Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of the Demise of Terrorist Organizations

This article investigates the determinants of terrorist groups' failure by applying survival analysis in a discrete-time specification. Our sample consists of a diverse set of 586 terrorist groups, in which just over 63% end operations (demise) during 1970–2007. We use RAND event data and Jones and Libicki terrorist group data. Findings show that the survival of terrorist groups is bolstered by diversifying attacks, having multiple home bases, locating in the Middle East, ocating in a democratic country, and limiting reliance on transnational terrorist attacks. Moreover, larger groups have better survival prospects. Religious fundamentalist terrorist groups face better survival prospects than other terrorist groups. Terrorist groups located in a country with larger tropical territory are less likely to end operations; however, groups based in a landlocked country are more likely to fail.
Detecting a change point using statistical sensitivity analysis based on the influence function

In the field of statistics, when we construct prediction and decision-making models on the basis of a statistical approach, we usually employ previous data to do so. Statistical sensitivity analysis plays an important role in the assessment of these statistical models because it can detect influential observations for the target models, which can enhance their accuracy. However, thus far, it appears that many researchers have developed statistical sensitivity analysis with the assumption that the population parameters for the target data remain flat. Therefore, if the population parameters are not static, a traditional statistical sensitivity analysis cannot exactly evaluate the influence of each observation for target statistical models or parameters. Under these conditions, we must pay attention to not only the influential data point, given as an outlier, but also the change point, which is the point in time when the population parameters of the target data change. In this paper, we propose a sequential statistical approach for detecting a change point by extending the existing statistical sensitivity analysis based on influence functions. Through some numerical simulation studies, we demonstrate the performance of our diagnostic approach.
The home environment as a predictor of mathematics achievement in Ghana

This paper examined the significant role of the learner’s home environment in Ghanaian grade 8 students’ performance in mathematics in the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Applying multiple linear regression analyses on the TIMSS 2007 data from Ghana revealed a positive association between father’s educational level, watching of TV or videos regularly at home, reading books for enjoyment at home regularly, and doing homework regularly at home and mathematics achievement. On the contrary, a negative relationship was found between mathematics achievement and the number of books at home, home possessions, and the playing of computer games at home regularly. The paper concluded with the recommendation that the learner’s home background should be considered when designing policies and interventions aimed at improving students’ mathematics performance.
BYOD: Current state and security challenges

Recently, BYOD or Bring Your own Device has become one of the most popular models for enterprises to provide mobility and flexibility in workplaces. The emergence of new technologies and features of mobile devices makes them integral parts of every aspect of daily business activities. Also, mobile networks are now well integrated with the Internet (e.g. 3G, 4G and LTE technologies), therefore, in BYOD, the personal devices (i.e. mobile devices) can be used to increase employees' satisfaction and reduce an organization's device costs. Mobile devices are not well protected compared to computer and computer networks and users pay less attention to security updates and solutions. As a result, mobile security has become a crucial issue in BYOD as employees use their own mobile devices to access an organization's data and systems. Therefore, in this paper we present an overview of the current state of BYOD security and we discuss some future challenges in this area.
Real-time fMRI-based self-regulation of brain activation across different visual feedback presentations

AbstractThe current study is a first exploration of real-time self-regulation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation based on several different visual neurofeedback presentations. Six healthy participants were engaged in self-regulation of regional fMRI activation in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), by performing a mental calculation task. In different MR sessions, feedback was presented in the form of either a thermometer display (in vertical orientation), a circle display (increasing or decreasing in physical size), or a numbers display (Arabic digits). While self-regulation levels did differ between individuals, all six participants were able to significantly up-regulate their PPC activation with all three neurofeedback presentations. In addition to a successful general up-regulation, five out of six participants were furthermore capable of gradual self-regulation to multiple intensity levels. Taken together, the current study is a proof-of-concept demonstration of the feasibili.
Antecedents and consequences of work significance in Indian organizations

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to investigate the nature of work significance and identify its key antecedents and consequences in Indian organizations. Partial least squares modeling (N = 300 working Indian managers) confirmed the reliability and validity of the proposed a priori model. Furthermore, a mediation-moderation analysis suggested that work significance had a significant mediating influence between antecedent and consequent variables, and its influence was not moderated by the type of organization studied in the research. The applied values of the research along with its limitations and future directions are briefly discussed.
Mycorrhizal phenotypes and the Law of the Minimum.

Mycorrhizal phenotypes arise from interactions among plant and fungal genotypes and the environment. Differences in the stoichiometry and uptake capacity of fungi and plants make arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi inherently more nitrogen (N) limited and less phosphorus (P) limited than their host plants. Mutualistic phenotypes are most likely in P-limited systems and commensal or parasitic phenotypes in N-limited systems. Carbon (C) limitation is expected to cause phenotypes to shift from mutualism to commensalism and even parasitism. Two experiments compared the influence of fertilizer and shade on mycorrhizas in Andropogon gerardii across three naturally N-limited or P-limited grasslands. A third experiment examined the interactive effects of N and P enrichment and shade on A. gerardii mycorrhizas. Our experiments generated the full spectrum of mycorrhizal phenotypes. These findings support the hypothesis that mutualism is likely in P-limited systems and commensalism or parasitism is likely in N-limited systems. Furthermore, shade decreased C-assimilation and generated less mutualistic mycorrhizal phenotypes with reduced plant and fungal biomass. Soil fertility is a key controller of mycorrhizal costs and benefits and the Law of the Minimum is a useful predictor of mycorrhizal phenotype. In our experimental grasslands arbuscular mycorrhizas can ameliorate P-limitation but not N-limitation.
Sex steroids regulate skin pigmentation through nonclassical membrane-bound receptors

The association between pregnancy and altered cutaneous pigmentation has been documented for over two millennia, suggesting that sex hormones play a role in regulating epidermal melanocyte (MC) homeostasis. Here we show that physiologic estrogen (17β-estradiol) and progesterone reciprocally regulate melanin synthesis. This is intriguing given that we also show that normal primary human MCs lack classical estrogen or progesterone receptors (ER or PR). Utilizing both genetic and pharmacologic approaches, we establish that sex steroid effects on human pigment synthesis are mediated by the membrane-bound, steroid hormone receptors G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), and progestin and adipoQ receptor 7 (PAQR7). Activity of these receptors was activated or inhibited by synthetic estrogen or progesterone analogs that do not bind to ER or PR. As safe and effective treatment options for skin pigmentation disorders are limited, these specific GPER and PAQR7 ligands may represent a novel class of therapeutics. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.15104. 001
Expressive synthesis: how crucial is voice quality?

This paper compares the emotive colouring that can be achieved in synthesis by f/sub 0/ manipulations alone (f/sub 0/ only) as compared to manipulations of f/sub 0/ with voice quality (VQ+f/sub 0/), and asks how crucial large f/sub 0/ excursions are in signalling strong emotions. Are they overwhelmingly important, with voice quality contributing mainly to finer distinctions for milder affects? Or are voice quality and large f/sub 0/ differences required for the strong emotions? The 'VQ+f/sub 0/' stimuli, of an utterance synthesised using the LF voice source in KLSYN88 with breathy, whispery, lax-creaky, modal, tense and harsh voice qualities (Gobl et al. (2002)), were further manipulated to replicate the f/sub 0/ differences described in Mozziconacci et al. (1995) for 6 emotions, matched to the most appropriate voice quality. The 'f/sub 0/ only' stimuli used the same set of f/sub 0/ contours, but retained source settings for modal voice. 10 listeners rated the affective colouring of the stimuli on a seven-point scale, in terms of pairs of opposite attributes. For both strong and milder affects the 'VQ+f/sub 0/' stimuli achieved much higher ratings than the 'f/sub 0/ only' stimuli, which were relatively ineffective. Implications for the synthesis of expressive speech are discussed.
Security , Efficiency and User Interest Analysis Approach for Web Page Ranking

Security, Efficiency and User Interest Analysis Approach for Web Page Ranking 1 Pooja, 2 Hitesh Kapoor, 3 Amit Raman 1 Student M.Tech. (CSE), 2 Asstt. Prof., CSE Deptt. , 3 Asstt. Prof., Mech. Deptt. RPIIT, Technical Campus, Bastara, Karnal __________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: An Effective Web Search is one of the major part of Web architecture. The presented work is the about to define a user assisted WebPage ranking approach so that that the better view of web search will be presented to the user. The presented work is defined under three vectors. At first when the query is performed, the initial ranking is based on the relevancy vector i.e. content matching respective to the user query. Now as user view these Pages, according to the user view the ranking is modified. The second vector of ranking is the number of times a Page is visited by any user. The most important criteria of the ranking is the user recommendation. User recommendation is defined in terms of like and dislike vector. These three parameters are taken in weighted form and based on these three vectors, overall Page ranking is decided.
Occupational disruption and natural disaster: Finding a ‘new normal’ in a changed context

ABSTRACT Individuals affected by natural disasters can undergo critical life changes throughout the recovery process. With a forecast increase in frequency and impact of natural disasters, it is important to consider the occupational recovery process that individuals experience post-disaster. This qualitative descriptive study explored the experience of occupational disruption and occupational recovery of individuals after Cyclone Yasi struck a small, regional town in Northern Queensland, Australia. Nine semi-structured interviews from long-term residents of the town affected by Cyclone Yasi were conducted 2 years after the event. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and independently coded using thematic analysis by three researchers. Five interrelated themes were identified: Recovery occupations; Interruption to leisure and productive occupations; Reconstruction: A second disaster; Occupational liminality and A new normal. These themes point to a phased process of occupational recovery through which disaster survivors encounter numerous personal and contextual barriers, encumbering their return to re-engagement in meaningful occupational routines. The findings from this research offer insights into the support needs of both individuals and communities as they endeavour to overcome challenges associated with the recovery process.
The Precise Time Course of Retention

Fits of retention data were examined from 5 conditions: 3 types of cued recall, an old-new recognition task, and a remember-know recognition task. In each condition, 100 participants had either 18 recall or 27 recognition trials at each of 10 delays between 0 and 99 intervening items, providing the first data obtained in experimental psychology that were precise enough to distinguish clearly among simple functions. None of the 105 2-parameter functions tested produced adequate fits to the data. The function y = a^e~" + a2e~ IIT2 + a3 fit each of the 5 retention conditions. The X2 parameter in this equation equaled 28 for the 3 recall conditions and the remember-know recognition condition and 13 for the old-new recognition condition. Individuals' recall data fit the same function with parameters varying with gender and scholastic aptitude scores. Reaction times support the claim that the aye'" 15 term describes working memory, and the remaining 2 terms describe long-term memory.
Effectiveness of “PIM” Training on Putting Performance and Pre-Competitive Anxiety of the Golfers

Based on recent research, it is perceived by golfers that putting from six feet is more difficult than from 24, 12 or 3 feet (Ismail, 2014b). The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of PIM training program on putting performance and precompetitive anxiety (i.e., cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety) of the golfers. The golfers, comprising of sixty-three males with 1–3 years of golf experience were randomly apportioned to one of three groups. PIM group and CI group participants completed imagery together with physical practices while a control group completed physical practices only. The three assessments were conducted before 10 putting tasks. One-way repeated-measures ANOVA revealed that the PIM group improved putting performance and helped to reduce cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety compared with the CI and control group. More studies should be conducted in the future, focusing on golfers that are skilled and of different gender and age groups.
Diversity as a selection pressure in dynamic environments

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are widely used to deal with optimization problems in dynamic environments (DE) [3]. When using EAs to solve DE problems, we are usually interested in the algorithm's ability to adapt and recover from the changes. One of the main problems facing an evolutionary method when solving DE problems is the loss of genetic diversity.In this paper, we investigate the use of evolutionary multi-objective optimization methods (EMOs) for single-objective DE problems. For that purpose, we introduce an artificial second objective with the aim to maintain useful diversity in the population. Six different artificial objectives are examined and compared.All the results will be compared against a traditional GA and the random immigrants algorithm[4]. NSGA2 is employed as the evolutionary multi-objective technique.
Asymptotic performance of space-frequency codes over broadband channels

We show that when the number of receive antennas is large, the Euclidean distance among codewords dominates the performance of space-frequency codes, the same result as for space-time codes. Therefore, in the presence of a large number of receive antennas, space-frequency codes can be optimized by using the Euclidean-distance criterion valid for additive white Gaussian noise channels. Simulation results show that this conclusion is also valid when the number of antennas is small.
CLORIFI: software vulnerability discovery using code clone verification

Software vulnerability has long been considered an important threat to the system safety. A vulnerability is often reproduced because of the frequent code reuse by programmers. Security patches are usually not propagated to all code clones; however, they could be leveraged to discover unknown vulnerabilities. Static code auditing approaches are frequently proposed to scan source codes for security flaws; unfortunately, these approaches generate too many false positives. While dynamic execution analysis methods can precisely report vulnerabilities, they are ineffective in path exploration, which limits them to scale to large programs. With the purpose of detecting vulnerability in a scalable way with more preciseness, in this paper, we propose a novel mechanism, called software vulnerability discovery using Code Clone Verification (CLORIFI), that scalably discovers vulnerabilities in real world programs using code clone verification. In the beginning, we use a fast and scalable syntax‐based way to find code clones in program source codes based on released security patches. Subsequently, code clones are being verified using concolic testing to dramatically decrease the false positives. In addition, we mitigate the path explosion problem by backward sensitive data tracing in concolic execution. Experiments have been conducted with real‐world open‐source projects (recent Linux OS distributions and program packages). As a result, we found 7 real vulnerabilities out of 63 code clones from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Canonical, London, UK) and 10 vulnerabilities out of 40 code clones from CentOS 7.0 (The CentOS Project(community contributed)). Furthermore, we confirmed more code clone vulnerabilities in various versions of programs including Rsyslog (Open Source(Original author: Rainer Gerhards)), Apache (Apache Software Foundation, Forest Hill, Maryland, USA) and Firefox (Mozilla Corporation, Mountain View, California, USA). In order to evaluate the effectiveness of vulnerability verification in a systematic way, we also utilized Juliet Test Suite as measurement objects. The results show that CLORIFI achieves 98% accuracy with 0 false positives. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Motivação dos praticantes de Futsal universitário: um estudo descritivo

Esta pesquisa objetivou identificar os motivos que levam os estudantes universitarios, participantes da 35a edicao dos Jogos Universitarios Gauchos (JUGs), a pratica do futsal. Participaram 185 estudantes de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 17 e 35 anos. Utilizou-se o Participation Motivation Questionnaire de Gill, Gross e Huddleston (1983), na versao Escala de Motivos para Pratica Esportiva (EMPE), adaptacao brasileira feita por Barroso (2007). Os resultados indicaram que, para os homens, saude e a afiliacao sao os motivos mais importantes e para as mulheres, saude e o aperfeicoamento tecnico. Alem disso, nao foi revelada nenhuma relacao estatistica significativa entre os motivos para a pratica do esporte e o sexo e a idade dos praticantes. ABSTRACT Motivation of university futsal practitioners: a descriptive study This research aims to identify the reasons why college students, participating in the 35 th edition of The Gauchos University Games (JUGs), were interested in the practice of futsal. The sample consisted of 185 students, aged between 17 and 35 years old. The instrument used was the "Scale Motives for Sport Practice" (EMPE), consisted of 33 questions and validated by Barroso (2007) for the Brazilian population. The data showed that for men the health and affiliation factors are the most important ones to the practice of futsal, while for women, health and technical enhancement factors occupy such position. The comparison of the mean scores of the reasons for the practice of sport among sexes and age of practitioners revealed no statistically significant difference.
Robustness issues in multilevel regression analysis

A multilevel problem concerns a population with a hierarchical structure. A sample from such a population can be described as a multistage sample. First, a sample of higher level units is drawn (e.g. schools or organizations), and next a sample of the sub‐units from the available units (e.g. pupils in schools or employees in organizations). In such samples, the individual observations are in general not completely independent. Multilevel analysis software accounts for this dependence and in recent years these programs have been widely accepted. Two problems that occur in the practice of multilevel modeling will be discussed. The first problem is the choice of the sample sizes at the different levels. What are sufficient sample sizes for accurate estimation? The second problem is the normality assumption of the level‐2 error distribution. When one wants to conduct tests of significance, the errors need to be normally distributed. What happens when this is not the case? In this paper, simulation studies are used to answer both questions. With respect to the first question, the results show that a small sample size at level two (meaning a sample of 50 or less) leads to biased estimates of the second‐level standard errors. The answer to the second question is that only the standard errors for the random effects at the second level are highly inaccurate if the distributional assumptions concerning the level‐2 errors are not fulfilled. Robust standard errors turn out to be more reliable than the asymptotic standard errors based on maximum likelihood.
Non-Smooth Dynamical Systems and the Grazing Bifurcation

We study some dynamical systems described by non-smooth maps. which arise naturally in studies of certain physical systems-especially impact oscillators. We identify a new form of bifurcation-the grazing bifurcation and show (by example) that this leads to complex dynamics, including chaotic behaviour interspersed with period adding windows of periodic behaviour. We then construct a normal form for the grazing bifurcation and classify the dynamics which can be observed. The article concludes with some open problems.
Sustainability of Water Reclamation: Long-Term Recharge with Reclaimed Wastewater Does Not Enhance Antibiotic Resistance in Sediment Bacteria

Wastewater reclamation for municipal irrigation is an increasingly attractive option for extending water supplies. However, public health concerns include the potential for development of antibiotic resistance (AR) in environmental bacteria after exposure to residual pharmaceuticals in reclaimed water. Though scientific studies have reported high levels of AR in soils irrigated with wastewater, these works often fail to address the soil resistome, or the natural occurrence of AR. This study compared AR patterns in sediment Enterococcus isolated from water storage basins containing either reclaimed water or groundwater in central Arizona. Resistance to 16 antibiotics was quantified in isolates to a depth of 30 cm. Results reveal high levels of resistance to certain antibiotics, including lincomycin, ciprofloxacin, and erythromycin, exists in sediments regardless of the water source (groundwater, reclaimed water), and higher AR was not detectable in reclaimed water sediments. Furthermore, multiple-antibiotic-resistance (MAR) was substantially reduced in isolates from reclaimed water sediments, compared to freshwater sediment isolates. Comparing the development of AR in sediment bacteria at these two sites will increase awareness of the environmental and public health impacts of using reclaimed water for irrigation of municipal areas, and illustrates the necessity for control sites in studies examining AR development in environmental microbiota.