., 2010). However, they are vague, lack specific solutions with limited analysis of significant benefits, advantages and disadvantages. Over the last few years, I have been developing a database which critically evaluates a variety of CC adaptation strategies, for several biodiversity conservation scenarios. After performing extensive analysis of the existing recommendations, and comparing them against the database that I have been populating, I have critically identified and analyzed 13 effective adaptation strategies for biodiversity conservation that confer significant ecological benefits, and therefore, I discuss them here as most effective. They are segmented under [1] identification and analysis of existing stressors, [2] initiation of strategic zoning of land uses, [3] better preparation for major disturbances, [4] identification and designation of reserves, and [5] increased communication of knowledge to stakeholders. Intended benefits of such adaptation strategies include [a] improved capacity of decision makers to adapt to CC; [b] ability to adapt CC with specific reference to the interactions between ecosystems, communities and populations; [c] ability to device most appropriate adaptation strategies for different CC scenarios; [d] increased flow of communication; [e] ability to device proactive adaptive strategies for different habitat; [f] establish cross-national collaboration among the organizations; [g]ability to develop guidelines for adapting to CC that is specific for regions prone to extremities of stress, and [h] quantify environmental susceptibility against adaptive capacity, for effective biodiversity conservation (see Table 1).
The Turkish Liquidity Crisis of 2000: What Went Wrong… •

Almost 12 months after the launching of the three -year stabilization program backed by the International Monetary Fund, Turkey experienced an acute liquidity crisis that threatened the viability of the disinflation and the fiscal adjustment program. The paper is an attempt at providing answers to the question ‘could the liquidity crisis have been avoided? ’, without resorting to the lack of unfavorable external conditions during 2000, such as the rise in the oil prices and the U.S. federal funds rate as well as the unfavorable change in the US$/Euro parity. Three factors that are argued to have contributed to the creation of the 2000 liquidity crisis are: 1 - Inability of the Turkish government in maintaining the stream of good news and sustaining capital inflows; 2- Lack of enough backing of the program by the IMF in terms of providing sufficient insurance against exchange rate risk. 3 - Existence of the “no sterilization” rule in the letter of intent, which was argued to be a 'design flaw' in the progra m since it led to interest rate undershooting initially. These factors coupled with the fragile structure of the banking system helped bring about the events that led to the following crisis at the end of February 2001.
Footwear Cluster in Kolkata: A Case of Self-Exploitative Fragmentation

Studies in industrial clusters largely identify the institutional failures and imperfections that prevail in the supply of indivisible inputs and collective action. This paper critically reviews a typical ‘low‐road’ cluster in Kolkata and argues that market failures due to existence of information imperfections, externalities and public good and the institutional failure to resolve those imperfections only partially explain the depressed status in these clusters. The explanation, however, critically rests on the fact of asymmetric power relations and conflicts arising between the trader and the small producer reproducing a production relation that thwarts the high road growth path. The spawning of small enterprises in such clusters, as the argument goes, is a result of self‐exploitative fragmentation that does not flow from entrepreneurship but is a result of survival strategy of labour in the context of depressed wages.
Is there equity in long-term healthcare utilization after traumatic brain injury?

OBJECTIVE To quantify the long-term use of various types of healthcare services in patients with traumatic brain injury and to estimate the relative contribution of predisposing characteristics, enabling factors and health-related needs to determine whether there is equity in healthcare utilization. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. PATIENTS Seventy-nine non-institutionalized moderate to severe patients with traumatic brain injury (age range 16-67 years). METHODS Healthcare use was measured at 3-5 years post-injury. The relative contribution of predisposing characteristics, enabling factors, and health-related needs to the utilization of various types of care was analysed using logistic regression to determine whether there was equity in healthcare utilization. RESULTS At least one healthcare service was used by 68% of the patients. Health-related needs explained most of the utilization. However, predisposing characteristics were also related to the use of other medical care and supportive care. Patients with a high internal locus of control were more likely to be users of supportive care, and patients with a high locus of control with the physician were more likely to visit medical specialists. CONCLUSION The results suggest that most of our patients who needed care, received care. However, inequity could not be ruled out completely as predisposing characteristics also contributed to some types of healthcare utilization.
Degradation of membrane phospholipids and thiols in peroxide hemolysis: studies in vitamin E deficiency.

To understand more clearly the hemolytic anemia associated with administration of certain oxidant drugs, the mechanism by which H2O2 causes hemolysis in rat red cells, deficient in vitamin E was investigated. It was demonstrated that the locus of attack by H2O2 was the red cell membrane, in which one phospholipid, i.e., phosphatidyl ethanolamine, was specifically destroyed prior to the onset of hemolysis. No perturbation of intracellular components or metabolism was noted during peroxidative hemolysis. E-deficient red cells incorporated 14C-labelled fatty acids into this phosphatide at nearly twice the rate that in E-supplemented cells, reflecting the continual tendency of phosphatidyl ethanolamine to be destroyed. Young red cells were especially active in this regard and concomitantly were less vulnerable to damage by H2O2 both in vitro and when circulating in rats exposed to hyperbaric oxygenation. If, however, replacement of fatty acids in phosphatidyl ethanolamine was prevented by inhibition of metabolism or if fatty acids were enzymatically removed by a phospholipase-A, H2O2 hemolysis was potentiated. Hemolysis was also associated with, and potentiated by, loss of membrane sulfhydryl activity. It is suggested that hemolytic anemia may occur in patients with vitamin E deficiency (i.e., with steatorrhea) if oxidant drugs capable of generating H2O2 and oxidizing membrane thiols are administered. Two such cases are under investigation.
A proposal for reliability evaluation of components on electric power distribution system integrating probabilistic models and fuzzy inference systems

The system reliability depends on the reliability of its components itself. Therefore, it is necessary a methodology capable of inferring the state of functionality of these components to establish reliable indices of quality. Allocation models for maintenance and protective devices, among others, have been used in order to improve the quality and availability of services on electric power distribution systems. This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the reliability of distribution system components in an integrated way, using probabilistic models and fuzzy inference systems to infer about the operation probability of each component.
IMPACTS OF MODULAR GRIME ON TECHNICAL DEBT

The purpose of this research is to study the effects of code changes that violate a design pattern’s intended role on the quality of a project. We use technical debt as an overarching surrogate measure of quality. Technical debt is a metaphor borrowed from the financial domain used to describe the potential cost necessary to refactor a software system to agreed upon coding and design standards. Previous research defined violations in the context of design patterns as grime. Because technical debt can ultimately lead to the downfall of a project, it is important to understand if and how grime may contribute to a system’s technical debt. To investigate this problem, we have developed a grime injector to model grime growth on Java projects. We use SonarQube’s technical debt software to compare the technical debt scores of six different types of modular. These six types can be classified along three major dimensions: strength, scope, and direction. We find that the strength dimension is the most important contributor to the quality of a design and that temporary grime results in higher technical debt scores than persistent grime. This knowledge will help to make design decisions which could help manage a project’s technical debt.
The viscosity of neutrophils and their transit times through small pores.

Passive neutrophils from five different individuals are rapidly aspirated at constant suction pressure and at room temperature into a pipet with a diameter of 4 microns. The excess suction pressures (i.e., the pressures in excess of the small threshold pressure required to produce continuous flow into the pipet) are 5000, 10,000 and 20,000 dyn/cm2 (0.5, 1 and 2 kPa) and are comparable to those encountered in the microcirculation. The rate of entry into the pipet is modeled with a linearized version of a theory by Yeung and Evans for the newtonian flow of a neutrophil into a pipet or pore. From this theory and measurements of the cell size and its rate of entry into the pipet, we can calculate a value for the cytoplasmic viscosity. A linear (newtonian) fit of the theory to the experimental data gives a value for the viscosity of 1050 poise. A non-linear fit predicts a decrease in the "apparent viscosity" from about 1500 poise at zero excess pressure to 1000 poise at an excess aspiration pressure of 20,000 dyn/cm2. Our experiments and analysis also allow us to calculate a value for the transit time through short pores over a wide range of excess aspiration pressures and pore diameters. For example, for a pore diameter of 3 microns and an aspiration pressure of 1250 dyn/cm2, we predict a transit time of about 70 s. At 6 microns and 20,000 dyn/cm2, the predicted transit time is only about 0.04 s.
Mutation hotspots of SCN9A in primary erythermalgia

naevus, we performed immunohistochemical staining with the antiandrogen receptor monoclonal antibody MU256-UC (BioGenex, San Ramon, CA, U.S.A.), which revealed strong androgen receptor immunoreactivity to the nuclei of epidermal keratinocytes, compared with normal skin (data not shown). The two distinct anomalies might originate from one common postzygotic mutation arising during the initial stage of embryonic development. In summary, we report a case of hypohidrosis confined within a Becker’s naevus lesion, and consider the possibility of postzygotic mutation of a common genetic locus. In the Becker’s naevus, the specific relationship linking the gene involved and the developmental fields are far from clear, and therefore additional investigations at the molecular genetic level are needed.
Social Problem-Solving Skills in Children with Traumatic Brain Injury: Long-Term Outcomes and Prediction of Social Competence

The effects of childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) on social problem-solving were examined in 35 children with severe TBI, 40 children with moderate TBI, and 46 children with orthopedic injuries (OI). The children were recruited prospectively following injuries that occurred between 6 and 12 years of age. They were followed longitudinally, and ranged from 9 to 18 years of age at the time of the current study, which occurred on average 4 years post injury. They were administered a semi-structured interview used in previous research on social problem-solving to assess the developmental level of their responses to hypothetical dilemmas involving social conflict. Children in the severe TBI group defined the social dilemmas and generated alternative strategies to solve those dilemmas at the same developmental level as did children in the OI group. However, they articulated lower-level strategies as the best way to solve the dilemmas and used lower-level reasoning to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies. After controlling for group membership, race, socioeconomic status, IQ, and age, children's social problem-solving, and particularly the developmental level of their preferred strategies for resolving conflicts, predicted parents ratings of children's social skills, peer relationships, aggressive behavior, and academic performance. The findings indicate that children with severe TBI demonstrate selective, long-term deficits in their social problem-solving skills that may help to account for their poor social and academic outcomes.
Targeting sphingolipid metabolism in head and neck cancer: rational therapeutic potentials

Importance of the field: Ceramide accumulation has been shown to be a conserved mechanism of apoptosis initiation in normal physiological processes as well as in response to cancer treatments. Therefore, it is unsurprising that many cancers develop aberrations of sphingolipid metabolism that prevent the accumulation of ceramide, whether by reduction of ceramide generation or by enhanced ceramide catabolism, particularly dangerous when catabolism leads to generation of pro-tumor sphingosine-1-phosphate and ceramide-1-phosphate. Numerous studies have now implicated dysregulation of sphingolipid metabolism in head and neck cancers. Areas covered in this review: This review highlights the importance of sphingolipid metabolism and brings sphingolipid metabolism to the forefront in the investigation of novel therapies for head and neck cancer. It reviews sphingolipid-centric therapies under investigation in preclinical and clinical trials of cancers of the head and neck. What the reader will gain: The roles of sphingolipids and sphingolipid metabolism in cancer are reviewed and the reader will be brought up to date with discoveries in the field of sphingolipid metabolism in head and neck cancer. Take home message: As treatments for head and neck cancers are currently limited, the potential of targeting sphingolipid metabolism should be taken into consideration as we seek novel ways to combat this group of tumors.
A Correlation Study between Student Performance in Food and Beverage Services Course and Internship in F&B Department of Hospitality Business

One of the biggest challenges hospitality educators face today is determining clear goals and objectives for the curriculum to the constantly changing needs of the industry. It is crucial to close the gap between what is taught to students and what the industry expects from the graduates being hired. This study aimed to assess the relationship between the performance of the students on Food and Beverage Services Course and their internship performance in Food and Beverage department in different hospitality businesses where they were deployed. The researcher utilized the descriptive design of the study and used weighted mean and Pearson-Product Moment Correlation (Pearson-r) for data analysis. The participants of the study were the students of BSIHM-HRA for second semester school year 2012-2013. The result shows majority of the intern has satisfactory performance in the Food and Beverage Services course and the interns obtained the highest very good performance evaluation rating in personality followed by attitude, knowledge and skills. Study also shows that there is no significant relationship between the performance in Food and Beverage Service Course and the training performance of interns in the F&B Department of the restaurant and hotel. Performance of the interns in the Food and Beverage course obtained only satisfactory but the training performance was rated very good. The researcher recommends for the enhancement of the existing activities and teaching strategies to match industry needs.
The iFLYTEK system for blizzard machine learning challenge 2017-ES1

This paper introduces the speech synthesis system submitted by IFLYTEK for the Blizzard Machine Learning Challenge 2017-ES1. Linguistic and acoustic features from a 4hour corpus were released for this task. Participants are expected to build a speech synthesis system on the given linguist and acoustic features without using any external data. Our system is composed of a long short term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network (RNN)-based acoustic model and a generative adversarial network (GAN)-based post-filter for mel-cepstra. Two approaches to build GAN-based post-filter are implemented and compared in our experiments. The first one is to predict the residuals of mel-cepstra given the mel-cepstra predicted by the LSTM-based acoustic model. However, this method leads to unstable synthetic speech sounds in our experiments, which may be due to the poor quality of analysis-synthesis speech using the natural acoustic features given by this corpus. The other approach is to ignore the detailed components of natural mel-cepstra by dimension reduction using principal component analysis (PCA) and then recover them back using GAN given the main PCA components. At synthesis time, mel-cepstra predicted by the RNN acoustic model are first projected to the main PCA components, which are then sent to the GAN for detail recovering. Finally, the second approach is used in the final submitted system. The evaluation results show the effectiveness of our submitted system.
Wine brands or branded wines? The specificity of the French market in terms of the brand

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that the branded wine concept refers to a very heterogeneous category as regards wine made in France, but this sort of wine can appeal to certain types of consumers.Design/methodology/approach – An initial qualitative study was carried out to explore consumer representation as regards branded wine. A second, quantitative, study enabled us, through a cluster analysis, to identify brand‐sensitive consumer segments in the wine field.Findings – There is a divergence in consumer representation between novices and experts. The former considers A.O. C.s (Appellation d'Origine Controlee, a French official label of protected geographical indication) and regions as brands while the latter have a narrower vision of what a branded wine means. The “discoverers”, the youngest consumers (18‐29 years old), who are interested in wine and have little knowledge of it are most liable to be influenced by wine brands. The novices and routine consumers are also brand sensitive but t.