Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PERFORMANCE OF RELIABLE MULTICAST PROTOCOLS VIA SATELLITE AT EHF WITH PERSISTENT FADES

Most of the existing reliable multicast transport (RMT) protocol techniques that are suited for satellite networks adopt various design techniques that may limit or enhance their scalability to large receiver groups in one-to-many topologies. Satellite networks (with high bandwidth capacity and multi-spot beam support at the Extra High Frequency (EHF) spectrum), may provide a complementary solution to scalability although at a cost. Prolonged link fades due to varying weather patterns predominantly cause packet loss and unnecessary retransmission (form source or receiver) when link is unavailable. Analysis of RMT reliability techniques over links with persistent fade, shows that hybrid Forward Error Correction (FEC) with Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) show better performance and efficiency in terms of robustness, goodput and redundancy.
Material failure time and the fiber bundle model with thermal noise

The statistical properties of failure are studied in a fiber bundle model with thermal noise. We find that in agreement with recent experiments the macroscopic failure is produced by a thermal activation of microcracks. Most importantly the effective temperature of the system is amplified by the spatial disorder (heterogeneity) of the fiber bundle.
Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) evaluation and selection

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight to the outsourcing decision-making through investigating if the old evaluation/selection criteria and methods still fit with current business priorities or not and, therefore, to identify the appropriate criteria and methods to develop a new selection framework. Since the economic recession of 2008, logistics outsourcing decisions have become more prominent to avoid high fixed costs and heavy investment requirements and to achieve competitive advantages. Design/methodology/approach – This is a focused literature review prepared after analyzing 56 articles related to the logistics service provider (LSP) evaluation and selection methods and criteria during 2008-2013. The academic articles are analyzed based on research focus/area, evaluation and selection methodology/methods and evaluation and selection criteria. Then reviewed result is compared with previous literature studies for the periods (1991-2008) to identify any possible shifts. Findings .
Residential Traffic and Children’s Respiratory Health

Background Living near traffic has been associated with asthma and other respiratory symptoms. Most studies, however, have been conducted in areas with high background levels of ambient air pollution, making it challenging to isolate an independent effect of traffic. Additionally, most investigations have used surrogates of exposure, and few have measured traffic pollutants directly as part of the study. Objective We conducted a cross-sectional study of current asthma and other respiratory symptoms in children (n = 1,080) living at varying distances from high-traffic roads in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, a highly urbanized region characterized by good regional air quality due to coastal breezes. Methods We obtained health information and home environmental factors by parental questionnaire. We assessed exposure with several measures of residential proximity to traffic calculated using geographic information systems, including traffic within a given radius and distance to major roads. We also measured traffic-related pollutants (nitrogen oxides and nitrogen dioxide) for a subset of households to determine how well traffic metrics correlated with measured traffic pollutants. Results Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, we found associations between current asthma and residential proximity to traffic. For several traffic metrics, children whose residences were in the highest quintile of exposure had approximately twice the adjusted odds of current asthma (i.e., asthma episode in the preceeding 12 months) compared with children whose residences were within the lowest quintile. The highest risks were among those living within 75 m of a freeway/highway. Most traffic metrics correlated moderately well with actual pollutant measurements. Conclusion Our findings provide evidence that even in an area with good regional air quality, proximity to traffic is associated with adverse respiratory health effects in children.
Human-Powered Blocking in Entity Resolution : A Feasibility Study

Entity Resolution (ER) is the problem of matching the records that refer to the same entity within or across two or more data sources. In recent years, human-powered ER solutions have been proposed so that challenging ER tasks, that machines cannot do well, can be helped by human workers. While successful in achieving high matching accuracy, existing human-powered ER methods did not incorporate a core technique, i.e., blocking, for improving the scalability of the ER process. To address this issue, this paper carries out the feasibility study to validate whether the blocking technique can be integrated into the human-powered ER. Specifically, we first propose two variations of human-powered blocking. We then validate their effectiveness in improving the scalability of the ER process through simulated crowdsourcing and AMT-based experiments in synthetic and real-life datasets, respectively.
Ethical Misfit or the Demand for Leniency? The Impact of Behavioral Attributes on Employee Tenure

In this paper we argue that while ethical misfit between firms and employees may increase the likelihood of attrition, the interaction between organizational and employee ethics may be much more complex. Customer demand for individual and organizational characteristics may impact employee tenure independent of one another. Furthermore, misfit may also create complementarities that benefit both the employer and employee. We use over six million vehicle emissions tests to empirically demonstrate that separating these effects is critical to understanding the role of misfit. We identify pre-hiring levels of fraudulent testing leniency for individual inspectors and facilities, showing that neither ethical fit nor complementarity of misfit has substantial impact on the longevity of tenure. Instead, we find that both inspector and facility leniency lead to longer tenure, with little evidence of interaction between employer and employee ethics.
Synchronization in Small-World Dynamical Networks

We investigate synchronization in a network of continuous-time dynamical systems with smallworld connections. The small-world network is obtained by randomly adding a small fraction of connection in an originally nearest-neighbor coupled network. We show that, for any given coupling strength and a suciently large number of cells, the small-world dynamical network will synchronize, even if the original nearest-neighbor coupled network cannot achieve synchronization under the same condition.
Application of Monte Carlo Chord-Length Sampling Algorithms to Transport through a Two-Dimensional Binary Stochastic Mixture

Abstract Monte Carlo algorithms are developed to calculate the ensemble-average particle leakage through the boundaries of a two-dimensional binary stochastic material. The mixture is specified within a rectangular area and consists of a fixed number of disks of constant radius randomly embedded in a matrix material. The algorithms are extensions of the proposal of Zimmerman et al., using chord-length sampling (CLS) to eliminate the need to explicitly model the geometry of the mixture. Two variations are considered. The first algorithm uses CLS for both material regions. The second algorithm employs limited CLS (LCLS), using only CLS in the matrix material. Ensemble-average leakage results are computed for a range of material interaction coefficients and compared against benchmark results for both accuracy and efficiency. Both algorithms are exact for purely absorbing materials and provide decreasing accuracy as scattering is increased in the matrix material. The LCLS algorithm shows a better accuracy than the CLS algorithm for all cases while maintaining an equivalent or better efficiency. Accuracy and efficiency problems with the CLS algorithm are due principally to assumptions made in determining the chord-length distribution within the disks.
Facilitation of AMPA receptor-mediated steady-state current by extrasynaptic NMDA receptors in supraoptic magnocellular neurosecretory cells

In addition to classical synaptic transmission, information is transmitted between cells via the activation of extrasynaptic receptors that generate persistent tonic current in the brain. While growing evidence supports the presence of tonic NMDA current (INMDA) generated by extrasynaptic NMDA receptors (eNMDARs), the functional significance of tonic INMDA in various brain regions remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that activation of eNMDARs that generate INMDA facilitates the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-proprionate receptor (AMPAR)-mediated steady-state current in supraoptic nucleus (SON) magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs). In low-Mg2+ artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF), glutamate induced an inward shift in Iholding (IGLU) at a holding potential (Vholding) of –70 mV which was partly blocked by an AMPAR antagonist, NBQX. NBQX-sensitive IGLU was observed even in normal aCSF at Vholding of –40 mV or –20 mV. IGLU was completely abolished by pretreatment with an NMDAR blocker, AP5, under all tested conditions. AMPA induced a reproducible inward shift in Iholding (IAMPA) in SON MNCs. Pretreatment with AP5 attenuated IAMPA amplitudes to ~60% of the control levels in low-Mg2+ aCSF, but not in normal aCSF at Vholding of –70 mV. IAMPA attenuation by AP5 was also prominent in normal aCSF at depolarized holding potentials. Memantine, an eNMDAR blocker, mimicked the AP5-induced IAMPA attenuation in SON MNCs. Finally, chronic dehydration did not affect IAMPA attenuation by AP5 in the neurons. These results suggest that tonic INMDA, mediated by eNMDAR, facilitates AMPAR function, changing the postsynaptic response to its agonists in normal and osmotically challenged SON MNCs.
Are Investors Overconfident?

I identify separately the effect of public surprises, media coverage and private information on the post-announcement drift. Since private information is not observed by the econometrician, I use transaction-level data and Easley and O’Hara (1992) microstructure model to calculate the probability of private information-based trading, PIN, prior to an earnings announcement. Using the PIN measure together with a comprehensive public news database I show that the higher the PIN and the more public news surprises agents receive prior to earnings announcements, the lower the drift. Nevertheless, once I control for firm size, firms with more media coverage have larger drift. The implications of these results are threefold. First, it is important to differentiate between private information, media coverage and public news surprises, as they have opposite effects on the post-announcement drift. Second, ifPIN is a good proxy for private information-based trading, the results suggest that traders are not overconfident in their own private signals. Third, when uncertainty is high there seems to be gradual-information diffusion among traders as in Hong and Stein (1999) and there is support for “rational structural uncertainty” models as defined by Brav
Nonlinearity, correlation and the valuation of employee options

We propose a discrete time algorithm for the valuation of employee stock options based on exponential indifference prices and taking into account both the possibility of partial exercise of a fraction of the options and the use of a correlated traded asset to hedge part of their risk. We determine the optimal exercise policy under this conditions and present numerical results showing how both effects can significantly change the value of the option for an employee, as well as its cost for the issuing firm.
Weak, strong and detached oblique shocks in gravity-driven granular free-surface flows

Hazardous natural flows such as snow-slab avalanches, debris flows, pyroclastic flows and lahars are part of a much wider class of dense gravity-driven granular free-surface flows that frequently occur in industrial processes as well as in foodstuffs in our kitchens! This paper investigates the formation of oblique granular shocks, when the oncoming flow is deflected by a wall or obstacle in such a way as to cause a rapid change in the flow height and velocity. The theory for non-accelerative slopes is qualitatively similar to that of gasdynamics. For a given deflection angle there are three possibilities: a weak shock may form close to the wall; a strong shock may extend across the chute; or the shock may detach from the tip. Weak shocks have been observed in both dense granular free-surface flows and granular gases. This paper shows how strong shocks can be triggered in chute experiments by careful control of the downstream boundary conditions. The resulting downstream flow height is much thicker than that of weak shocks and there is a marked decrease in the downstream velocity. Strong shocks therefore dissipate much more energy than weak shocks. An exact solution for the angle at which the flow detaches from the wedge is derived and this is shown to be in excellent agreement with experiment. It therefore provides a very useful criterion for determining whether the flow will detach. In experimental, industrial and geophysical flows the avalanche is usually accelerated, or decelerated, by the net effect of the gravitational acceleration and basal sliding friction as the slope inclination angle changes. The presence of these source terms necessarily leads to gradual changes in the flow height and velocity away from the shocks, and this in turn modifies the local Froude number of the flow. A shock-capturing non-oscillating central method is used to compute numerical solutions to the full problem. This shows that the experiments can be matched very closely when the source terms are included and explains the deviations away from the classical oblique-shock theory. We show that weak shocks bend towards the wedge on accelerative slopes and away from it on decelerative slopes. In both cases the presence of the source terms leads to a gradual increase in the downstream flow thickness along the wedge, which suggests that defensive dams should increase in height further down the slope, contrary to current design criteria but in accordance with field observations of snow-avalanche deposits from a defensive dam in Northwestern Iceland. Movies are available with the online version of the paper.
Market Orientation, Marketing Innovation as Performance Drivers

Abstract This paper extends the paradigm of the market orientation-performance link to include a new construct called “marketing innovation. ” The setting for the research is the emerging market of India. A second major contribution of the research is an updated and parsimonious scale, consisting of nine items for the measurement of market orientation. Our study shows a strong link between market orientation and firm performance, with partial support for the marketing innovation/performance link. The implication for companies in emerging markets is that they will perform better, in general, if they are more market-oriented.
Exploring vowel production strategies from infant to adult by means of articulatory inversion of formant data

It is well known that the adult’s vocal tract is not a uniform scaled up version of a child vocal tract. Considering these morphological differences, what are the articulatory strategies used by the speaker throughout growth to produce the same vowels? Our previous simulation study [1] predicts that a speaker with a newborn-like vocal tract would employ a fronting articulation compared to an adult male, in order to produce the same acoustic targets. In this paper, we extend our simulations with the VLAM model to a 4-year-old and a 10-year-old children, a 16-year-old boy and an adult man. Articulatory positions, for each growth stage, for the 4 vowels [i], [y], [u], and [a] have been determined using a formant-to-articulatory inversion method. Analysis of real data is finally presented.
Immunization with a Double-Mutant (R192G/L211A) of the Heat-Labile Enterotoxin of Escherichia coli Offers Partial Protection against Campylobacter jejuni in an Adult Mouse Intestinal Colonization Model

We have previously shown that antibodies to cholera toxin (CT) reacted with the major outer membrane proteins (MOMPs) from Campylobacter jejuni strains on Western blot. Further, oral immunization with CT significantly protected against challenge with C. jejuni in an adult mouse colonization model of infection. CT and the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli are structurally and functionally related. LT and its mutants including the double-mutant LT (R192G/L211A) (dmLT), are powerful mucosal adjuvants. Unlike LT which is reactogenic, dmLT has been shown to be safe for human use. In the current study, we determined whether rabbit anti-dmLT antibodies reacted with MOMPs from C. jejuni strains and whether immunization with dmLT would afford protection against C. jejuni. On Western blot, the MOMPs from C. jejuni 48 (Penner serotype O:19), C. jejuni 75 (O:3) and C. jejuni 111 (O:1,44) were probed with rabbit antibodies to dmLT or LT-E112K (a non-toxic LT mutant), which showed a lack of reaction. Adult BALB/c mice were orally immunized with dmLT and orally challenged with C. jejuni 48 or 111. Protection from colonization with the challenge bacteria was studied by enumerating Campylobacter colonies in feces daily for 9 days. Vaccination produced robust serum and stool antibody responses to dmLT and no antibody responses to C. jejuni MOMP. Vaccinated mice showed reduced colonization and excretion of both challenge strains compared to control mice. However, the differences were not statistically significant. The protective efficacy of the dmLT vaccine varied from 9.1% to 54.5%. The lack of cross-reaction between the MOMP and dmLT suggests that protection is not mediated by cross-reacting antibodies, but may be due to activation of innate immunity. As dmLT is safe for humans, it could be incorporated into a C. jejuni vaccine to enhance its efficacy.
Conditional Returns to Shareholders of Bidding Firms: An Australian Study

This study examines the importance of the self-selection problem when evaluating returns to bidder firms around announcement events. Takeover announcements are not random because managers decide rationally whether to bid or not, this indicates announcements are timed; consequently, in the presence of sample selection problem, standard OLS estimates are biased. Using a conditional model the results indicate that after controlling for the self-selection bias effect, shareholders of bidder firms make normal returns. Results are robust and consistent with conventional economic theory. In sum failing to account for sample selection bias may lead to erroneous conclusions about a bidder’s true economic wealth effects around an announcement event.
Semiclassical zero-temperature corrections to Schwarzschild spacetime and holography

Motivated by the quest for black holes in anti-de Sitter braneworlds, and, in particular, by the holographic conjecture relating 5D classical bulk solutions with 4D quantum corrected ones, we numerically solve the semiclassical Einstein equations (backreaction equations) with matter fields in the (zero-temperature) Boulware vacuum state. In the absence of an exact analytical expression for in four dimensions we work within the s-wave approximation. Our results show that the quantum corrected solution is very similar to Schwarzschild spacetime until very close to the horizon, but then a bouncing surface for the radial function appears which prevents the formation of an event horizon. We also analyze the behavior of the geometry beyond the bounce, where a curvature singularity arises. In the dual theory, this indicates that the corresponding 5D static classical braneworld solution is not a black hole but rather a naked singularity.
Intranasal mupirocin for reduction of Staphylococcus aureus infections in surgical patients with nasal carriage: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES The majority of nosocomial Staphylococcus aureus infections originate from the patients' own flora, with nasal carriage of S. aureus before surgical procedures being a risk factor for subsequent infection. The objective of this review was to assess whether intranasal mupirocin treatment of nasal S. aureus carriers before surgery results in a reduction of the post-operative S. aureus infection rate. METHODS CENTRAL, EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched for the keywords mupirocin, pseudomonic acid or bactroban, combined with nasal or intranasal. Only randomized controlled studies investigating surgical patients were included. Titles and abstracts were screened independently by two reviewers. S. aureus infection data in nasal carriers with and without mupirocin treatment were pooled in the meta-analysis. RESULTS The literature search resulted in 211 hits, of which 4 articles met the inclusion criteria. Among the 686 mupirocin-treated surgical patients with S. aureus nasal carriage, there were 25 S. aureus infections (3.6%), compared with 46 (6.7%) in the controls (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.34-0.89; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Prophylactic intranasal mupirocin significantly reduced the rate of post-operative S. aureus infections among surgical patients who were S. aureus carriers.
Variability in a sampling context: enhancing elementary preservice teachers’ conceptions

While recent and ongoing research has begun to reveal ways that precollege students think about variation, more research has been needed to understand the conceptions of variation held by elementary preservice teachers and also how to shape the university courses where those preservice teachers learn. This paper, sharing an excerpt from an exploratory study aimed at preservice teachers, describes changes in class responses to a sampling task where variation is a key component. Overall, going from before to after a series of instructional interventions, responses reflected a more appropriate sensitivity to the presence of variation.
Social Capital and Cooperation : An Impact Evaluation of Women's Empowerment Programme in Rural india

This dissertation provides a quantitative impact evaluation of a community-based development project, the Mahila Samakhya programme in India. This is a women’s empowerment programme that mobilizes women from the lowest castes and poorest families to set up women groups in their village. With support from the programme, they are encouraged to identify their most urgent needs and find solutions to jointly address them. Community-based development projects have become increasingly popular in development cooperation. So far, their popularity has not been matched with an equal attention for quantitative evidence on their effectiveness. This study investigates the impact of the Mahila Samakhya programme, based on a unique dataset that the author collected in 2003. The results show that Mahila Samakhya has significantly improved trust and cooperation among participants, as well as immunization rates, schooling and access to informal credit. Moreover, the evaluation finds evidence of substantial externalities on households who do not participate in the programme themselves but who live in a village where the programme is active. Not taking into account such spillover effects would seriously underestimate the impact of the programme. However, the study does not find evidence of the hypothesized self-reinforcing mechanism between social capital and collective action.