Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transgenerational Entrepreneurship of the Family Businesses: Is it in the Blood or Not?

Objective: This paper aims to understand the transgenerational entrepreneurship process in family businesses. Method: This study was based on a qualitative research using three focus groups. Originality/Relevance: Aspects related to the intergenerational entrepreneurship in the context of family businesses have drawn the attention of researchers who focus both on family businesses and entrepreneurship. Therefore, it is relevant to analyze how entrepreneurship occurs across generations in order to overcome the simplification of research on entrepreneurship in the context of family business. Results: This study allowed understanding the similarities and differences of transgenerational entrepreneurship in family businesses regarding five topics: relevance of the founder, challenges, governance, and influence of the heirs who are not involved in managing the family businesses. Theoretical/methodological contributions: The study presents propositions with the aim to integrate entrepreneurship in the context of family businesses while highlighting the role of founders, heirs, their challenges and governance practices.
Incidence of Alpha-Globin Gene Defect in the Lebanese Population: A Pilot Study

Background. It is well established that the Mediterranean and Arab populations are at high risk for thalassemias in general and for alpha-thalassemia in particular. Yet, reports on alpha-thalassemia in Lebanon are still lacking. In this study, we aim at assessing the incidence of alpha-thalassemia in the Lebanese population. Methods. 230 newborns' dried blood cards remaining from routine neonatal screening at the American University of Beirut Medical Center were collected for DNA extraction. Samples were screened for the 21 most common α-globin deletions and point mutations reported worldwide, through multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Reverse-Hybridization technique. Results. Upon analyses, the carrier rate of α-thalassemia was found to be 8%. Two mutations detected the −α 3,7 single gene deletion found in 75% of cases and the nongene deletion α2 IVS1 [−5nt] in the remaining samples. Conclusion. This study is the first dedicated to investigate α-thalassemia trait incidence in Lebanon. Data obtained demonstrates a high carrier rate in a relatively, highly consanguineous population; it also highlighted the presence of two common mutations. These results may be of an important impact on premarital and newborn screening policies in our country.
H i 21 cm ABSORPTION AND UNIFIED SCHEMES OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

In a recent study of z ⩾ 0.1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we found that 21 cm absorption has never been detected in objects in which the ultraviolet luminosity exceeds LUV ∼ 1023 W Hz−1. In this paper, we further explore the implications that this has for the currently popular consensus that it is the orientation of the circumnuclear obscuring torus, invoked by unified schemes of AGNs, which determines whether absorption is present along our sight line. The fact that at LUV ≲ 1023 W Hz−1, both type-1 and type-2 objects exhibit a 50% probability of detection, suggests that this is not the case and that the bias against detection of H i absorption in type-1 objects is due purely to the inclusion of the LUV ≳ 1023 W Hz−1 sources. Similarly, the ultraviolet luminosities can also explain why the presence of 21 cm absorption shows a preference for radio galaxies over quasars and the higher detection rate in compact sources, such as compact steep spectrum or gigahertz peaked spectrum sources, may also be biased by the inclusion of high-luminosity sources. Being comprised of all 21 cm searched sources at z ⩾ 0.1, this is a necessarily heterogeneous sample, the constituents of which have been observed by various instruments. By this same token, however, the dependence on the UV luminosity may be an all encompassing effect, superseding the unified schemes model, although there is the possibility that the exclusive 21 cm non-detections at high UV luminosities could be caused by a bias toward gas-poor ellipticals. Additionally, the high UV fluxes could be sufficiently exciting/ionizing the H i above 21 cm detection thresholds, although the extent to which this is related to the neutral gas deficit in ellipticals is currently unclear. Examining the moderate UV luminosity (LUV ≲ 1023 W Hz−1) sample further, from the profile widths and offsets from the systemic velocities, we find no discernible differences between the two AGN types. This may suggest that the bulk of the absorption generally occurs in the galactic disk, which must therefore be randomly orientated with respect to the circumnuclear torus. Furthermore, we see no difference in the reddening between the two AGN types, indicating, like the 21 cm absorption, that the orientation of the torus has little bearing on this. We also find a correlation between 21 cm line strength and the optical–near-infrared color, which suggests that the reddening is caused by dust located in the large-scale, H i absorbing disk which intervenes the sight line to the AGN.
Identifying and Characterizing Dominant Plants as an Indicator of Community Condition

ABSTRACT Dominant species play key roles in shaping community structure, but their behavior is far from uniform. We speculated that recognition of different behaviors (determined objectively) would be an indicator of the condition of plant communities. We developed a species dominance index (SDI) to identify dominant species and compare their behavior across multiple spatial scales. The SDI is based on three attributes (mean cover, mean species suppression, and tendency toward high cover), and it identifies up to 38 dominants within 74 Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Dichotomizing each of the attributes in a 2×2×2 matrix produced seven dominant behaviors, or forms, all of which occurred in Great Lakes wetlands. Species showed different dominant forms among locations and aggregation scales. Showing predominantly “monotype” form, invasive Typha was the taxon that was most often dominant in the samples. By quantitatively measuring dominance and describing dominance form, SDI can add insight into community change and is a useful addition to indicators of community condition.
Detection of two massive CO systems in 4C 41.17 at z = 3.8

We have detected CO(4-3) in the z=3.8 radio galaxy 4C 41.17 with the IRAM Interferometer. The CO is in two massive (M{sub dyn} {approx}> 2.5 x 10{sup 11} M{sub {circle_dot}}) systems separated by 1.8 (13 kpc), and by 400 km s{sup -1} in velocity, which coincide with two different dark lanes in a deep Ly{alpha} image. One CO component coincides with the cm-radio core of the radio galaxy, and its redshift is close to that of the He II {lambda} 1640 AGN line. The second CO component is near the base of a cone-shaped region southwest of the nucleus, which resembles the emission-line cones seen in nearby AGN and starburst galaxies. The characteristics of the CO sources and their mm/submm dust continuum are similar to those found in ultraluminous IR galaxies and in some high-z radio galaxies and quasars. The fact that 4C 41.17 contains two CO systems is further evidence for the role of mergers in the evolution of galaxies at high redshift.
Exploring the Combined Effects of Rater Misfit and Differential Rater Functioning in Performance Assessments

Rater effects, or raters’ tendencies to assign ratings to performances that are different from the ratings that the performances warranted, are well documented in rater-mediated assessments across a variety of disciplines. In many real-data studies of rater effects, researchers have reported that raters exhibit more than one effect, such as a combination of misfit and systematic biases related to student subgroups (i.e., differential rater functioning [DRF]). However, researchers who conduct simulation studies of rater effects usually focus on the effects in isolation. The purpose of this study was to explore the degree to which rater effect indicators are sensitive to rater effects when raters exhibit more than one type of effect, and to explore the degree to which this sensitivity changes under different data collection designs. We used a simulation study to explore combinations of DRF and rater misfit. Overall, our findings suggested that it is possible to use common numeric and graphical indicators of DRF and rater misfit when raters exhibit both these effects, but that these effects may be difficult to distinguish using only numeric indicators. We also observed that combinations of rater effects are easier to identify when complete rating designs are used. We discuss implications of our findings as they result to research and practice.
ADB: an efficient multihop broadcast protocol based on asynchronous duty-cycling in wireless sensor networks

The use of asynchronous duty-cycling in wireless sensor network MAC protocols is common, since it can greatly reduce energy consumption and requires no clock synchronization. However, existing systems using asynchronous duty-cycling do not efficiently support broadcast-based communication that may be used, for example, in route discovery or in network-wide queries or information dissemination. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of ADB (Asynchronous Duty-cycle Broadcasting), a new protocol for efficient multihop broadcast in wireless sensor networks using asynchronous duty-cycling. ADB differs from traditional multihop broadcast protocols that operate above the MAC layer, in that it is integrated with the MAC layer to exploit information only available at this layer. Rather than treating the data transmission from a node to all of its neighbors as the basic unit of progress for the multihop broadcast, ADB dynamically optimizes the broadcast at the level of transmission to each individual neighbor of a node, as the neighbors asynchronously wakeup. We evaluate ADB both through ns-2 simulations and through measurements in a testbed of MICAz motes using TinyOS, and compare its performance to multihop broadcast based on X-MAC and on RI-MAC. In both evaluations, ADB substantially reduced energy consumption, network load, and delivery latency compared to other protocols, while achieving over 99% delivery ratio.
The distribution of peptidase activity in the small intestine of sheep

1. The activity of peptidase enzyme(s) was measured in homogenates of mucosa taken at slaughter from sites along the length of sheep small intestine. 2. The activity of the homogenate towards six dipeptides showed a similar pattern of distribution for each substrate. Activity was lowest in the proximal duodenum, rising through the jejunum to peak in the mid-ileum and declining towards the terminal ileum. The distribution of activity towards two tripeptides was similar. 3. Studies using the inhibitor p-hydroxymercuribenzoate showed that the activity towards the dipeptides was mainly localized in the cytosol fraction, while that towards the tripeptides was evenly distributed between the cytosol and the brush-border and activity towards a tetrapeptide was mainly associated with the brush-border. 4. The results are discussed in relation to the site and mechanism of protein digestion and absorption in the ruminant small intestine.
Social Representation of Social Work in the Canadian Healthcare Setting: Negotiating a Professional Identity

Our article concerns the social representation of social work held by professional social workers in a Canadian healthcare setting. While there have been extensive theoretical debates on the professional identity of social workers, little is known about the representation of social work held by practitioners themselves. To better understand the viewpoints of practitioners, we performed an integrated content analysis of 30 semi-directed interviews focussing on the question of professional identity with clinical social workers practicing in three Canadian cities. The analysis identified four elements organising the social representation of social work: ‘counselling for support’, ‘empowerment and respect’, ‘social justice’ and ‘compassionate vocation’. Each element has implications for the daily practice of the profession, the cultivation of resilience and the core values of social work. This article further discusses the respondents’ perception of outside views of the profession and explores the tensions between the values of social work and its implementation in an institutional setting. This research seeks to open new lines of inquiry about social work based on the experiences and points of view of front-line practitioners. In proposing our representational analysis of the professional identity of social workers, we hope to further the understanding of social work in general.
Atmospheric forcing of the oceanic semidiurnal tide

The principal solar semidiurnal tide (S2) in the ocean is forced by the pressure loading of the atmospheric thermal tide as well as by the gravitational tidal potential. This paper examines the effects of adding the atmospheric S2 forcing to a forward tide model. When the model is forced only by the gravitational potential, the S2 relative elevation error with respect to pelagic tide gauges is anomalously poor. After atmospheric S2 forcing is added, the relative error reduces to levels seen in other tidal constituents. In the global average, the atmospherically forced S2 ocean tide is 14.7 percent as large as the gravitationally forced S2 tide, and differs by about 109.4° in phase, consistent with the relative amplitudes and phases of the atmospheric and gravitational S2 forcings. Because the S2 air tide is periodic, the oceanic S2 tide represents a particularly clean test of the ability of numerical models to successfully replicate the oceanic response to atmospheric pressure loading.
Bayesian Learning and Inference in Recurrent Switching Linear Dynamical Systems

Many natural systems, such as neurons firing in the brain or basketball teams traversing a court, give rise to time series data with complex, nonlinear dynamics. We can gain insight into these systems by decomposing the data into segments that are each explained by simpler dynamic units. Building on switching linear dynamical systems (SLDS), we develop a model class and Bayesian inference algorithms that not only discover these dynamical units but also, by learning how transition probabilities depend on observations or continuous latent states, explain their switching behavior. Our key innovation is to design these recurrent SLDS models to enable recent Pólya-gamma auxiliary variable techniques and thus make approximate Bayesian learning and inference in these models easy, fast, and scalable.
A Hybrid Approach to Design Neural Network Ensemble

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to express our heartiest gratitude and thanks to our advisor, Dr. Md. Monirul Islam, for his time, advice, encouragement and guidance throughout our thesis. We are very fortunate to work with him and have benefited greatly from his advice. We are very much grateful to Dr. Muhammad Masroor Ali, the Head of the department, for assuring a good atmosphere for research in the labs by providing us with internet and other facilities. We are also grateful to the lab attendants of our software engineering lab and computing lab for their heartiest cooperation. ABSTRACT This thesis presents two cooperative ensemble learning algorithms, NegBagg and NegBoost, for designing ANN ensembles. NegBagg and NegBoost train different individual ANNs in an ensemble incrementally by using the NC learning algorithm. Bagging and boosting algorithms are used in NegBagg and NegBoost, respectively, to create different training sets for different individual ANNs in an ensemble. The idea behind using NC learning in conjunction with bagging and boosting algorithms is to make interaction and cooperation among individual ANNs in an ensemble work better. Both NegBagg and NegBoost use a constructive approach to determine the ensemble architecture automatically. They have been tested on a number of benchmark problems in machine learning and ANNs, including Australian credit card assessment, soybean and waveform. The experimental results show that NegBagg and NegBoost can produce ANN ensembles with good generalization ability by using a small number of training epochs.
Recruitment of myeloid cells to the tumor microenvironment supports liver metastasis

Tumor-infiltrating immune cells play important roles in metastasis. We have recently revealed the recruitment of a specific myeloid cell subset (CD11b/Gr1mid) to hepatic metastases. Such a recruitment relies on CCL2/CCR2 signaling and acts to sustain metastatic growth. A similar cell subset was identified in patients bearing hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer, highlighting the potential therapeutic relevance of our findings.
An analysis of backward simulation data-refinement for partial relation semantics

We investigate data-refinement by backward simulation for specifications whose semantics is given by partial relations. The standard model-theoretic approach is based on totalisation and lifting. We examine this model, exploring and isolating the precise roles played by lifting and totalisation in the standard account by introducing a simpler, normative theory of backward simulation data-refinement (SB-refinement) which captures refinement directly in the language and in terms of the natural properties of preconditions and postconditions. This theory is used in conjunction with four other model-theoretic approaches to determine the extent to which the standard approach is canonical, and the extent to which it is arbitrary.
Does the flow of information in a landscape have direction?

There is an emerging viewpoint that the sediment flux at a given point on the landscape may be influenced by landscape properties in a region extending away from the point of interest. Using a general sediment transport model that incorporates this non‐local nature via fractional derivatives, we find a strong asymmetry in the direction in which the non‐locality affects a given point: For erosional landscapes, physically plausible elevation profiles are obtained only when the spatial influence is restricted to the region upstream of the point of interest. By contrast, in depositional landscapes, the non‐local model is guaranteed to produce physically plausible topographic profiles only when the spatial influence is restricted to the region downstream of the point of interest. These results suggest that information flows downstream in an erosional landscape and upstream in depositional landscapes.
A Convolution-Thresholding Approximation of Generalized Curvature Flows

We construct a convolution-thresholding approximation scheme for the geometric surface evolution in the case when the velocity of the surface at each point is a given function of the mean curvature. Conditions for the monotonicity of the scheme are found and the convergence of the approximations to the corresponding viscosity solution is proved. We also discuss some aspects of the numerical implementation of such schemes and present several numerical results.
De Novo Transcriptome Assembly of the Chinese Swamp Buffalo by RNA Sequencing and SSR Marker Discovery

The Chinese swamp buffalo (Bubalis bubalis) is vital to the lives of small farmers and has tremendous economic importance. However, a lack of genomic information has hampered research on augmenting marker assisted breeding programs in this species. Thus, a high-throughput transcriptomic sequencing of B. bubalis was conducted to generate transcriptomic sequence dataset for gene discovery and molecular marker development. Illumina paired-end sequencing generated a total of 54,109,173 raw reads. After trimming, de novo assembly was performed, which yielded 86,017 unigenes, with an average length of 972.41 bp, an N50 of 1,505 bp, and an average GC content of 49.92%. A total of 62,337 unigenes were successfully annotated. Among the annotated unigenes, 27,025 (43.35%) and 23,232 (37.27%) unigenes showed significant similarity to known proteins in NCBI non-redundant protein and Swiss-Prot databases (E-value < 1.0E-5), respectively. Of these annotated unigenes, 14,439 and 15,813 unigenes were assigned to the Gene Ontology (GO) categories and EuKaryotic Ortholog Group (KOG) cluster, respectively. In addition, a total of 14,167 unigenes were assigned to 331 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. Furthermore, 17,401 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified as potential molecular markers. One hundred and fifteen primer pairs were randomly selected for amplification to detect polymorphisms. The results revealed that 110 primer pairs (95.65%) yielded PCR amplicons and 69 primer pairs (60.00%) presented polymorphisms in 35 individual buffaloes. A phylogenetic analysis showed that the five swamp buffalo populations were clustered together, whereas two river buffalo breeds clustered separately. In the present study, the Illumina RNA-seq technology was utilized to perform transcriptome analysis and SSR marker discovery in the swamp buffalo without using a reference genome. Our findings will enrich the current SSR markers resources and help spearhead molecular genetic research studies on the swamp buffalo.
Immediate and Long-Term Results of Coronary Angioplasty in Patients Aged 80 Years and Older

Objectives. To observe the short- and long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in octogenarians (>80 y.o.) at our institution. Method. All octogenarians who underwent PCI during the study period were retrospectively retrieved from our database and clinically followed. Major adverse cardiac (and cerebral) events (MAC(C)E) was considered as primary outcome. Results. From January 2003 to December 2007, 140 octogenarians (mean age: 85±3 y.o., 79% of male) underwent PCI and were clinically followed 14±11 months. Procedural success was obtained in 100 percent of patients with single vessel disease, in 96 percent of patients with double vessel disease, and in 75 percent of patients with triple vessel disease. In-hospital, 30 days, and one year MACE rates were 5%, 5%, and 10.7%, respectively. Impaired left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.909, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.856 to 0.964, P = . 002), diabetes mellitus (HR = 5.792, 95% CI = 1.785 to 18.796, P = .003), and low GFR (HR = 2.943, 95% CI = 1.161, to 7.464, P = .023) were independently associated with an increase risk of MACE at long-term followup. Conclusion. Coronary angiography can be successfully performed in elderly patients with single and double vessel disease. The results in triple vessel disease are encouraging. Low LV function, diabetes, and impaired renal function increase the risk of long-term major adverse cardiac events.
Nobel Lecture: Uncertainty Outside and Inside Economic Models

Asset pricing theory has long recognized that financial markets compensate investors who are exposed to some components of uncertainty. This is where macroeconomics comes into play. The economywide shocks, the primary concern of macroeconomists, by their nature are not diversifiable. Exposures to these shocks cannot be averaged out with exposures to other shocks. Thus returns on assets that depend on these macroeconomic shocks reflect “risk” premia and are a linchpin connecting macroeconomic uncertainty to financial markets. A risk premium reflects both the price of risk and the degree of exposure to risk. I will be particularly interested in how the exposures to macroeconomic impulses are priced by decentralized security markets.
Observer-based Fault Detection for Piecewise Linear Systems: Discrete-time Cases

In this paper, we discuss the fault detection with unknown inputs for a class of discrete-time piecewise linear systems. Piecewise linear systems are mostly partitioned based on their state variables. Due to the system noise and estimation errors, the transitions of actual state and its estimate may not be synchronized, as well as the system modes. Motivated by the recent works [31], [29], [32], [30], [27], we consider the fault detection problem using non-synchronized observer and presents several less conservative design approaches.