Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deriving semantic annotations of an audiovisual program from contextual texts

The aim of this paper is to explore whether indexing terms for an audiovisual program can be derived from contextual texts automatically. For this we apply natural-language processing techniques to contextual texts of two Dutch TV-programs. We use a Dutch domain thesaurus to derive possible metadata. This possible metadata is ranked by an algorithm which uses the relations of the thesaurus. We evaluate the results by comparing them to human made descriptions.
Exploring the Willingness and Ability to Pay for Paratransit in Bandung, Indonesia

This article explores the willingness and ability to pay of the paratransit user. Paratransit (jitney) in this study refers to a public mode of transport of passengers that is owned and operated by private individuals or very small enterprises. The data was collected from a survey in Bandung, Indonesia, and analyzed using ordinal probit and binomial logistic regression. The findings illustrate a gap between the values of willingness and ability, and also reveal that people have different valuations regarding their related perceptions. The analysis explains the groups of users who have a tendency to assign a higher value, including the characteristics of users who agree with higher fare increments. This study also discusses the policy implications of this analysis.
Decreased fatty acid synthesis due to mitochondrial uncoupling in adipose tissue

Synthesis of fatty acid (FA) in adipose tissue requires cooperation of mitochondrial and cytoplasmic enzymes. Mitochondria are required for the production of ATP and they also support the formation of acetyl‐CoA and NADPH in cytoplasm. Since cellular levels of all these metabolites depend on the efficiency of mitochondrial energy conversion, mitochondrial proton leak via uncoupling proteins (UCPs) could modulate FA synthesis. In 3T3‐L1 adipocytes, 2,4‐dinitrophenol depressed the synthesis of FA 4‐fold while increasing FA oxidation 1.5fold and the production of lactate 14‐fold. Inhibition of FA synthesis in 3T3‐L1 adipocytes was proportional to the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential. FA synthesis from D‐[U‐14C] glucose was reduced up to fourfold by ectopic UCP1 in the white fat of transgenic aP2‐Ucp1 mice, reflecting the magnitude of UCP1 expression in different fat depots and the reduction of adiposity. Transcript levels for lipogenic enzymes were lower in the white fat of the transgenic mice than in the control animals. Our results show that uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation depresses FA synthesis in white fat. Reduction of adiposity via mitochondrial uncoupling in white fat not only reflects increased energy expenditure, but also decreased in situ lipogenesis. —Rossmeisl, M. , Syrový, I. , Baumruk, F. , Flachs, P., Janovská, P., Kopecký, J. Decreased fatty acid synthesis due to mitochondrial uncoupling in adipose tissue. FASEB J. 14, 1793–1800 (2000)
Entrepreneurial Characteristics of Small and Medium Hotel Owner-Managers

This study seeks to identify the demographic profile and entrepreneurial characteristics of small and medium hotel (SMH) owner-managers in East Peninsular Malaysia. Literature reveals that there is very limited empirical evidence on entrepreneurship studies in the tourism industry. This study attempts to document the demographic profile and entrepreneurial characteristics of small and medium hotel entrepreneurs (SMHEs) in Malaysia. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from 145 SMHEs, with 137 questionnaires deemed useable. The results convey that majority of SMHEs are middle-aged or older males, with secondary and upper levels of formal education and whose prior specialization or knowledge are unrelated to tourism. However, the low entry barrier in the industry has given them an opportunity to be part of the industry. Majority of these SMHEs started operations after the 1997 financial crisis. Their demographic profile does not serve a significant factor in their involvement in the business; however, their self-confidence and highly independent personalities could have stimulated their business interest and aided their survival in the industry.
Sparse approximation based on a random overcomplete basis

We discuss a strategy of sparse approximation that is based on the use of an overcomplete basis, and evaluate its performance when a random matrix is used as this basis. A small combination of basis vectors is chosen from a given overcomplete basis, according to a given compression rate, such that they compactly represent the target data with as small a distortion as possible. As a selection method, we study the ℓ0- and ℓ1-based methods, which employ the exhaustive search and ℓ1-norm regularization techniques, respectively. The performance is assessed in terms of the trade-off relation between the distortion and the compression rate. First, we evaluate the performance analytically in the case that the methods are carried out ideally, using methods of statistical mechanics. The analytical result is then confirmed by performing numerical experiments on finite size systems, and extrapolating the results to the infinite-size limit. Our result clarifies the fact that the ℓ0-based method greatly outperforms the ℓ1-based one. An interesting outcome of our analysis is that any small value of distortion is achievable for any fixed compression rate r in the large-size limit of the overcomplete basis, for both the ℓ0- and ℓ1-based methods. The difference between these two methods is manifested in the size of the overcomplete basis that is required in order to achieve the desired value for the distortion. As the desired distortion decreases, the required size grows in a polynomial and an exponential manners for the ℓ0- and ℓ1-based methods, respectively. Second, we examine the practical performances of two well-known algorithms, orthogonal matching pursuit and approximate message passing, when they are used to execute the ℓ0- and ℓ1-based methods, respectively. Our examination shows that orthogonal matching pursuit achieves a much better performance than the exact execution of the ℓ1-based method, as well as approximate message passing. However, regarding the ℓ0-based method, there is still room to design more effective greedy algorithms than orthogonal matching pursuit. Finally, we evaluate the performances of the algorithms when they are applied to image data compression.
BAYES ERROR RATE ESTIMATION USINGNEURAL NETWORK ENSEMBLES

Assessing the performance of a given pattern classiier requires knowing the lowest achievable error, or the Bayes error rate. There are several classical approaches for estimating or nding bounds for the Bayes error. One type of approach focuses on obtaining analytical bounds, which are both diicult to calculate and dependent on distribution parameters that may not be known. Another strategy is to estimate the class densities through non-parametric methods, and use these estimates to obtain bounds on the Bayes error. This article presents two approaches to estimating performance limits based on neural network ensembles. First, we present a framework that estimates the Bayes error when multiple classiiers are combined through averaging. Then we discuss a more general method that provides error estimates based on disagreements among classiiers. The methods are illustrated for both artiicial data, a diicult four class problem involving underwater acoustic data, and two problems from the Proben1 benchmarks. For the data sets with known Bayes error, the combiner based methods introduced in this article outperform the existing methods.
Relative Difference Families With Variable Block Sizes and Their Related OOCs

Seven infinite classes of relative difference families with variable block sizes are presented explicitly. In particular, a balanced (<i>gv</i>,<i>g</i>,<i>K</i>,1)-DF with <i>g</i>=Σ<sub>k∈K</sub>[(<i>k</i><sup>2</sup>-<i>k</i>)/2] is explicitly given for: (i) <i>K</i>={3,4,5} and every <i>v</i> coprime to 6; (ii) <i>K</i>={3,4,6}, {3,5,6} or {3,4,5,6} and every <i>v</i> coprime to 30. As far as the authors are aware, these difference families can be viewed as the first explicit constructions of infinite classes of optimal variable-weight optical orthogonal codes with more than two weights. It is observed, however, that there are infinitely many values of <i>v</i> for which an optimal (<i>v</i>,<i>W</i>,1,<i>Q</i>) -OOC exists, whatever the set of weights <i>W</i> and the weight distribution sequence <i>Q</i> are.
Does Women’s Status Matter for Food Security? Evidence from Bangladesh

Using data from a survey of Bangladeshi households, this paper investigates the link between female status and food security. Employing three different indicators of female status ? husband? s and wife? s assets brought at marriage, female share of household income and a composite index of women empowerment, the paper finds evidence of women? s status influencing food security. By raising the level of food security for some disadvantaged women? s groups female status is also found to be instrumental in mitigating the extent of gender-based within-household discrimination. The findings reveal that inferences drawn about food security by observing the changes in various non-food budget shares could be misleading or overemphasized.
Regulatory Reform: Integrating Paradigms

The Subprime crisis largely resulted from failures to internalize systemic risk evenly across financial intermediaries and recognize the implications of Knightian uncertainty and mood swings. A successful reform of prudential regulation will need to integrate more harmoniously the three paradigms of moral hazard, externalities, and uncertainty. This is a tall order because each paradigm leads to different and often inconsistent regulatory implications. Moreover, efforts to address the central problem under one paradigm can make the problems under the others worse. To avoid regulatory arbitrage and ensure that externalities are uniformly internalized, all prudentially regulated intermediaries should be subjected to the same capital adequacy requirements, and unregulated intermediaries should be financed only by regulated intermediaries. Reflecting the importance of uncertainty, the new regulatory architecture will also need to rely less on markets and more on"holistic"supervision, and incorporate countercyclical norms that can be adjusted in light of changing circumstances.
The epidemiology of total knee replacement in South Korea: national registry data.

OBJECTIVE Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is prevalent among the elderly in Asian countries; however, the utilization of total knee replacement (TKR) is unknown. Using data from a national registry, we sought to estimate the incidence of TKR by age and sex, and the trend for TKR utilization from 2002 to 2005 in South Korea. METHODS Reimbursement records from all hospitals in South Korea were extracted from the Health Insurance Review Agency (HIRA) database. Records with both the procedure code corresponding to a TKR and the diagnosis code of knee OA were selected. We estimated the age- and sex-specific rates of TKR. To compare the rate of TKR between men and women, we calculated age-standardized risk ratios. A TKR registry from a single centre containing more clinical information was analysed, and the differences in the clinical features between men and women were compared. RESULTS From 2002 to 2005, 47 961 TKRs were performed in subjects over the age of 40 yrs due to OA. The rate of TKR has increased over the 4 yrs and was much higher in women than in men. Compared with men, the age-standardized rate ratios for TKR in women ranged from 7.4 to 8.0. The single-centre registry data revealed that there was no difference in age, disease duration and the Kellgren-Lawrence grade at the time of surgery between men and women. CONCLUSION Using a national database, we found that the rate of TKR increased steadily from 2002 to 2005 in South Korea. The TKR rate in women was much higher than that in men. Risk factors that account for such disparity in TKR utilization need to be further investigated.
Maternal Health and the Baby Boom

Abstract U.S. fertility rose from a low of 2.27 children for women born in 1908 to a peak of 3.21 children for women born in 1932. It dropped to a new low of 1.74 children for women born in 1949, before stabilizing for subsequent cohorts. We propose a novel explanation for this boom-bust pattern, linking it to the huge improvements in maternal health that started in the mid 1930s. Our hypothesis is that the improvements in maternal health contributed to the mid-twentieth century baby boom and generated a rise in women's human capital, ultimately leading to a decline in desired fertility for subsequent cohorts. To examine this link empirically, we exploit the large cross-state variation in the magnitude of the decline in pregnancy-related mortality and the differential exposure by cohort. We find that the decline in maternal mortality is associated with a rise in fertility for women born between 1921 and 1940, with a rise in college and high school graduation rates for women born in 1933-1950, and with a decline in fertility for women born in 1941-1950. These findings are consistent with a theory of fertility featuring a trade-off between the quality and quantity of children. The analysis provides new insights on the determinants of fertility in the U.S. and other countries that experienced similar improvements in maternal health.
Enhancing Mutual Understanding in Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication by Training

Ineffective use of text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC), that is, chats, may affect the quality of communicative exchange compared to effective use and to face-to-face (FtF) communication. Especially in groups making decisions in equivocal judgmental tasks, inappropriate use of the CMC medium often impairs performance. Users need high communication and media competencies to overcome the negative effects brought about by the technology. Without intervention, mutual understanding and satisfaction with the group process are reduced in computer-mediated decision groups. Training that helps participants adapt to the medium should provide them with the needed competencies. The authors found a complex pattern of process and outcome effects with the best performance scores in the FtF condition, performance scores in CMC with training approximating those of the FtF condition, and lowest performance scores in CMC without training.
The influence of individual motor imagery ability on cerebral recruitment during gait imagery

Motor imagery (MI) is often used in combination with neuroimaging techniques to study the cognitive control of gait. However, imagery ability (IA) varies widely across individuals, potentially influencing the pattern of cerebral recruitment during MI. The aim of the current study was to investigate this effect of IA on the neural correlates of gait control using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty healthy young subjects were subdivided into a good and bad imagers group, on the basis of their performance on two mental chronometry tests. For the whole group, MI activated a bilateral network of areas highly consistent with previous studies, encompassing primary motor cortex (BA 4), supplementary motor area, and other frontal and parietal areas, anterior insula, and cerebellum. Compared to bad imagers, good imagers showed higher activation in the right BA 4, left prefrontal cortex (BA 10), right thalamus, and bilateral cerebellum. Good imagers thus appear better able to recruit motor areas during MI, but also activate a prefrontal executive area (BA 10), which integrates information from the body and the environment and participates in higher‐order gait control. These differences were found even though the two groups did not differ in other imagery abilities according to a standard questionnaire for vividness of motor and visual imagery. Future studies on MI should take into account these effects, and control for IA when comparing different populations, using appropriate measures. A better understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie MI ability is crucial to accurately evaluate locomotor skills in clinical measures and neurorehabilitation techniques. Hum Brain Mapp 35:455–470, 2014. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Performance Comparisons of EWMA Control Chart Schemes

Abstract Combining an EWMA chart with a Shewhart chart is traditionally recommended as a means of providing good protection against both small and large shifts in the process mean. Capizzi and Masarotto have proposed an EWMA chart with a variable smoothing constant (AEWMA) for the same purpose. In this paper, we optimize the designs of the AEWMA and of the combined EWMA-Shewhart schemes with regard to pairs of shifts in the process mean and compare their performances. When the schemes are optimized for the same pair of shifts, their ARL profiles practically coincide. The choice between the AEWMA and the EWMA-Shewhart scheme then becomes a matter of personal preference. We also explore using an AEWMA together with a Shewhart chart, but we find no performance improvement. An additional contribution of this paper is the tables of optimal designs of each scheme for several pairs of shifts.
Gamma‐ray bursts in normal and extreme star‐forming galaxies

We discuss how gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical afterglows and multiwavelength observations of their host galaxies can be used to obtain information about the relative amounts of star formation happening in optical and submillimetre galaxies. That such an analysis will be possible follows from the currently favoured idea that GRBs are closely linked with high-mass star formation. Studying GRB host galaxies offers a method of finding low-luminosity submillimetre galaxies, which cannot be identified either in optical Lyman break surveys, because so much of their star formation is hidden by dust, or in submillimetre surveys, because their submillimetre fluxes are close to or below the confusion limit. Much of the star formation in the Universe could have occurred in such objects, so searching for them is an important exercise. From current observations, GRB host galaxies appear to be neither optically luminous Class-2 SCUBA galaxies like SMM J02399 - 0136 or SMM J14011 + 0252, nor galaxies containing dense molecular cores like local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIGs), but rather some intermediate kind of galaxy. The host galaxy of GRB 980703 is a prototype of this kind of galaxy.
Explanation of high solar cell diode factors by nonuniform contact resistance

The current density–voltage (J–V) curve that characterises the performance of a solar cell is often extra rounded, resulting in reduced efficiency. When fitting to the standard one‐dimensional models, it is often found that the rounding cannot be fitted by the series resistance only. In these cases, the diode factor m or the depletion region saturation current density J0DR (depending on the model used) is increased. This behaviour could not be explained so far; this paper discusses if a nonuniform contact resistance of the front side metallisation leads to an increase of m or J0DR.
DENFIS: dynamic evolving neural-fuzzy inference system and its application for time-series prediction

This paper introduces a new type of fuzzy inference systems, denoted as dynamic evolving neural-fuzzy inference system (DENFIS), for adaptive online and offline learning, and their application for dynamic time series prediction. DENFIS evolve through incremental, hybrid (supervised/unsupervised), learning, and accommodate new input data, including new features, new classes, etc., through local element tuning. New fuzzy rules are created and updated during the operation of the system. At each time moment, the output of DENFIS is calculated through a fuzzy inference system based on m-most activated fuzzy rules which are dynamically chosen from a fuzzy rule set. Two approaches are proposed: (1) dynamic creation of a first-order Takagi-Sugeno-type fuzzy rule set for a DENFIS online model; and (2) creation of a first-order Takagi-Sugeno-type fuzzy rule set, or an expanded high-order one, for a DENFIS offline model. A set of fuzzy rules can be inserted into DENFIS before or during its learning process. Fuzzy rules can also be extracted during or after the learning process. An evolving clustering method (ECM), which is employed in both online and offline DENFIS models, is also introduced. It is demonstrated that DENFIS can effectively learn complex temporal sequences in an adaptive way and outperform some well-known, existing models.
The Influence of Non Polar and Polar Molecules in Mouse Motile Cells Membranes and Pure Lipid Bilayers

We report an experimental study of mouse sperm motility that shows chief aspects characteristic of neurons: the anesthetic (produced by tetracaine) and excitatory (produced by either caffeine or calcium) effects and their antagonic action. While tetracaine inhibits sperm motility and caffeine has an excitatory action, the combination of these two substances balance the effects, producing a motility quite similar to that of control cells. We also study the effects of these agents (anesthetic and excitatory) on the melting points of pure lipid liposomes constituted by 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and dipalmitoyl phosphatidic acid (DPPA). Tetracaine induces a large fluidization of the membrane, shifting the liposomes melting transition temperature to much lower values. The effect of caffeine is null, but its addition to tetracaine-doped liposomes greatly screen the fluidization effect. A high calcium concentration stiffens pure lipid membranes and strongly reduces the effect of tetracaine. Molecular Dynamics Simulations are performed to further understand our experimental findings at the molecular level. We find a strong correlation between the effect of antagonic molecules that could explain how the mechanical properties suitable for normal cell functioning are affected and recovered.
Regulated and Unregulated Forms of Cortisol Reactivity: A Dual Vulnerability Model

Objective: To test in a laboratory setting the hypothesis that the most problematic daily outcomes should be particular to individuals displaying higher cortisol reactivity and deficits in executive functioning as assessed in a task-switching paradigm. Methods: Thirty-eight volunteers completed a comprehensive assessment protocol. Individual differences in cortisol reactivity were quantified in an initial laboratory session involving a social stress speech task. Subsequently, individual differences in task-switching costs in a cognitive paradigm were assessed in a second session. Participants then reported on four problematic outcomes—error reactivity; worry; core aspects of negative emotionality; and aggression behavior frequency—for 15 consecutive days. Results: Levels of cortisol reactivity did not predict task-switching costs. Instead, and as hypothesized, individual differences in cortisol reactivity and task-switching costs interacted to predict the problematic daily outcomes. The highest levels of such problematic outcomes were particular to high cortisol reactors also exhibiting greater task-switching costs. Conclusions: The findings support the dual vulnerability model proposed and are discussed from temperamental, health risk, and daily outcome perspectives. These findings indicate that cortisol is a risk factor, particularly when combined with deficiencies in task-switching. MLM = multilevel modeling; RT = reaction time.