Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Event Tracking

This paper introduces Event Tracking, a new application of Information Retrieval technology with interesting research and evaluation questions. We describe the problem, a pilot corpus of news stories that was constructed for experimental studies, and a \rolling" evaluation strategy that uses di(cid:11)erent segments of the corpus for each query. As part of a preliminary evaluation on a small pilot study corpus, we show that simple feature extraction methods can generate moderately accurate event representations, but that some classes of events are handled much better by letting the representation adapt to the event's evolution in the news. Event tracking is part of the Topic Detection and Tracking initiative.
Mortality among a cohort of uranium mill workers: an update.

AIMS To evaluate the mortality experience of 1484 men employed in seven uranium mills in the Colorado Plateau for at least one year on or after 1 January 1940. METHODS Vital status was updated through 1998, and life table analyses were conducted. RESULTS Mortality from all causes and all cancers was less than expected based on US mortality rates. A statistically significant increase in non-malignant respiratory disease mortality and non-significant increases in mortality from lymphatic and haematopoietic malignancies other than leukaemia, lung cancer, and chronic renal disease were observed. The excess in lymphatic and haematopoietic cancer mortality was due to an increase in mortality from lymphosarcoma and reticulosarcoma and Hodgkin's disease. Within the category of non-malignant respiratory disease, mortality from emphysema and pneumoconioses and other respiratory disease was increased. Mortality from lung cancer and emphysema was higher among workers hired prior to 1955 when exposures to uranium, silica, and vanadium were presumably higher. Mortality from these causes of death did not increase with employment duration. CONCLUSIONS Although the observed excesses were consistent with our a priori hypotheses, positive trends with employment duration were not observed. Limitations included the small cohort size and limited power to detect a moderately increased risk for some outcomes of interest, the inability to estimate individual exposures, and the lack of smoking data. Because of these limitations, firm conclusions about the relation of the observed excesses in mortality and mill exposures are not possible.
On the Road: Marriage and Mobility in Malaysia

Migration choices of husbands and wives in a dynamic and developing country are studied in the context of an economic model of the household. Data are drawn from the second wave of the Malaysia Family Life Survey. Exploiting the retrospective histories, we compare moves that take place before marriage with those made during the marriage; among the latter, moves that are made with the spouse are distinguished from those made alone. The evidence indicates that male mobility is primarily economic in motivation and related to labor market factors. Moves by women, however, seem to be more closely related to fertility or family considerations. Migration is apparently not simply an individual decision; the attributes of the spouse are an important influence on mobility, albeit in an asymmetric manner. Moving toward a broader definition of the household, we find the characteristics of the parents, parents-in-law, and also the (relative) age and gender of siblings all influence mobility in a rich, if complex, way.
Interpretation of wavelet analysis and its application in partial discharge detection

The objective of the paper is to discuss a tool which is proving extremely efficient in partial discharge measurement studies. Though the technique itself is not new, its application to partial discharge studies is. It will be demonstrated in this paper that it has tremendous power and this accounts for its rapid growth as an application in this field. The paper begins with the description of the fundamentals of wavelet analysis, wavelet categories and the properties of the associated wavelet transforms. PD pulses as acquired from detectors composed of different detection circuits are investigated and numerically simulated, and a method on how to select optimally the wavelet corresponding to the representative forms of PD pulse is then presented. Finally, applications of wavelet analysis to partial discharge studies are explored. The paper demonstrates that the wavelet based denoising method proposed in the paper can be employed in separating PD pulses from electrical noise successfully and can be used in pulse propagation studies of partial discharge in distributed impedance plant to provide enhanced information and further infer the original site of the PD pulse.
Navigating the Fifth Dimension : Innovative Interface for Multidimensional Multimodality Image Navigation 1

The display and interpretation of images obtained by combining three-dimensional data acquired with two different modalities (eg, positron emission tomography and computed tomography) in the same subject require complex software tools that allow the user to adjust the image parameters. With the current fast imaging systems, it is possible to acquire dynamic images of the beating heart, which add a fourth dimension of visual information—the temporal dimension. Moreover, images acquired at different points during the transit of a contrast agent or during different functional phases add a fifth dimension— functional data. To facilitate real-time image navigation in the resultant large multidimensional image data sets, the authors developed a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine–compliant software program. The open-source software, called OsiriX, allows the user to navigate through multidimensional image series while adjusting the blending of images from different modalities, image contrast and intensity, and the rate of cine display of dynamic images. The software is available for free download at http://homepage.mac. com/rossetantoine /osirix. RSNA, 2006
Automated reconstruction of ancient languages using probabilistic models of sound change

One of the oldest problems in linguistics is reconstructing the words that appeared in the protolanguages from which modern languages evolved. Identifying the forms of these ancient languages makes it possible to evaluate proposals about the nature of language change and to draw inferences about human history. Protolanguages are typically reconstructed using a painstaking manual process known as the comparative method. We present a family of probabilistic models of sound change as well as algorithms for performing inference in these models. The resulting system automatically and accurately reconstructs protolanguages from modern languages. We apply this system to 637 Austronesian languages, providing an accurate, large-scale automatic reconstruction of a set of protolanguages. Over 85% of the system’s reconstructions are within one character of the manual reconstruction provided by a linguist specializing in Austronesian languages. Being able to automatically reconstruct large numbers of languages provides a useful way to quantitatively explore hypotheses about the factors determining which sounds in a language are likely to change over time. We demonstrate this by showing that the reconstructed Austronesian protolanguages provide compelling support for a hypothesis about the relationship between the function of a sound and its probability of changing that was first proposed in 1955.
Subsidy Competition and the Mode of FDI

We model subsidy competition for a foreign MNC's investment in two trading partners. Taking into account acquisitions as an alternative investment mode weakens the case for subsidising greenfield investment. Competition between countries results in welfare losses, which are reinforced by positive externalities from the MNC's presence and regional integration. The results also apply to situations where the acquisition price accounts for the possibility of subsidies and when governments use acquisition subsidies as an alternative to greenfield subsidies.
Security of m-learning system: A collective responsibility

Innovation in learning technologies and services is driven by demands from Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in order to meet their students’ needs and make knowledge delivery easier. The technology could play a pivotal role in extending the possibilities for teaching, learning, and research in educational institutions. M-learning emerged from this innovation as a result of an unprecedented explosion in the number of mobile devices due to availability and affordability of mobile phones, smartphones and tablets among students. Competition in the mobile device industry is also encouraging developers to be innovative, constantly striving to introduce new features. Consequently, newer sources of risks are being introduced in the mobile computing paradigm at manufacturing level. Similarly, many m-learning promoters and developers focus on developing and delivering learning content and infrastructure for m-learning system without adequate consideration for security of stakeholders’ data, whereas the use of these mobile technologies for learning poses a serious threat to confidentiality, integrity and privacy of those involved in teaching and learning, yet traditional security threats are also evolving. Against this backdrop, the stakeholders in education sector (i.e. education providers, educators, m-learning promoters and developers) should begin to consider the security implications of these devices in modern teaching and learning environments. The purpose of this paper is to identify the m-learning security issues that stakeholders may face, how they are being affected by the security threats, who among is stakeholders are affected or most affected by security issues in m-learning using three Nigeria universities as case studies and what are the responsibilities of the stakeholders in ensuring risk free m-learning.
Three Lessons for Monetary Policy in a Low Inflation Era

The zero lower bound on nominal interest rates constrains the central bank's ability to stimulate the economy during downturns. We use the FRB/US model to quantify the effects of the bound on macroeconomic stabilization and to explore how policy can be designed to minimize these effects. During particularly severe contractions, open-market operations alone may be insufficient to restore equilibrium; some other stimulus is needed. Abstracting from such rare events, if policy follows the Taylor rule and targets a zero inflation rate, there is a significant increase in the variability of output but not inflation. However, a simple modification to the Taylor rule yields a dramatic reduction in the detrimental effects of the zero bound.
Intergroup contact and helping: How quality contact and empathy shape outgroup helping

Do previous intergroup contact experiences predispose a person to be more inclined to help outgroup members? The present work explores whether the quality of one’s contact experiences with an outgroup is associated with outgroup helping. Across two studies, we examine the relation between intergroup contact (quantity and quality of contact), empathy (Study 1 and Study 2), anxiety (Study 2), and helping intentions across a variety of dimensions and behaviors (Study 1 and Study 2), as well as level of commitment to helping outgroup members (Study 2). Across both studies, quality, more than quantity, contact was associated with increases in outgroup helping intentions, which was explained (i.e., mediated) by empathy. In addition, quality contact was also associated with increased commitment to help an outgroup, which was also explained by empathy. Implications for intergroup helping and emotions are discussed.
Mini-quadrotor attitude control based on Hybrid Backstepping & Frenet-Serret theory

This paper is about modeling and control of miniature quadrotors, with a special emphasis on attitude control. Mathematical models for simulation and nonlinear control approaches are introduced and subsequently applied to commercial aircraft: the DraganFlyer quadrotor, which has been hardware-modified in order to perform experimental autonomous flying. Hybrid Backstepping control and the Frenet-Serret theory is used for attitude stabilization, introducing a desired attitude angle acceleration function dependent on aircraft velocity. Finally, improvements on disturbance rejection and attitude tracking at moderate aircraft speeds are validated through various simulation scenarios (indoor navigation based on camera tracking), and flight experiments conducted on the DraganFlyer quadrotor.
Lipids in Health and Disease

Background: Plant sterols are an established non-pharmacological means to reduce total and LDL blood cholesterol concentrations and are therefore recommended for cholesterol management by worldwide-renown health care institutions. Their efficacy has been proven in many types of foods with the majority of trials conducted in spreads or dairy products. As an alternative to dairy products, soy based foods are common throughout the world. Yet, there is little evidence supporting the efficacy of plant sterols in soy-based foods. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a soy drink enriched with plant sterols on blood lipid profiles in moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects. Methods: In a randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind mono-centric study, 50 subjects were assigned to 200 ml of soy drink either enriched with 2.6 g plant sterol esters (1.6 g/d free plant sterol equivalents) or without plant sterols (control) for 8 weeks. Subjects were instructed to maintain stable diet pattern and physical activity. Plasma concentrations of lipids were measured at initial visit, after 4 weeks and after 8 weeks. The primary measurement was the change in LDL cholesterol (LDL-C). Secondary measurements were changes in total cholesterol (TC), non-HDL cholesterol (non-HDL-C), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides. Results: Regular consumption of the soy drink enriched with plant sterols for 8 weeks significantly reduced LDLC by 0.29 mmol/l or 7% compared to baseline (p < 0.05). TC and non-HDL-C concentrations decreased by 0.26 mmol/l and 0.31 mmol/l (each p < 0.05), respectively. Mean reductions in total, LDL and non-HDL cholesterol were significantly greater than in the placebo group (p < 0.05). HDL-C and triglycerides were not affected. Compliance was very high (>96%), and products were well tolerated. Conclusion: Daily consumption of a plant sterol-enriched soy drink significantly decreased total, non-HDL and LDL cholesterol and is therefore an interesting and convenient aid in managing mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia. Published: 6 October 2008 Lipids in Health and Disease 2008, 7:35 doi:10.1186/1476-511X-7-35 Received: 9 July 2008 Accepted: 6 October 2008 This article is available from: http://www.lipidworld. com/content/7/1/35 © 2008 Weidner et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Longitudinal Evaluation of Eye Misalignment and Eye Movements Following Surgical Correction of Strabismus in Monkeys

Purpose Strabismus correction surgery is well documented in both the literature and practice with varying levels of success and permanence. Our goal was to characterize longitudinal changes in eye alignment and eye movements following strabismus correction surgery in a monkey model for developmental strabismus. Methods We studied two juvenile rhesus monkeys with exotropia previously induced via an optical prism-rearing paradigm in infancy. Eye misalignment was corrected via a resection–recession surgery of the horizontal rectus muscles of one eye. Binocular search coils were used to collect eye movement data during smooth-pursuit, saccades, and fixation tasks before surgical treatment, immediately after surgery, and through 6 months after treatment. Results Both animals showed an immediate ∼70% reduction in misalignment as a consequence of surgery that regressed to a 20%–40% improvement by 6 months after treatment. Significant changes were observed in saccade and smooth-pursuit gain of the nonviewing eye after surgery, which also reverted to presurgical values by 6 months. A temporary improvement in fixation stability of the nonviewing eye was observed after surgery; naso-temporal (N/T) asymmetry of monocular smooth-pursuit remained unchanged. Conclusions Surgical realignment is followed by plastic changes that often lead to reversal of surgery effects. Immediate improvement in misalignment and changes in eye movement gains are likely a result of contractility changes at the level of the extraocular muscle, whereas longer-term effects are likely a combination of neural and muscle adaptation.
Mapping the Conceptual Field: Notions of the History Syllabus and Textbook from the Teachers’ Perspectives

The Ghanaian High School history syllabus particularly is less explored by teacher practitioner in the field of history. The few researches carved on the teaching of history in the country have focus extensively on methods of teaching, students and teachers viewpoint of the subject at the neglect of what teachers themselves tell of the subject and the syllabus designed by Curriculum Research and Development Division. This research is novel in the context of the country. Using the interpretive phenomenological case study approach, the study interviewed eight history teachers who participated in the study on their volition. Results from the analysed transcript revealed that History teachers have negative perception about the SHS history syllabus. The study also established that the SHS government history textbook is not adequate to be used in teaching History. Finally, the study established that the history syllabus is in tandem with the history textbook utilised by teachers. Based on the finding, it is recommended that school authorities provide continuous training to history teachers on the proper use of the syllabus in order to change their erroneous perception about the syllabus. The ministry of education should revise and update the government history textbook with more information. Besides, the ministry of education should try and recommend other relevant history textbooks for the history teachers. Again, the ministry of education should ensure that revisions made in the history syllabus should be reflected in the government history textbook. Keywords: History, Syllabus, Textbook
WOLVESAAR at SemEval-2016 Task 1: Replicating the Success of Monolingual Word Alignment and Neural Embeddings for Semantic Textual Similarity

This paper describes the WOLVESAAR systems that participated in the English Semantic Textual Similarity (STS) task in SemEval2016. We replicated the top systems from the last two editions of the STS task and extended the model using GloVe word embeddings and dense vector space LSTM based sentence representations. We compared the difference in performance of the replicated system and the extended variants. Our variants to the replicated system show improved correlation scores and all of our submissions outperform the median scores from all participating systems.
A Systematic Computational Study on Flavonoids

17 selected flavones derivatives, flavonoids, were analyzed through a systematic B3LYP/6-311++G** computational study with the aim of understanding the molecular factors that determine their structural and energetic properties in gas phase. Flavonoids were selected in a systematic way to infer the effect of the number and relative positions of hydroxyl groups on molecular properties. Different conformers for each flavonoid were analyzed and the strength and topology of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds studied through the computation of the corresponding torsional profiles. Atoms in a Molecule, and Natural Bond Orbital methodology was applied to the analysis of charge distribution along the studied molecules, and the intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Molecular shapes were studied through full geometry optimization, and the position of the catechol ring analyzed through dihedral scans.
Cross-layer design for OFDMA wireless networks with finite queue length based on game theory

In next generation wireless networks such as 4GLTE and WiMax, the demand for high data rates, the scarcity of wireless resources and the time varying channel conditions has led to the adoption of more sophisticated and robust techniques in PHY such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and the corresponding access technique known as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access (OFDMA). Cross-layer schedulers have been developed in order to describe the procedure of resource allocation in OFDMA wireless networks. The resource allocation in OFDMA wireless networks has received great attention in research, by proposing many different ways for frequency diversity exploitation and system’s optimization. Many cross-layer proposals for dynamic resource allocation have been investigated in literature approaching the optimization problem from different viewpoints i.e. maximizing total data rate, minimizing total transmit power, satisfying minimum users’ requirements or providing fairness amongst users. The design of a cross-layer scheduler for OFDMA wireless networks is the topic of this research. The scheduler utilizes game theory in order to make decisions for subcarrier and power allocation to the users with the main concern being to maintain fairness as well as to maximize overall system’s performance. A very well known theorem in cooperative game theory, the Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS), is employed and solved in a close form way, resulting in a Pareto optimal solution. Two different cases are proposed. The first one is the symmetric NBS (S-NBS) where all users have the same weight and therefore all users have the same opportunity for resources and the second one, is the asymmetric NBS (A-NBS), where users have different weights, hence different priorities where the scheduler favours users with higher priorities at expense of lower priority users. As MAC layer is vital for cross-layer, the scheduler is combined with a queuing model based on Markov chain in order to describe more realistically the incoming procedure from the higher layers.
The experiences of being a young LGBTIQ and homeless in Australia: Re-thinking policy and practice

Drawing on the perspectives of young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (LGBTIQ) people who have experienced homelessness across metropolitan Adelaide and Sydney, Australia, the article outlines many of the challenges and barriers that confronted them. We argue that traditional views in policy and practice that treat homelessness as a homogeneous category are detrimental to this young cohort. With more young people identifying as LGBTIQ, a greater number of them are seeking services, support and housing assistance. Yet, as we highlight, this has had the effect of a shortage of suitable and safe accommodation and support to assist young LGBTIQ people. This shortfall further entrenches marginalisation and exclusion for this young group.