Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Two-stage Approach to Segmentation-free Query-by-example Word Spotting

resentation like ASCII or UTF-8.1 Even though researchers have been investigating this topic for decades, only the recognition of clear machine-printed texts can be considered solved. For handwritten documents and historical manuscripts, results are far from satisfactory. Difficulties with handwritten documents are caused by the extreme variability in human writing. Historic documents often show severe degradation, such as ink bleed-through, bad contrast due to changes in paper color, text line deviations, old fonts and other artifacts caused by old technical standards and storage. Nevertheless, algorithmic methods for human assistance exist in order to explore these kinds of documents. They usually work in a relatively constrained scenario but will save a significant amount of work if they are applicable. One of the most prominent techniques for this purpose is word spotting.2 The task is not to transcribe entire images of text but to automatically detect regions in document images where the query word is likely to be found. The results are presented to the user in the form of a ranked list of these regions. In comparison with a full transcription of the document images, word spotting is much more robust against recognition errors. As long as the relevant regions are among the top ranks of the list, the user can eventually decide what he actually wants to use from the given results.3 Errors in a text transcription are not as easy to recognize and even small mistakes can corrupt further processing such as a full-text search. In this scenario, the query is an exemplary occurrence of the respective word in the image. Query-by-example word spotting works only as long as the variability in the text is
Visual control in children with developmental dyslexia.

PURPOSE To assess binocular control in children with dyslexia. METHODS Cross-sectional study with 26 children who were submitted to a set of ophthalmologic and visual tests. RESULTS In the dyslexic children less eye movement control in voluntary convergence and unstable binocular fixation was observed. CONCLUSION The results support the hypothesis that developmental dyslexia might present deficits which involve the magnocellular pathway and a part of the posterior cortical attentional network.
Bringing citizen voice and client focus into service delivery

This is a study of efforts to improve the responsiveness of public service providers to the needs of service users, particularly the poorest service users. This paper examines over sixty case studies of both public-sector reforms to foster stronger client focus in service delivery; and civil-society initiatives to demand improved services. This work was concerned to identify means of amplifying citizen 'voice' such that engagement with the state moves beyond consultative processes to more direct forms of influence over policy and spending decisions. The case studies upon which this research is based are drawn from around the world, from developing and developed countries. They are organised into 14 different types of 'voice' or 'responsiveness' mechanisms, and are available on: www.ids. ac.uk/ids/govern/ citizenvoice/annexcs.html. Across different types of public service, the potential for citizen voice, and varying degrees of public sector responsiveness, can be surmised from features of service design and delivery such as the complexity of the technology involved in the service, the remoteness, geographical, social and educational, of providers, the extent to which the service is a shared good or an individually consumable product, or the social and environmental consequences of dramatic service break-down. Variations in voice and client focus are also explained by client characteristics: the social status of clients, their geographic concentration, and whether they have a sustained or one-off relationship with providers. The study concludes with policy-relevant findings on ways of enhancing citizen voice in decision-making, planning, and monitoring of public services. For citizen engagement with public service providers to move beyond consultation to real influence, citizens must enjoy rights to a more meaningful form of participation. This would include formal recognition for citizens' groups, their right to information about government decision-making and spending patterns, and rights to seek redress for poor-quality service delivery. Public sector providers, for their part, need assurances regarding the mandate and internal accountability of such groups. This study was commissioned by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID).
Patents and R&D at the Firm Level: A panel data analysis applied to the Dutch pharmaceutical sector

This paper analyzes the effect of research and development (R&D) intensity and other economic determinants on the innovation output of the Dutch pharmaceutical sector. A dynamic count data model is developed and applied, in the context of panel data framework (following Wooldridge, 2005). Our model incorporates the R&D intensity and other firm characteristics as explanatory variables. Although, both patent counts and citation-weighted patents can be viewed as indicators of technological impact and information flow, the latter reflects the quality of the patents. Hence, we consider both patent counts and citation counts, also for EPO and USPTO patents individually, as the innovation output indicator. From the estimated results, it is found that the R&D efforts have a positive and significant impact on both the patent counts and citation-weighted patents. This confirms the fact that, R&D acts as a major determinant for generating new patents. Concerning the role played by firm size, there seems to be a positive and significant relation between innovation output and size of the firms. But the significance becomes less prominent when we allow for random effects. Age of firms seems to have a negative and significant relation with innovation output. This signifies the fact that young firms are more enterprising, and are more innovation prone. Our model is further extended by incorporating dynamics, whereby it is observed that Dutch Pharmaceutical firms innovate persistently over time. This phenomenon is prominent for both patent counts and citation-weighted patent counts.
Reconsidering the links between poverty, international labour migration, and agrarian change: critical insights from Nepal

The role of international labour migration in processes leading to the (re)production of rural poverty in the rural South continues to shape critical academic and policy debate. While many studies have established that migration provides an important pathway to rural prosperity, they insufficiently analyse the profound effects that migration and remittances have on agrarian and rural livelihoods. This article uses the case of rural Nepal, where over half of the households are involved in foreign labour migration, as a ‘window’ to understand the processes shaping how migration effects poverty. The paper analyses how migration generates outcomes across the domains of rural people's changing relationship to land and agriculture, their experience of migration, and rural labour markets to advance our arguments. First, it argues that migration leads to the commodification of land, generating changes in patterns of land uses and tenancy relations. With respect to rural people's engagement with agriculture, migration generates both processes of ‘deactivation’ and ‘repeasantization’. Second, foreign migration offers an exit from poverty for some while also creating processes of deeper impoverishment for others. Third, migration leads to structural changes in rural labour markets, reducing the supply of agrarian labour. Consequently, in contrast to the simplifying ‘narrative’ accounts of a migration pathway out of poverty, this paper concludes that the effects triggered by migration are highly contradictory, providing an exit from poverty when linked to diversification strategies, while engendering rising inequality and rural differentiation.
Relationship Between Perceived Work Ability and Productivity Loss

Abstract This paper presents an approach to assessing presenteeism (on-the-job productivity loss) that is related to perceived work ability. The aim of this explorative research was to find out if perceived work ability could be a robust indicator, interchangeable with presenteeism, in Finnish food industry organizations. The developed approach was based on existing presenteeism research as well as on register and survey data. The approach demonstrates that one step downward on the 10-point perceived work ability scale theoretically reduces employees ‘ on-the-job productivity by ~5 percentage points. At the company level, on-the-job productivity loss was 3.7% (mdn 0), while sickness absence was 5.0% (mdn 2.2). The probability of productivity loss among factory workers was fourfold compared to women in office work. The developed approach makes it possible to assess perceived productivity loss at the level of an individual and an organization. Perceived work ability may, in fact, be a robust indicator for assessing perceived productivity loss.
Using a Choice Experiment (CE) to Value the Attributes of Cruise Tourism

ABSTRACT Recently, cruise tourism has drawn public interest in the Republic of Korea. In this study, we attempt to analyze people’s preferences regarding the attributes of cruise tourism, such as duration, accommodation, services, and cost. Thus, we applied a choice experiment (CE) to measure the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for each attribute. The results show that the coefficients of the attributes of onboard activities are positive and statistically significant. MWTPs for increasing the cabin level from an inside to an ocean view and for increasing the level of onboard services from 4-star to 6-star are South Korean Won (KRW) 1,095,760 (USD 954.8) and KRW 671,264 (USD 584.9) respectively. Comparison of all the MWTP estimates indicates that people prefer onboard activities rather than visiting foreign ports of call above all other attributes. This study is expected to provide tourism managers with useful information for designing cruise tourism products that meet travelers’ needs.
Generalized Tschebyscheff of the second kind and Bernstein polynomials change of bases

We construct multiple representations relative to different bases of the generalized Tschebyscheff polynomials of second kind. We build the change-of-basis matrices between the generalized Tschebyscheff of the second kind polynomial basis and Bernstein polynomial basis. Also, we provide an explicit closed from of The generalized Polynomials of degree r less than or equal n in terms of the Bernstein basis of fixed degree n.
Does load carrying influence sagittal plane locomotive stability?

PURPOSE We used methods from dynamical system analysis to investigate the effect of carrying external loads on the stability of the locomotive system and sagittal plane kinematics. We hypothesized that carrying an additional load at the waist would 1) decrease the dynamic stability of the locomotive system and 2) cause changes in the location of the Poincaré map's equilibrium point for the hip, the knee, and the ankle joint kinematics. METHODS Lower extremity kinematics were recorded for 23 subjects as they walked on a treadmill at their preferred speed while carrying external loads of 10%, 20%, and 30% of their body weight around their waist. Gait stability was evaluated by computing the eigenvalues of the locomotive system at the instance of heel contact and midswing. Changes in the hip, the knee, and the ankle's equilibrium point of the Poincaré sections were used to determine whether there were changes in the joint kinematics while carrying external loads. RESULTS No significant differences in sagittal plane stability were found between the respective load carrying conditions (P > 0.05). Significant changes (P < 0.05) in the equilibrium points of the hip and the knee were found at heel contact and midswing. CONCLUSIONS The data suggest that humans are capable of maintaining sagittal plane stability while carrying loads up to 30% of their body weight.
Partial inhibition of Cdk1 in G2 phase overrides the SAC and decouples mitotic events

Entry and progression through mitosis has traditionally been linked directly to the activity of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1). In this study we utilized low doses of the Cdk1-specific inhibitor, RO3306 from early G2 phase onwards. Addition of low doses of RO3306 in G2 phase induced minor chromosome congression and segregation defects. In contrast, mild doses of RO3306 during G2 phase resulted in cells entering an aberrant mitosis, with cells fragmenting centrosomes and failing to fully disassemble the nuclear envelope. Cells often underwent cytokinesis and metaphase simultaneously, despite the presence of an active spindle assembly checkpoint, which prevented degradation of cyclin B1 and securin, resulting in the random partitioning of whole chromosomes. This highly aberrant mitosis produced a significant increase in the proportion of viable polyploid cells present up to 3 days post-treatment. Furthermore, cells treated with medium doses of RO3306 were only able to reach the threshold of Cdk1 substrate phosphorylation required to initiate nuclear envelope breakdown, but failed to reach the levels of phosphorylation required to correctly complete pro-metaphase. Treatment with low doses of Okadaic acid, which primarily inhibits PP2A, rescued the mitotic defects and increased the number of cells that completed a normal mitosis. This supports the current model that PP2A is the primary phosphatase that counterbalances the activity of Cdk1 during mitosis. Taken together these results show that continuous and subtle disruption of Cdk1 activity from G2 phase onwards has deleterious consequences on mitotic progression by disrupting the balance between Cdk1 and PP2A.
Knowledge management practices and organizational adaptation

Purpose – The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between knowledge management processes and a firm's ability to adapt to the external environment.Design/methodology/approach – The field survey research method was used and data were collected from 170 high technology companies in China. Multiple regression analysis as well as mediation tests were conducted to analyze the data.Findings – The study found that knowledge acquisition, knowledge refining and knowledge applying are important when a firm is trying to enhance its competence. On the other hand, knowledge creation, knowledge refining, knowledge sharing and knowledge applying are influential when a firm is trying to introduce the next round of innovation.Research limitations/implications – Using self‐reported data could be a potential limitation of the study. It would be preferable to have other forms of data for a study.Practical implications – The findings provide business executives as well as policy makers with a new way .
General Cognitive Ability and the Psychological Refractory Period

Identifying the precise locus of general cognitive ability (g) in the flow of information between perception and action is an important goal of differential psychology. To localize the negative correlation between g and reaction time to a specific processing stage, we administered a speeded number-comparison task to two groups differing in average g. The participants had to respond to two stimuli in each trial, which produced the well-known slowing of the second reaction time known as the psychological refractory period. The difference in the second reaction time favoring the high-g group doubled as the stimulus onsets became very close together. This finding affirms that the faster reaction times of higher-g individuals reflect an advantage exclusively in the serial bottleneck of central processing and not in the parallel peripheral stages.
Trading Strategies of Corporate Insiders

We test two complementary theories of optimal trading strategies by analyzing the transaction patterns of corporate insiders. According to information-based theories, investors trade faster if they compete with others for exploiting the same information, while liquidity-based theories predict the opposite. Our analysis supports the predictions of liquidity-based models: insiders take longer to complete trades when they face competition from other insiders and they trade slower in less liquid markets. Insiders adapt to fluctuations in market liquidity. We identify informed trading using CARs, company news announcements, and insider trading patterns. Our results support the predictions of information-based models for informed trades.
Lower Bounds on Externalities in Sunspot Models

A method for describing preferences independently of the func­ tional form of utility is developed for log-linearized models and ap­ plied to finding general conditions for indeterminacy in the pres­ ence of externalities. It is shown that if the elasticity of output with respect to labor in the social production function is less than unity and externalities arise from output then there are no con­ cave utility functions consistent with indeterminacy. Considering the same assumption in the more general setting where externali­ ties to labor and capital can be different, we prove that there are no utility functions separable in consumption and labor and no utility functions in the KPR class consistent with indeterminacy. These results show that there is an error in Bennett and Farmer (JET, 2000), who claimed that indeterminacy could occur with low externalities for non-separable preferences of the KPR form. Finally, we show that there can be sunspots below the former lower bounds, if we continue to allow' for factor-specific externali­ ties in the inputs and consider the admissible parameterspace for preferences, not restricted by functional forms. © T he A ut ho r(s ). Eu ro pe an U ni ve rs ity In st itu te . D ig iti se d ve rs io n pr od uc ed b y th e EU I L ib ra ry in 2 02 0. A va ila bl e O pe n Ac ce ss o n C ad m us , E ur op ea n U ni ve rs ity In st itu te R es ea rc h R ep os ito ry .
EDUCATE TO LEAD? THE LOCAL POLITICAL ECONOMY EFFECTS OF SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION IN INDONESIA

The extension of mass education not only affects the level of education of the labor force, but also raises the average education of local politicians. This paper investigates the impact of a large program of school construction in Indonesia on local governance and public good provision. By using a panel dataset of 10,000 villages and exploiting the staggered timing of local elections, I isolate the effects driven by changes in local governance. The results suggest that the school construction program led to important increases in the provision of public goods. Furthermore, the results are heterogeneous across villages: public goods experienced stronger increases in villages where there was a particular demand for that type of public good. I provide evidence that the results are driven by the increase in the level of education of the village head, which suggests that the level of human capital of local politicians is a key ingredient of public good provision in developing countries.
Common Value Auctions With Return Policies

This paper examines the role of return policies in common value auctions. We first characterize the unique symmetric equilibrium in first-price and second-price auctions with continuous signals and discrete common values when certain return policies are provided. We then examine how the return policies affect a seller's revenue. When the lowest common value is zero, a more generous return policy generates a higher seller's revenue; the full refund policy extracts all the surplus and therefore implements the optimal selling mechanism; given any return policy, a second-price auction generates a higher revenue than a first-price auction. In a second-price auction where the lowest common value is not zero but still smaller than the seller's reservation value, then a more generous return policy also generates a higher revenue; otherwise, the optimal return policy could be a full refund, no refund or partial refund policy.
Towards a Better Understanding of Churn in Peer-to-Peer Networks

The dynamics of peer participation, or churn, are an inherent property of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems that should be incorporated in both the design and evaluation of P2P systems. This requires a proper characterization of churn in real-world P2P networks. However, the few previous measurement-based studies on the characterization of P2P systems have used either unrepresentative group of peers or coarse-grain mea- surements. In this extended abstract, we characterize churn in the Gnutella network based on fine-grained monitoring of the entire population. We developed a new crawler that can capture a complete snapshot of Gnutella network within a few minutes. This not only improves the accuracy, by reducing distortion in captured snap- shots, but it also increase the granularity of captured dy- namics. We present our preliminary characterizations of peer uptime and discuss their implications. In par- ticular, we show that peer uptime follows a power-law distribution rather than the commonly assumed Poisson distribution. In a nutshell, a large portion of up peers are highly stable, yet the remaining peers turnover very quickly. Keywords—Peer-to-Peer, Churn, Characterization, Gnutella
An ultraviolet-selected galaxy redshift survey -- II. The physical nature of star formation in an enlarged sample

We present further spectroscopic observations for a sample of galaxies selected in the vacuum ultraviolet (UV) at 2000 A from the FOCA balloon-borne imaging camera of Milliard et al. This work represents an extension of the initial study by Treyer et al. Our enlarged catalogue contains 433 sources (≃3 times as many as in our earlier study) across two FOCA fields. 273 of these are galaxies, nearly all with redshifts z≃0–0.4. Nebular emission-line measurements are available for 216 galaxies, allowing us to address issues of excitation, reddening and metallicity. The UV and Hα luminosity functions strengthen our earlier assertions that the local volume-averaged star formation rate is higher than indicated from earlier surveys. Moreover, internally within our sample, we do not find a steep rise in the UV luminosity density with redshift over 0<z<0.4. Our data are more consistent with a modest evolutionary trend, as suggested by recent redshift survey results. Investigating the emission-line properties, we find no evidence for a significant number of AGN in our sample; most UV-selected sources to z≃0.4 are intense star-forming galaxies. We find that the UV flux indicates a consistently higher mean star formation rate than that implied by the Hα luminosity for typical constant or declining star formation histories. Following Glazebrook et al., we interpret this discrepancy in terms of a starburst model for our UV-luminous sources. We develop a simple algorithm which explores the scatter in the UV flux–Hα relation in the context of various burst scenarios. Whilst we can explain most of our observations in this way, there remains a small population with extreme UV–optical colours which cannot be understood.