Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Algorithms for Sellsh Agents Mechanism Design for Distributed Computation

This paper considers algorithmic problems in a distributed setting where the participants cannot be assumed to follow the algorithm but rather their own self-interest. Such scenarios arise, in particular, when computers or users aim to cooperate or trade over the Internet. As such participants, termed agents, are capable of manipulating the algorithm, the algorithm designer should ensure in advance that the agents' interests are best served by behaving correctly. This exposition presents a model to formally study such algorithms. This model, based on the eld of mechanism design, is taken from the author's joint work with Amir Ronen, and is similar to approaches taken in the distributed AI community in recent years. Using this model, we demonstrate how some of the techniques of mechanism design can be applied towards distributed computation problems. We then exhibit some issues that arise in distributed computation which require going beyond the existing theory of mechanism design.
Adjusted variance components for unbalanced clustered binary data models

Abdoslam, Intesar N. Adjusted Variance Components for Unbalanced Clustered Binary Data Models. Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2013. In practice, it is very common to have clustered binary responses, where binary data are naturally grouped by sampling technique or some property of the sampling units. Often these clusters are unbalanced. The preferred class of models for clustered binary data is the Hierarchical Generalized Linear Model (HGLM), where random effects are used to account for the overdispersion known to exist for clustered binary data. There are many methods to estimate the parameters in Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models, but none of the current methods allowed the overdispersion to vary from cluster to cluster. As clustered binary data led to overdispersion, it was reasonable to conclude that unbalanced clustered binary data may have been different overdispersion for different cluster sizes. By ignoring possible changes in overdispersion across clusters, test statistics tended to show inflated Type I error rates. In this research, two HGLM methods were adjusted to account for different overdispersion across different cluster sizes. The first new method was the Extended Restricted Pseudo Likelihood (EREPL), an adjustment of Restricted Pseudo Likelihood. Extended Restricted Pseudo Likelihood allowed for different dispersion adjustments for each cluster. The new second method was Adjusted Scale Binomial Beta (ASBB), an extension of the classical Binomial Beta model.
Innovation and productivity in services and manufacturing: the role of ICT

Several studies have highlighted information and communications technologies (ICTs) as a driver for firms’ innovation and productivity in developed countries. However, the evidence about the impacts of ICTs vis-a-vis other innovation activities on technological and nontechnological innovation and productivity for developing countries is extremely scarce. This scarcity of research is particularly acute for the services sector, especially when it comes to assessing how it fares in comparison with the manufacturing sector. Our research contributes to closing this knowledge gap by estimating a Crepon, Duguet and Mairesse (CDM)-type three-stage model for Uruguayan data. The results show that ICTs play a bigger role for innovation and productivity in services than in manufacturing. At the same time, nontechnological innovations provide a more important contribution to firm productivity in the services sector than in the manufacturing sector.
First-Round Impacts of the 2008 Chilean Pension System Reform

Abstract Chile’s innovative privatized pension system has been lauded as possible model for Social Security system overhauls in other countries, yet it has also been critiqued for not including a strong safety net for the uncovered sector. In response, the Bachelet government in 2008 implemented reforms to rectify this shortcoming. Here we offer the first systematic effort to directly evaluate the reform’s impacts, focusing on the new Basic Solidarity Pension for poor households with at least one person age 65+. Using the Social Protection Survey, we show that targeted poor households received about 2.4 percent more household annual income, with little evidence of crowding-out of private transfers. We also suggest that recipient household welfare probably increased due to slightly higher expenditures on basic consumption including healthcare, more leisure hours, and improved self-reported health. While measured short-run effects are small, follow-ups will be essential to gauge longer-run outcomes. Author Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge support provided by the Social Security Administration via a grant from the Michigan Retirement Research Center, the Pension Research Council and Boettner Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Aging (NIA) grant AG023774-01(P.I. Petra Todd) on “Lifecycle health, work, aging, insurance and pensions in Chile. ” Opinions and errors are solely those of the authors and not of the institutions providing funding for this study or with which the authors are affiliated. © 2011 Behrman, Calderon, Mitchell, Vasquez and Bravo.
Prognosis Prediction by Microarray Gene Expression Using Support Vector Machine

Diuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is most common disease in non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. The research related to the prognostic prediction of patients is almost untouched despite of recent progress in clinical study of cancer. In recent years, the categorization of cancer was attempted based on expression prole of genes obtained by DNA microarray [3]. In this report, by using published microarray data [6], we have predicted survival of DLBCL patients with support vector machine (SVM) [5], which is one of the outstanding supervised machine learning method against classication problem. Furthermore, imputing missing value and gene selection, the models based on SVM were constructed. This model can achieve high accuracy for prognosis of patients.
Building and Using Digital Libraries for ETDs

Despite the high value of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), the global collection has seen limited use. To extend such use, a new approach to building digital libraries (DLs) is needed. Fortunately, recent decades have seen that a vast amount of “gray literature” has become available through a diverse set of institutional repositories as well as regional and national libraries and archives. Most of the works in those collections include ETDs and are often freely available in keeping with the open-access movement, but such access is limited by the services of supporting information systems. As explained through a set of scenarios, ETDs can better meet the needs of diverse stakeholders if customer discovery methods are used to identify personas and user roles as well as their goals and tasks. Hence, DLs, with a rich collection of services, as well as newer, more advanced ones, can be organized so that those services, and expanded workflows building on them, can be adapted to meet personalized goals as well as traditional ones, such as discovery and exploration.
Queensland Coastal Wetland Resources: Cape Tribulation to Bowling Green Bay

This report provides key resource data for the ongoing assessment of the requirement for additional Marine Protected Areas (e.g. FHAs under the Queensland Fisheries Act 1994) in regions of high fish habitat value in northern Queensland from Cape Tribulation to Bowling Green Bay (hereafter referred to as the Study Area). The study also provides baseline information on the coastal wetlands within this Study Area for consideration in the Ramsar site nomination process. The Study Area extends from Cape Tribulation (16o 6’S, 145o 24’E) to Bowling Green Bay (19o 30’S, 147o 24’E) in tropical north Queensland. The project aimed to: 1. document and map the coastal wetland communities of the Study Area; 2. document levels of existing disturbance to and protection of the wetlands; 3. examine existing recreational, indigenous and commercial fisheries resources in the region; 4. evaluate the conservation values of the areas investigated from the viewpoint of fisheries productivity and as habitat for important and/or threatened species for future FHA/MPA declaration. Dataset URL Link: Queensland Coastal Wetlands Resources Mapping data. [Dataset]
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Proper Motions in Herbig-Haro Objects 1 and 2

Hubble Space Telescope observations obtained in 1994 and 1997 are used to measure proper motions in the HH 1/2 protostellar outflow in Orion. Since the HH 1/2 system lies within 10° of the plane of the sky, proper motions provide accurate measures of true space velocities. Comparison of the 1994 and 1997 images reveals a variety of changes such as the emergence of new knots from the driving source embedded in the HH 1/2 cloud core and the fading or brightening of some features. However, such brightness changes affect a small fraction (<10%) of the total emission. Proper motion measurements reveal complex velocity variations along the flow axis and pronounced velocity shear orthogonal to it. Along the extension of the HH 1 jet axis, speeds vary from under 100 km s-1 near the tip of HH 2, range from 255 to 345 km s-1 in the HH 1 jet itself, and reach peak values of more than 400 km s-1 near the leading edge of HH 1 and in parts of the brightest knot complexes in the center of HH 2. While the velocity dispersion within the low-excitation HH 1 jet is less than 30 km s-1, high-excitation features in HH 1 and HH 2 exhibit local velocity variations in excess of 150 km s-1. Both the internal velocity dispersion and the angular width of the emitting fluid as seen from the source, VLA 1, increase with distance. HH 1 and HH 2 contain complex substructures having chaotic internal motions, proper motions that decline rapidly orthogonal to the jet axis, and both downstream- and upstream-facing (reverse) bow shocks. Downstream-facing bow features tend to have high velocities, while reverse-facing bow shocks have low speeds. The complex texture and flow field indicate that both the fast and slow fluid elements now colliding in shocks were clumped and had chaotic velocity fields prior to entering the currently active shocks. Both fluids may have been processed by prior generations of shocks and by instabilities. Indeed, transverse motions in HH 1 and HH 2 indicate that expansion started well after the material was ejected from VLA 1, possibly as a result of having been processed through now extinct shocks. A second outflow from the HH 1/2 cloud core, HH 501, which consists of two knots located about 1″ west of the base of the HH 1 jet, also has proper motions directly away from VLA 1, but with a speed of only about 180 km s-1. The lack of interactions between the nearby high-speed HH 1 and slower HH 501 jets may indicate that the density of the medium surrounding each jet is at least an order of magnitude below that of the visible knots. Thus, the visible jet components probably transport the bulk of the energy and momentum in these outflows. Finally, the Cohen-Schwartz star is found to be a 0. ″2 separation binary.
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Obscuration Rings in Hercules A: Implications for Energy Transport in Powerful Radio Galaxies

We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain snapshot images of Hercules A, the host galaxy to the powerful radio source 3C 348, through a broadband red filter. We report the discovery of interlocking, kiloparsec-scale rings of obscuration aligned near the radio axis and slightly offset from the galaxy's nucleus. We discuss possible models for these rings and their implications for models of energy transport in extragalactic radio jets.
High-Dose Allopurinol Improves Endothelial Function by Profoundly Reducing Vascular Oxidative Stress and Not by Lowering Uric Acid

Background— Allopurinol has been shown to improve endothelial function in chronic heart failure. This study aimed to establish its mechanism of action and to construct a dose–response curve for the effect of allopurinol. Methods and Results— Two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover studies were performed for 1 month on patients with New York Heart Association Class II–III chronic heart failure, comparing 300 mg allopurinol, 600 mg allopurinol, and placebo for the first study and 1000 mg probenecid versus placebo in the second study. Endothelial function was assessed by standard forearm venous occlusion plethysmography. Allopurinol 600 mg/d significantly increased forearm blood flow response to acetylcholine compared with both allopurinol 300 mg/d and placebo (% change in forearm blood flow [mean±SEM]: 240.31±38.19% versus 152.10±18.21% versus 73.96±10.29%, P<0.001). For similar levels of urate lowering, the uricosuric agent probenecid had no effect on endothelial function. Sodium nitroprusside response was unchanged by all treatments. Vitamin C and acetylcholine coinfusion data showed that 600 mg/d allopurinol completely abolished the oxidative stress that was sensitive to high-dose vitamin C. Conclusions— For the first time, we have shown that a steep dose–response relationship exists between allopurinol and its effect on endothelial function. We also showed that the mechanism of improvement in endothelial function with allopurinol lies in its ability to reduce vascular oxidative stress and not in urate reduction. The reduction in vascular oxidative stress was profound because high-dose allopurinol totally abolished the oxidative stress that was sensitive to the high-dose vitamin C that was used in this study.
The Hot Summer of 2010: Redrawing the Temperature Record Map of Europe

Large parts of eastern Europe experienced exceptional warmth during the summer of 2010. The summer of 2010 was exceptionally warm in eastern Europe and large parts of Russia. We provide evidence that the anomalous 2010 warmth that caused adverse impacts exceeded the amplitude and spatial extent of the previous hottest summer of 2003. “Mega-heatwaves” such as the 2003 and 2010 events likely broke the 500-year-long seasonal temperature records over approximately 50% of Europe. According to regional multi-model experiments, the probability of a summer experiencing mega-heatwaves will increase by a factor of 5 to 10 within the next 40 years. However, the magnitude of the 2010 event was so extreme that despite this increase, the likelihood of an analog over the same region remains fairly low until the second half of the 21st century.
Situated Robotics

Robotics, like any concept that has grown and evolved over time, has eluded a single, unifying definition. What once used to be thought of as a replacement for repetitive, manual labor, has grown into a large field that includes applications as diverse as automated car assembly, space exploration and robtic soccer. Although robotics includes teleoperation, in which the robot itself may be merely a remotelyoperated body, in most interesting cases the system exists in the physical world, typically in ways involving movement. Situated robotics, focuses specifically on robots that are embedded in complex, challenging, often dynamically changing environments. Situatedness refers to existing in, and having one's behavior strongly affected by such an environment. Examples of situated robots include autonomous robotic cars on the highway or on city streets (Pomerleau 1989), teams of interacting mobile robots (Mataric' 1995), a mobile robot in a museum full of people (Burgard et al, 2000). Examples of unsituated robots, which exist in fixed, unchanging environments, include assembly robots operating in highly structured, strongly predictable environments. The predictability and stability of the environment largely determines the complexity of the robot that must exist in it; situated robots present a significant challenge for the designer. Embodiment is a concept related to situatedness. It refers to having a physical body interacting with the environment through that body. Thus, embodiment is a form of situatedness: an agent operating within a body is situated within it, since the agents actions are directly and strongly affected by it. Robots are embodied: they must possess a physical body in order to sense their environment, and act and move in it. Thus, in principle every robot is situated. But if the robots body must exist in a complex, changing environment, the situatedness, and thus the control problem, are correspondingly complex.
Effects of Ant (Formica subsericea) Nests on Physical and Hydrological Properties of a Fine‐Textured Soil

Ants are known to preferentially line subsurface nest components with coarser or finer material and may expand or backfill areas as colony size expands and contracts. These modifications may contribute to significant redistribution of soil material, leading to changes in soil physical and hydrological properties. A total of 102 small-volume (∼1 cm³) soil samples were taken from the surface mound, near individual subsurface nest components, and in soils within 1 m of two Formica subsericea colonies to determine how ants affect soil bulk density, organic C content, and particle-size distributions. Overall, the surface mound had higher soil organic C and silt contents than the rest of the nest, soil near galleries in the upper horizons had higher bulk density, and soil near chambers in the lower horizons had higher C values. Ant-modified soil properties extended beyond the extent of the surface mound and could be seen up to 1 m away. Cracks exacerbated by the vertic properties of the surrounding soil provided higher surface area for C mineralization and spaces for ants to travel through, which could explain the lower bulk density outside the nest if ants modify interpedal pore spaces during dry periods. Modeling results from the soils in this study showed that soils with ant-modified properties were associated with more rapid increases and decreases in moisture content than the control soil (i.e., unmodified by ants). Physical and chemical alterations of ant-modified soil diminish with increasing depth, as nest structures decrease in density.
ACOG COMMITTEE OPINION

Global surgical care programs present obstetrician–gynecologists with important opportunities to address disparities in women’s health and health care worldwide. However, these programs also present a unique set of practical and ethical challenges. Obstetrician–gynecologists are encouraged to participate in surgical care efforts abroad while taking the necessary steps to ensure that their patients can make informed decisions and receive benefit from and are not harmed by their surgical care. In this document, the Committee on Ethics highlights some of the ethical issues that may arise when providing surgical care in low-resource settings to help guide obstetrician–gynecologists in providing the best care possible. This document has been updated to broaden its focus beyond the example of obstetric fistulae, to address issues pertinent to medical trainees, and to include new information to guide physicians’ return home from participation in global surgical care programs. Although clinical research has an important role in the surgical care of patients in global settings, a complete discussion of the conduct of ethical research in global settings is beyond the scope of this document.
Identification of Lactobacillus pobuzihii from tungtap : A traditionally fermented fish food , and analysis of its bacteriocinogenic potential

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were selectively isolated from tungtap, a traditionally fermented fish food product. Five such bacteria with bacteriocinogenic potential were characterized by polyphasic taxonomic approach. The phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed their relatedness to Lactobacillus pobuzihii (≥99.4% similarity), while biochemical and physiological characteristics revealed significant differences among the isolates. Bacteriocinogenic activity assay against selected bacterial strains: Salmonella typhi MTCC 733, Bacillus cereus MTCC 430, Klebsiella pneumoniae MTCC 109, Escherichia coli MTCC 118 and Bacillus licheniformis MTCC 429 were performed with crude extracts using ethyl acetate as solvent, as well as by solvent and cell free supernatants. The growth inhibition zones were measured after incubation and compared with antibiotics like ampicillin, gentamicin, vancomycin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline. The culture extract of L. pobuzihii showed significant bacteriocinogenic activity against the tested strains.
The rise of urban fox population in Switzerland

Since 1985 increasingly more foxes have been recorded from cities in Switzerland. The inquiry of town officials showed that foxes are observed in 28 out of the 30 largest Swiss cities today and breeding dens are known in 20 of these cities. Urban foxes are observed more often than one would expect in larger cities than in smaller towns. In Ziirich, the largest city in Switzerland, urban foxes were very scarce until the early 1980s. According to the hunting statistics, from 1985 onwards, there was a drastic increase in the urban fox population. I n the adjacent rural areas, there was also a clear but less extreme increase in the fox population from 1984 onwards due to successful vaccination campaigns against rabies. As an explanation for the presence of foxes in human settlements we suggest two alternative hypotheses, which focus either on the population pressure in the rural areas or on the behavioural adaptations of urban foxes. The presence of foxes in urban areas influences behaviour and attitudes of people towards urban wildlife and it has a consequences for the management of foxes and the treatment of zoonoses such as rabies and the alveolar echinococcosis.
Regional Integration Experience in the Eastern African Region

It is relatively easy to assess the progress, achievements, and possible future direction of an existing regional integration pact. However, evaluating the prospects for a successful revival of the East African Community (EAC), a regional integration scheme that collapsed in 1977, is arguably a more difficult task. This paper examines recent attempts to revive the EAC, especially as it concerns the harmonisation of macroeconomic policies, infrastructure services, and movement of people, goods and services. Despite the hopes of the different partner countries, it appears there are no easy solutions to the problems posed by regionalism in Eastern Africa, especially when one considers that the problems that led to the EAC’s collapse during the 1970s still exist today. Moreover, partners now have many options for multiple memberships: many East African nations are already members of COMESA, and SADC includes one East African member. The paper argues that the presence of these new . S’il est relativement aise d’evaluer les progres, les realisations et la possible evolution d’un accord d’integration regionale existant, il est beaucoup plus difficile d’estimer les perspectives de rebond de la Communaute de l’Afrique de l’Est (East African Community — EAC), qui s’est effondree en 1977. Ce Document fait le point sur les recentes tentatives de relance de l’EAC, en particulier en ce qui concerne l’harmonisation des politiques macro-economiques, des services d’infrastructure et des mouvements de populations, de biens et de services. En depit des espoirs des pays partenaires, il semble qu’il n’y ait pas de solution evidente aux problemes poses par le regionalisme en Afrique de l’Est, surtout si l’on considere que les raisons de l’effondrement de l’EAC dans les annees 70 sont toujours. En outre, les partenaires disposent desormais d’une grande variete d’options d’appartenance : de nombreuses nations sont deja membres du COMESA et un pays de la zone a rejoint la SADC .