Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Algorithm to Enhance QoS for Streaming Video over WLANs

Recent times have seen a tremendous surge of multimedia traffic over the wireless local area networks or WLANs. However, the bandwidth intensive multimedia traffic takes the most brunt when a WLAN is overloaded. Longer packet delay, jitter and lower throughput deteriorate the video quality significantly at the receiving end, thus diminishing the user experience. In this paper, we implement a new scheme to guarantee quality of service (QoS) for resource intensive traffic such as video even in times of resource scarcity in the network. We accomplish this by prioritizing certain (but not all) video packets and ensuring resource allocation to these packets over others. We also ensure that such preferential treatment to one class of traffic do not rob other low priority traffic of their fair share of resources. This scheme is implemented in the interface between the logical link control (LLC) layer and the media access control (MAC) layer of an 802.11 protocol stack. Extensive simulations over the NS-2 platform shows that our scheme leads to significant improvement in video quality at the receiver end while still retaining the QoS requirements for other traffic like audio and ftp, within acceptable bounds.
Effects of Implicit Memory on Memory-Based versus Stimulus-Based Brand Choice

The author introduces implicit (versus explicit) memory to examine advertising effects on brand choice. Whereas explicit memory is demonstrated by the conscious recollection of an event, implicit memory is inferred by an improvement in some task performance as the result of having experienced the event. This research shows that memory-based choice benefits from advertising that enhances conceptually driven implicit memory whereas stimulus-based choice benefits from advertising that enhances perceptually driven implicit memory. The findings provide evidence that the two types of implicit memory and explicit memory are distinct constructs of memory; the findings also suggest that implicit memory measures may be more useful indicators of advertising effectiveness than explicit memory measures.
A Twitter Corpus and Benchmark Resources for German Sentiment Analysis

In this paper we present SB10k, a new corpus for sentiment analysis with approx. 10,000 German tweets. We use this new corpus and two existing corpora to provide state-of-the-art benchmarks for sentiment analysis in German: we implemented a CNN (based on the winning system of SemEval-2016) and a feature-based SVM and compare their performance on all three corpora. For the CNN, we also created German word embeddings trained on 300M tweets. These word embeddings were then optimized for sentiment analysis using distant-supervised learning. The new corpus, the German word embeddings (plain and optimized), and source code to re-run the benchmarks are publicly available.
Semantic Ambiguity Effects in Lexical Processing : A Neural-Network Account Based on Semantic Settling Dynamics

The meanings of most words depend on the context in which they occur (e.g., <river> vs. <money> BANK). Developing a theory of how comprehension of semantically ambiguous words are understood is a critical aspect of any theory of word or discourse comprehension. However, success to date has been limited by discrepancies in the effects of relatedness of meaning observed within and between tasks. Further, existing accounts are underspecified, narrow in scope, and mutually inconsistent. The current work introduces the semantic settling dynamics account of semantic ambiguity resolution, in which the discrepant effects are explained by the temporal settling dynamics in semantics within a neural network, and how these dynamics interact with the semantic representations of ambiguous words over time. This account stands as an alternative to one based on the configuration of the decision system across tasks (Hino, Pexman, & Lupker, 2006, JML). The proposed account reconciles a wide body of disparate results within a single unified mechanistic account, is supported by initial investigations that vary processing time to modulate semantic ambiguity effects, and generates targeted predictions for future computational, neural, and behavioral research.
Evaluation of work product defects during corrective & enhancive software evolution: a field study comparison

Information systems portfolio management assumes that software will evolve to maintain alignment with operational needs, a goal that must be met through effective ongoing maintenance. Thus, a primary goal of software maintainers is to ensure that production code is updated without the introduction of defects. However, there is a dearth of research that examines the work product defects that occur as these applications evolve. The goal of this study is to characterize software evolution lifecycle work product defects and factors that may increase or reduce their occurrence. The study takes place within a global consulting organization conducting ongoing software maintenance for a Fortune 100 telecommunications firm by a project team assessed at Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3. This study reports on 991 work product reviews conducted across the evolution activities of the ISO/IEC 12207 Software Development Life Cycle Processes. After controlling for team and expertise differences, the study's major finding is that corrective evolution projects inject a greater number of work product defects than enhancive evolution projects. This result does not arise from the schedule compression often associated with corrective evolution. Rather, it is concluded that the increase in work product defects is associated with the increased complexity of analysis-stage problem diagnosis found in corrective evolution projects. The analysis is augmented by additional covariates including the number of work product reviewers, preparation time of reviewers, and size of the project.
A Parallel Framework for Handling Non-determinism with Expressive Description Logics

Multicore processors are nowadays widespread across desktop, laptop, server, and even smartphone and tablets devices. The rise of such powerful execution environments calls for new parallel and distributed Description Logics (DLs) reasoning algorithms. Many sophisticated optimizations have been explored and have considerably enhanced DL reasoning with light ontologies. Non-determinism remains a main source of complexity for implemented systems handling ontologies relying on more expressive logics. In this work, we explore handling non-determinism with DL languages enabling qualified cardinality restrictions. We implement a fork/join parallel framework into our hybrid algebraic reasoner, which handles qualified cardinality restrictions and nominals using in-equation solving. Preliminary evaluation shows encouraging results.
Uncertainty and Irreversible Investment: An Empirical Analysis of Development of Oilfields on the UKCS

The aim of this paper is to analyse the implications of the theory of irreversible investment under uncertainty for investment in oilfields on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS). We model the decision to proceed with the development investment as an optimal stopping problem and apply the established theory to derive the determinants ofthe optimal policy. Data OH the length of the time period between discovery and development are available for individual oiIfields on the UKCS. The theory is empirically examined by exploring the significance of the determinants of the optimal policy in explaining the variation in the development lag of individual oilfields. Applying statis ticaI duration analysis to the North Sea data, we find a strong effect of expected price and associated price uncertainty on the length of the appraisal stage of the investment projects.
Twisted Group Rings Whose Units Form an FC-Group

Abstract Let U(K λ G) be the group of units of the infinite twisted group algebra K λ G over a field K. We describe the FC-centre ΔU of U(K λ G) and give a characterization of the groups G and fields K for which U(K λ G) = ΔU. In the case of group algebras we obtain the Cliff-Sehgal-Zassenhaus theorem.
How Can the Decline in Social Capital be Reconciled with a Satisfactory Growth Performance

We aim at reconciling Putnam’s claim that social capital has declined in the U.S. in the last decades with the satisfactory growth performance of the U.S. economy over the same period. This puzzle originates from the fact that most literature on social capital emphasizes its role in enhancing factor productivity (mainly by reducing transaction costs). We model the hypotheses that the expansion of market activities (increased “marketization”) weakens social capital formation, and that firms utilize more market services in response to the declining social capital. Within this framework, perpetual growth can be consistent with the progressive erosion of social capital.
Scaling up Semi-Arid Grassland Biochemical Content from the Leaf to the Canopy Level: Challenges and Opportunities

Remote sensing imagery is being used intensively to estimate the biochemical content of vegetation (e.g., chlorophyll, nitrogen, and lignin) at the leaf level. As a result of our need for vegetation biochemical information and our increasing ability to obtain canopy spectral data, a few techniques have been explored to scale leaf-level biochemical content to the canopy level for forests and crops. However, due to the contribution of non-green materials (i.e., standing dead litter, rock, and bare soil) from canopy spectra in semi-arid grasslands, it is difficult to obtain information about grassland biochemical content from remote sensing data at the canopy level. This paper summarizes available methods used to scale biochemical information from the leaf level to the canopy level and groups these methods into three categories: direct extrapolation, canopy-integrated approach, and inversion of physical models. As for semi-arid heterogeneous grasslands, we conclude that all methods are useful, but none are ideal. It is recommended that future research should explore a systematic upscaling framework which combines spatial pattern analysis, canopy-integrated approach, and modeling methods to retrieve vegetation biochemical content at the canopy level.
Computational Analysis of the economic impacts of Japan’s FDI in Asia

The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP Model is used to analyze the possible impacts of Japan’ s FDI in Asia in a multi‑country multi‑sector general equilibrium framework. The majority of existing anti‑FDI arguments are either non‑economic such as the “nationalist” and “dependence” approaches or economic but short‑term partial‑equilibrium arguments such as the “exporting employment” and “balance of payments” stories that focus on the flow aspects of FDI. FDI as a micro phenomenon should not be blamed for negative macro outcomes such as a worsening trade balance that in principle is a reflection of a country’ s savings‑investment imbalance. By focusing instead on the analysis of medium‑ to long‑term general equilibrium impacts (stock impacts of FDI this paper tries to capture the growth and welfare impacts of Japan’ s FDI in Asia. Stock impacts analyzed in this paper are: 1 a capacity and output expansion in the recipient economies in Asia matched by a reduced capital stock in Japan (stock effects; 2 an increase in productivity through technology transfer and spillover (technology effects; and 3 an increase in domestic investment driven by a higher expected rate of return on investment and larger domestic savings (cofinance effects. Following the existing dichotomy in the theories of FDI—those that assume perfect markets and the others based on imperfect markets—simulations are conducted under both industrial structures. Simulation results replicate the traditional transfer problem in real resources and show that FDI is a positive‑sum game. Larger gains are observed in the existence of scale economies. The results suggest the importance of two‑way FDI flows for Japan in order to benefit from this game. The results also suggest that if FDI capital and technology are augmented by local investment (and savings a possible secondary burden of transfer in real resources can be avoided.
Mutations in LRRC50 Predispose Zebrafish and Humans to Seminomas

Seminoma is a subclass of human testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT), the most frequently observed cancer in young men with a rising incidence. Here we describe the identification of a novel gene predisposing specifically to seminoma formation in a vertebrate model organism. Zebrafish carrying a heterozygous nonsense mutation in Leucine-Rich Repeat Containing protein 50 (lrrc50 also called dnaaf1), associated previously with ciliary function, are found to be highly susceptible to the formation of seminomas. Genotyping of these zebrafish tumors shows loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the wild-type lrrc50 allele in 44.4% of tumor samples, correlating with tumor progression. In humans we identified heterozygous germline LRRC50 mutations in two different pedigrees with a family history of seminomas, resulting in a nonsense Arg488* change and a missense Thr590Met change, which show reduced expression of the wild-type allele in seminomas. Zebrafish in vivo complementation studies indicate the Thr590Met to be a loss-of-function mutation. Moreover, we show that a pathogenic Gln307Glu change is significantly enriched in individuals with seminoma tumors (13% of our cohort). Together, our study introduces an animal model for seminoma and suggests LRRC50 to be a novel tumor suppressor implicated in human seminoma pathogenesis.
Exchange Rate Prediction through ANN Based on Kernel Regression

This paper represents a fusion model of functional link artificial neural network (FLANN) based on Kernel Regression (KR) for modeling and prediction of exchange rate time series. To predict the exchange rate, we process the exchange rate datasets with KR to smooth the noise. And then the smoothed datasets are nonlinearly expanded using the sine and cosine expansions before inputting to the FLANN model. Using exchange rates between US to British Pound, Indian Rupees and Japanese Yen, we conducted several experiments on exchange rate prediction. We compare the performance to the FLANN model without KR and to the adaptive exponential smoothing method (AES), and it is observed that the FLANN-KR model outperforms the two other methods.
Educational Inequality in Obesity-Related Mortality in Korea

The prevalence of obesity has been increasing worldwide, which raises concerns about the disease burden associated with obesity. Socioeconomic status (SES) has been suggested to be associated with obesity and obesity related diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the time trend in socioeconomic inequality in obesity-related mortality over the last decade in Korean population. We evaluated the influence of education level, as an indicator of SES, on obesity-related mortality using death data from the Cause of Death Statistics and the Korean Population and Housing Census databases. The rate ratio of the mortality of people at the lowest education level as compared with those at the highest education level (relative index of inequality [RII]) was estimated using Poisson regression analysis. Between 2001 and 2011, RII (95% confidence interval) for overall obesity-related disease mortality increased from 2.10 (2.02–2.19) to 6.50 (6.19–6.82) in men, and from 1.94 (1.79–2.10) to 3.25 (3.05–3.45) in women, respectively. Cause-specifically, the same trend in RII was found for cardiovascular mortality and mortality from diabetes mellitus, whereas the RII of mortality from obesity-related cancers in men did not show the similar trend. Subgroup analysis stratified by age revealed that the RII of obesity-related mortality was much higher in younger people than in older people. In conclusion, there has been persistent socioeconomic inequality in obesity-related mortality in Korea, which was more evident in younger people than in older people and has been deepened over the last decade especially for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Vestibular hypersensitivity to clicks is characteristic of the Tullio phenomenon

OBJECTIVES The frequency of pathologically reduced click thresholds for vestibular activation was explored in patients with the Tullio phenomenon (sound induced vestibular activation). METHODS Seven patients (eight affected ears) with symptoms of oscillopsia and unsteadiness in response to loud external sounds or to the patient’s own voice were examined. In all but one patient, vestibular hypersensitivity to sound was confirmed by the fact that eye movements could be produced by pure tones of 110 dB intensity or less. Conventional diagnostic imaging was normal in all cases and three of the patients had normal middle ears at surgical exploration. Thresholds for click evoked vestibulocollic reflexes were compared with those of a group of normal subjects. Galvanic stimulation was used as a complementary method of examining the excitability of vestibular reflexes. RESULTS All the patients showed a reduced threshold for click activation of vestibulocollic reflexes arising from the affected ear. Short latency EMG responses to clicks were also present in posterior neck and leg muscles, suggesting that these muscles receive vestibular projections. Galvanic stimulation produced a normal pattern of body sway in four of the five patients tested. CONCLUSIONS A pathologically reduced threshold to click activation (⩽70 dB NHL (average normal hearing level)) seems to be a consistent feature of the Tullio phenomenon and a useful diagnostic criterion. This in turn is most likely to be due to an increased effectiveness of the transmission of sound energy to saccular receptors. Activation of these receptors probably contributed to the vestibular symptoms experienced by the patients.
When Is a Time Series I(0)? Evaluating the Memory Properties of Nonlinear Dynamic Models

The paper proposes that a useful concept of I(0) is deÞned by requiring the time series to satisfy a functional central limit theorem, and considers sufficient conditions for this property to hold in a variety of time series models. First, a new result is given for semiparametric linear processes, whose conditions are shown to be close to necessary. Second, a range of popular nonlinear models is considered. The key concept employed is that of near-epoch dependence on an independent process, a condition that can be checked by straightforward manipulations in the cases considered. The rates of memory decay are derived as simple functions of model parameters. General formulae for these rates are derived for the ARMA, bilinear and GARCH models, and leading examples of the TAR class. A simulation approach is also demonstrated, applicable to cases that are analytically intractable.
Gene Conversion Transfers the GAF-A Domain of Phosphodiesterase TbrPDEB1 to One Allele of TbrPDEB2 of Trypanosoma brucei

Background Chromosome 9 of Trypanosoma brucei contains two closely spaced, very similar open reading frames for cyclic nucleotide specific phosphodiesterases TbrPDEB1 and TbrPDEB2. They are separated by 2379 bp, and both code for phosphodiesterases with two GAF domains in their N-terminal moieties and a catalytic domain at the C-terminus. Methods and Findings The current study reveals that in the Lister427 strain of T. brucei, these two genes have undergone gene conversion, replacing the coding region for the GAF-A domain of TbrPDEB2 by the corresponding region of the upstream gene TbrPDEB1. As a consequence, these strains express two slightly different versions of TbrPDEB2. TbrPDEB2a represents the wild-type phosphodiesterase, while TbrPDEB2b represents the product of the converted gene. Earlier work on the subcellular localization of TbrPDEB1 and TbrPDEB2 had demonstrated that TbrPDEB1 is predominantly located in the flagellum, whereas TbrPDEB2 partially locates to the flagellum but largely remains in the cell body. The current findings raised the question of whether this dual localization of TbrPDEB2 may reflect the two alleles. To resolve this, TbrPDEB2 of strain STIB247 that is homozygous for TbrPDEB2a was tagged in situ, and its intracellular localization was analyzed. Conclusions The results obtained were very similar to those found earlier with Lister427, indicating that the dual localization of TbrPDEB2 reflects its true function and is not simply due to the presence of the two different alleles. Notably, the gene conversion event is unique for the Lister427 strain and all its derivatives. Based on this finding, a convenient PCR test has been developed that allows the stringent discrimination between Lister-derived strains that are common in many laboratories and other isolates. The technique is likely very useful to resolve questions about potential mix-ups of precious field isolates with the ubiquitous Lister strain.
Fusion of Audio-visual Features using Hierarchical Classifier Systems for the Recognition of Affective States and the State of Depression

Reliable prediction of affective states in real world scenarios is very challenging and a significant amount of ongoing research is targeted towards improvement of existing systems. Major problems include the unreliability of labels, different realizations of the same affective states amongst different persons and in different modalities as well as the presence of sensor noise in the signals. This work presents a framework for adaptive fusion of input modalities with variable degrees of certainty on different levels. Using a strategy that starts with ensembles of weak learners, gradually, level by level, the discriminative power of the system is improved by adaptively weighting favorable decisions, while concurrently dismissing unfavorable ones. For the final decision fusion the proposed system leverages a trained Kalman filter. Besides its ability to deal with missing and uncertain values, in its nature, the Kalman filter is a time series predictor and thus a suitable choice to match input signals to a reference time series in the form of ground truth labels.
Designing and Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility

This article introduces an integrative framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR) design and implementation. A review of CSR literature—in particular with regard to design and implementation models—provides the background to develop a multiple case study. The resulting integrative framework, based on this multiple case study and Lewin’s change model, highlights four stages that span nine steps of the CSR design and implementation process. Finally, the study identifies critical success factors for the CSR process.
Rich Democracies: Political Economy, Public Policy, and Performance

List of Figures List of Tables List of Appendices Preface and Acknowledgments PART I: PATHS OF DEVELOPMENT OF RICH DEMOCRACIES CHAPTER 1 Convergence Theory CHAPTER 2 Types of Political Economy CHAPTER 3 Mass Society, Participation, and the Mass Media CHAPTER 4 Theories of the Postindustrial Society PART II: THE WELFARE STATE AND SOCIAL POLICY CHAPTER 5 The Welfare State: Convergence and Divergence CHAPTER 6 Sector Spending and Program Emphasis CHAPTER 7 Types of Political Economy, Party Ideology, and Family Policy: Contrasting Government Responses to a Common Problem CHAPTER 8 The American Welfare Mess in Comparative Perspective CHAPTER 9 Bureaucratic Efficiency and Bloat PART III: SYSTEM PERFORMANCE CHAPTER 10 Tax-Welfare Backlash: How to Tax, Spend, and Yet Keep Cool CHAPTER 11 Are Political Parties Declining? An Analysis of National Variation in Dealignment CHAPTER 12 Types of Political Economy, Spending, Taxing, and Economic Performance CHAPTER 13 The Great American Job Machine in Comparative Perspective CHAPTER 14 Risk and Safety: American Mayhem in Comparative Perspective CHAPTER 15 Types of Political Economy, Regulatory Regimes, and the Environment CHAPTER 16 Health Performance: Affluence, Political Economy, and Public Policy as Sources of Real Health CHAPTER 17 Globalization: Does It Subvert Labor Standards, the Welfare State, and Job Security? CHAPTER 18 American Exceptionalism and Policy Implications Conclusion APPENDICES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX