Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A modeling framework for Ordered Weighted Average Combinatorial Optimization

Multiobjective combinatorial optimization deals with problems considering more than one viewpoint or scenario. The problem of aggregating multiple criteria to obtain a globalizing objective function is of special interest when the number of Pareto solutions becomes considerably large or when a single, meaningful solution is required. Ordered Weighted Average or Ordered Median operators are very useful when preferential information is available and objectives are comparable since they assign importance weights not to specific objectives but to their sorted values. In this paper, Ordered Weighted Average optimization problems are studied from a modeling point of view. Alternative integer programming formulations for such problems are presented and their respective domains studied and compared. In addition, their associated polyhedra are studied and some families of facets and new families of valid inequalities presented. The proposed formulations are particularized for two well-known combinatorial optimization problems, namely, shortest path and minimum cost perfect matching, and the results of computational experiments presented and analyzed. These results indicate that the new formulations reinforced with appropriate constraints can be effective for efficiently solving medium to large size instances.
Learning Item-Interaction Embeddings for User Recommendations

Industry-scale recommendation systems have become a cornerstone of the e-commerce shopping experience. For Etsy, an online marketplace with over 50 million handmade and vintage items, users come to rely on personalized recommendations to surface relevant items from its massive inventory. One hallmark of Etsy's shopping experience is the multitude of ways in which a user can interact with an item they are interested in: they can view it, favorite it, add it to a collection, add it to cart, purchase it, etc. We hypothesize that the different ways in which a user interacts with an item indicates different kinds of intent. Consequently, a user's recommendations should be based not only on the item from their past activity, but also the way in which they interacted with that item. In this paper, we propose a novel method for learning interaction-based item embeddings that encode the co-occurrence patterns of not only the item itself, but also the interaction type. The learned embeddings give us a convenient way of approximating the likelihood that one item-interaction pair would co-occur with another by way of a simple inner product. Because of its computational efficiency, our model lends itself naturally as a candidate set selection method, and we evaluate it as such in an industry-scale recommendation system that serves live traffic on Etsy.com. Our experiments reveal that taking interaction type into account shows promising results in improving the accuracy of modeling user shopping behavior.
A Multivariate Linear Regression on the Effect of Foreign Trade on Foreign Exchange Rates of Naira Using Bootstrap Approach

This paper fits a multivariate linear Regression model for the relationship between four response variables; foreign trades (cost of oil imported, cost of non-oil imported, cost of oil exported and cost of non-oil exported) and two predictor variables; foreign exchange rate of US Dollar and Pounds Sterling between 1960--2010. The null hypothesis that no linear relationship exists between foreign trades and foreign exchange rate were proposed. The model indicates an adequate relationship between the foreign trade and exchange rate. We observed from model 1 to model 4 of the multivariate linear regression that the multivariate bootstrap method when compared with the analytic method yielded a reduced standard error. This shows that multivariate bootstrap is good methods in controlling variation among observations. We further observed that the exchange rate of US Dollar and Pounds Sterling contributed 68% effect on the Nigerian foreign trades while 32% may be attributed to other unexplained factors. This indicates that multivariate bootstrap method offer considerable potentials in the estimation of multivariate linear regression parameters. Thus, the results reveal that bootstrap resampling allows empirical assessment of the analytical model and it is a good approximation to the analytical model.
What Makes Reform Work?–School-Based Conditions as Predictors of Teachers’ Changing Practice after a National Curriculum Reform

Educational change initiatives, whether they involve the implementation of new policies or curriculum reforms, often fail to reach the level of teachers’ classroom practices. In the search for explanations, numerous studies have either characterized teachers as resistant to change or focused on how schools’ workplace conditions have failed to influence teacher change. This study draws attention to these issues by investigating teachers’ perceptions of the degree to which a national curriculum reform has brought about changes in their teaching. The study also proposes a model of how teachers’ perceptions of school-based conditions (i.e., school leadership, teacher collaboration, and development of school-based curricula) are related to teachers’ general orientations towards change and teachers’ perceptions of change as a result of the reform. The participants were 738 Norwegian teachers in public primary and lower secondary schools, and the data were analyzed using descriptive data, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that the overall influence of the reform on teachers’ teaching was moderate. The results also revealed positive relationships between teachers’ perceptions of school-based conditions, teachers’ general orientations towards change and the degree of perceived reform changes in teachers’ teaching. However, a surprising finding is that school leadership and teacher collaboration were only indirectly related to teachers’ perceptions of reform changes, mediated through teachers’ general orientations towards change. The article highlights important relationships between educational reform, school-based conditions and teachers. It also contributes knowledge that is relevant to consider for successful reform of schools and education.
Polar and axial vectors versus quaternions

Vectors and quaternions are quite different mathematical quantities because they have different symmetry properties. Gibbs and Heaviside created their vector system starting from the quaternion system invented by Hamilton. They identified a pure quaternion as a vector and introduced some changes in the product of two vectors defined by Hamilton without realizing that the scalar product and vector product cannot be interpreted as the scalar part and vector part of the quaternion product. Toward the end of the 19th century some authors realized that there was an incompatibility between the vector and quaternion formalisms, but the central problem was not altogether clear. This paper will show that the main difficulty arose from Hamilton’s contradictory use of i, j, and k both as versors and as vectors.
The causes of the long stagnation in Japan

The paper investigates whether the Japanese bank lending causes the long stagnation in the 1990s and if so whether this effect on the growth is more persistent than in the 1980s. Applying a VAR model for the annual prefecture panel data, the former can be verified by Granger causality test and the latter by impulse response function. There exists only one way causality from the loan to the GDP in the slump periods, while two way causalities exist in the 1980s. The shock in the loan equation is less persistent than the shock in GDP in the 1980s, but the persistence is reversed in the 1990s.
INCLUSION OF FIELD PEA HAY (Pisum sativum L.) AND IN VITRO GAS PRODUCTION IN DIETS FOR GROWING LAMBS

The use of byproducts such as field pea ( Pisum sativum ) is an alternative to feed sheep, the objective of this study was to evaluate the intake and digestibility in sheep fed different levels of field pea hay (FPH). Twenty Rambouillet lambs (with an initial BW of 26.0 Â± 0.43 kg) were fed to one of four treatments of 5 animals of each (0%, 25%, 50% and 75% inclusion of PH as dry matter basis). The content of CP for the FPH was 8%. There were no significant differences (P>0.1) between treatments for DM intake (947.6 Â± 32.3 g/d), OM (856.7 Â± 24.8) and NDF (583.5 Â± 30.6), as well as digestibility (g/100g) of DM (50.3 Â± 1.0), OM (49.4 Â± 2.38) and NDF (57.0 Â± 2.23). N intake was lower (P 0.1) for N excretion in feces, urine and N balance between treatments. In vitro gas production in the fraction A (ml gas / g DM incubated) was lower in FPH compared to corn stover (CS) and corn grain (CG). Fraction b was higher (P 0.1) between CS and CG for fraction c. Gas production (ml gas / g DM disappeared) was lower in FPH compared to CS and CG. In vitro DM disappearance was lower for FPH with respect to CG, however there were no differences (P>0.1) between CS and FPH. FPH can be used in diets for sheep up to 75% of inclusion, without affecting intake and digestibility. The gas production technique allows the prediction of in vitro fermentation and rumen degradation, showing a lower fermentation with 25% inclusion of FPH. Â
Alternative Strategies for Salmonella Control in Poultry

Salmonella enterica serovars continue to be among the most important foodborne pathogens worldwide due to the considerable human rates of illness reported and the wide range of hosts that are colonized by members of this genus, which serve as vectors and reservoirs for spreading these agents to animal and human populations. Furthermore, public concern for the appearance of resistant strains to many antibiotics, particularly among zoonotic pathogens such as common Salmonella isolates, is also challenging the poultry industry to find alternative means of control (Boyle, Bishop, Grassl, & Finlay, 2007). For example, in January 2006 Europe implemented a complete ban on growth promoting antibiotics in animal feed (Anadon, Martinez-Larranaga, & Aranzazu Martinez, 2006). Thus, while attempting to control human foodborne pathogens poultry producers are simultaneously challenged to improve production in the face of increasing feed costs while using fewer antibiotics due to increased restriction of antimicrobial usage. These regulations were implemented because of export market restrictions and consumer or customer preferences in local markets. For these reasons continued research on sustainable alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters for animal production such as probiotics or direct fed microbials (DFM) consisting of live or dead organisms and spores (Patterson & Burkholder, 2003), non-traditional chemicals (Ko, Mendoncam, Ismail, & Ahn, 2009), bacteriophages (Andreatti Filho et al., 2007; Bielke, Higgins, Donoghue, Donoghue, & Hargis, 2007; J. P. Higgins et al., 2005; J. P. Higgins, Andreatti Filho et al., 2008), organic acids and other plant extracts and essential oils (Aengwanich & Suttajit, 2010; Allen-Hall, Arnason, Cano, & Lafrenie, 2010; Bagchi et al., 2000; Kubena, Byrd, Young, & Corrier, 2001; Over, Hettiarachchy, Johnson, & Davis, 2009; Van Immerseel et al., 2006), and vaccines (Kremer et al., 2011; O’Meara et al., 2010; Wolfenden et al., 2010; Van Immerseel et al., 2005; Dueger et al., 2001, 2003) are increasingly more important. These potential solutions have emerged in the last decade as tools that could be potentially useful in the near future for pathogen control and poultry performance improvement. Probiosis, although not a new concept, has only recently begun to receive an increasing level of scientific interest. In agriculture, probiotics and DFMs used in animal feed are becoming accepted as potential alternatives to antibiotics for use as growth promoters, and in select cases, for control of specific enteric pathogens (Anadon, Rosa Martinez-Larranaga, & Aranzazu Martinez, 2006; Boyle et al., 2007; Cartman, La Ragione, & Woodward, 2008; Vila et al., 2009; L. D. Williams, Burdock, Jimenez, & Castillo, 2009). For these reasons the
Perceptions and attitudes of geography teachers to biotechnology: A study focusing on genetically modified (GM) foods

This study reports the perceptions and attitudes of geography teachers towards biotechnology and genetically-modified (GM) foods in Turkey. A survey was conducted with secondary school geography teachers attending teacher workshops in various parts of the country in 2008 and was responded to by 78 teachers from 31 different provinces. The study not only revealed important results about the perceptions of geography teachers towards biotechnology and GM foods but also provided an understanding of the current perceptions of the public towards these two fields in the country. The study revealed that teachers did not have enough information about biotechnology and GM foods. This lack of knowledge played an important role in determining teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards these two fields. The majority of teachers supported the use of biotechnology for disease treatment and medicine production. However, their support declined very sharply with regard to cloning human cells, producing GM foods, and cloning animals. General attitudes of teachers to GM foods were mainly negative. The majority of teachers thought that GM foods were risky for human health and the environment. This negative attitude of teachers towards GM foods is likely to continue until the public becomes better informed about biotechnological applications and the positive outcomes of producing GM foods.
Three-Dimensional Subdivision Parameterisation for Aerodynamic Shape Optimisation

A novel hierarchical wing parameterisation method based on subdivision surfaces is presented and its performance tested on a range of geometric and aerodynamic optimisation test cases. Subdivision surfaces form a limit surface based on the recursive reﬁnement of an initial network of points. This intrinsically creates a hierarchy of control points that can be used to deform the surface at varying degrees of ﬁdelity. This principle is used to create a multi-resolutional surface parameterisation that can make ﬁne and gross surface changes without losing underlying surface detail. This is then extended to allow multi-resolutional control of arbitrary meshes such as computational surface grids. This parameterisation method is then applied to a range of optimisation problems in a ‘multi-level’ procedure that starts with a low ﬁdelity parametrisation and which is then increased sequentially. These cases are compared against a range of ‘single-level’ schemes that use each level in isolation. It was found that by using the multi-level method signiﬁcant improvements to both convergence rates and robustness were achieved. In some cases this increased robustness lead to improved ﬁnal results by successfully exploiting high dimensional design spaces that could not be explored using a ﬁxed number of design variables.
FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD - PROBABLE BUT DIFFICULT TO CONFIRM IN FEMALE ICE HOCKEY PLAYERS

Female hockey players have high energy expenditure and may enter a negative energy balance (EB) without noticeable body composition changes. Menstrual cycle (MC) and luteal phase (LP) length, EB, and bone mineral density (BMD) were tracked over nine months (mean, SD, ±) in 12 ice hockey players (HP; age 21.1 ± 3.4 yrs; height (HT) 165.9 ± 4.6 cm; weight (WT) 64.7± 8.1 kg, body fat percent (BF%) 22.8 ± 3.8%) and 12 non-athlete controls (C; age 21.4 ± 2.8 yrs., HT 169.5 ± 5.5 cm; WT 65.4 ± 5.4 kg; BF% 20.0 ± 3.1%). HP MC (35.8 ± 11.2 days) was longer than C (29.8 ± 4.3 days) and HP LP (10.1 ± 2.1 days) was also longer than C (9.6 ± 2.8 days). Anovulation occurred in 50.0 % of HP versus 39.2 % of C. No group BMD differences were observed in lumbar spine (p = 0.9), hip (p = 0.5), and radial (p = 0.7) sites. A negative EB was identified (HP = -1026.52 ± 450.1; C = -780.00 ± 310.19 kcal / day), yet no significant within-group differences in WT (HP p = 0.7; C p = 0.8), BF % (HP p = 0.97; C p = 0.6), or fat free mass (HP p = 0.6; C p = 0.98) were found over the study duration. Rigorous hockey schedule likely contributed to 28 % completion of the Basal Body Temperature and MC recordings in HP compared to 70 % in C. Both groups entered a state of negative EB, but did not exhibit a BF % change associated with the Female Athlete Triad.
Percutaneous coronary intervention in cancer patients: a report of the prevalence and outcomes in the United States.

AIMS This study aims to examine the temporal trends and outcomes in patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a previous or current diagnosis of cancer, according to cancer type and the presence of metastases. METHODS AND RESULTS Individuals undergoing PCI between 2004 and 2014 in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample were included in the study. Multivariable analyses were used to determine the association between cancer diagnosis and in-hospital mortality and complications. 6 571 034 PCI procedures were included and current and previous cancer rates were 1.8% and 5.8%, respectively. Both rates increased over time and the four most common cancers were prostate, breast, colon, and lung cancer. Patients with a current lung cancer had greater in-hospital mortality (odds ratio (OR) 2.81, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.37-3.34) and any in-hospital complication (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.36), while current colon cancer was associated with any complication (OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.90-2.48) and bleeding (OR 3.65, 95% CI 3.07-4.35) but not mortality (OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.99-1.95). A current diagnosis of breast was not significantly associated with either in-hospital mortality or any of the complications studied and prostate cancer was only associated with increased risk of bleeding (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.20-1.65). A historical diagnosis of lung cancer was independently associated with an increased OR of in-hospital mortality (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.32-2.05). CONCLUSIONS Cancer among patients receiving PCI is common and the prognostic impact of cancer is specific both for the type of cancer, presence of metastases and whether the diagnosis is historical or current. Treatment of patients with a cancer diagnosis should be individualized and involve a close collaboration between cardiologists and oncologists.
DATA-DRIVEN SYNTHESIS OF REALISTIC HUMAN MOTION USING MOTION GRAPHS

DATA-DRIVEN SYNTHESIS OF REALISTIC HUMAN MOTION USING MOTION GRAPHS Huseyin Dirican M.S. in Computer Engineering Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Tolga Capin July, 2014 Realistic human motions is an essential part of diverse range of media, such as feature films, video games and virtual environments. Motion capture provides realistic human motion data using sensor technology. However, motion capture data is not flexible. This drawback limits the utility of motion capture in practice. In this thesis, we propose a two-stage approach that makes the motion captured data reusable to synthesize new motions in real-time via motion graphs. Starting from a dataset of various motions, we construct a motion graph of similar motion segments and calculate the parameters, such as blending parameters, needed in the second stage. In the second stage, we synthesize a new human motion in realtime, depending on the blending techniques selected. Three different blending techniques, namely linear blending, cubic blending and anticipation-based blending, are provided to the user. In addition, motion clip preference approach, which is applied to the motion search algorithm, enable users to control the motion clip types in the result motion.
Liberation theology and liberatory pedagogies: Renewing the dialogue

In a recent Chronicle of Higher Education column, Stanley Fish describes a phone call he received after the death of Jacques Derrida from a reporter who was curious as to what would succeed high theory as the "center of energy in the academy. " "I answered like a shot," Fish writes, "religion" (1). For many, Fish's prophecy might create a feeling of uneasiness; after all, in academic culture, religious ideologies are often considered hindrances to? not ve hicles for? critical thought. This feeling may be especially true in regard to Chris tianity, which is often conflated with conservative politics and fundamentalism both in and outside of the academy. But those of us who espouse critical pedagogy and embrace Paulo Freire's visions of praxis and conscientization work out of a tradition, often unknowingly, with deep ties to religious faith. While many are familiar with Freire's roots in Marxism, the fact that his vision relies as much upon Catholicism and liberation theology is often overlooked in critical pedagogy discourse (Daniell; Bizzell; Goodburn). Liberation theology calls Chris tians from all social classes to enact the vision of the gospels in order to end oppres sive class structures (Perkins 590). While this goal is certainly not inconsistent with those of leftist academics, the source? the Christian gospels? may mark it as sus pect. Consequently, Priscilla Perkins argues, many U.S. leftist academics see "Freire's own critical Catholicism [. ] in vestigial terms, at best the political equivalent of tonsils, at worst a birthmark that disfigured and obscured his theories" (590). But there are good reasons for remembering the tradition of liberation theol ogy in Freire's work and for renewing the ties between liberation theology and
New application of principal component regression in estimation of electrical energy consumption in an abnormal automatic meter reading system

This paper proposes a new application of principal component regression (PCR) for estimating electrical energy consumption in case of abnormal automatic meter reading (AMR) systems. These events occur in a delivery metering system such as problems from mistakenly setting and connecting meters in electrical systems, broken metering accessories, etc. The estimation is performed by using MATLAB. The unclean sampled input data is used to estimate the target output data. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is used as estimation performance. In this proposed estimation, load profiles obtained from the AMR are used as input data for training to create estimation model and for testing to validate model. Estimated results are verified by comparison between the proposed PCR application and other applications such as simple linear regression (SLR), multiple linear regression (MLR). The proposed PCR gives the best error results of MAPE for the lost electrical energy estimation.
Comparative analysis of outreach work with street children in Latvia, Czech Republic and India

Based on available statistics, the number of street children is increasing not only in Europe but also around the world. Street children in the world now number 700 million children who are living below the poverty line, which is attributable to income. In the U.S. street children numbers range from a million to two million – 82% of these children are involved in the drug trade. Number of street children in Latin America is steadily increasing too per year, and approximately 12,500 street children are working [16]. India purportedly has one of the highest concentrations of street children in the world, with UNICEF estimating their numbers to be as high as 11 million [9]. To find out the true numbers and to investigate what was involved in street children's lives, outreach work experiences in Latvia, Czech Republic and India collected statistical data, summarized studies and conducted qualitative research. The qualitative research was conducted in Latvia, India and Czech Republic. In Czech Republic 5 outreach social workers in Hradec Kralove city were interviewed and in Riga 2 social workers who work in different Day Centres were interviewed and asked for their opinion. In India qualitative information about outreach work with street children was conducted together with identified outreach work programs.