Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NUM-based rate allocation for streaming traffic via Sequential Convex Programming

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for ubiquitous streaming like applications in data networks. In this paper, we concentrate on NUM-based rate allocation for streaming applications with the so-called S-curve utility functions. Due to non-concavity of such utility functions, the underlying NUM problem would be non-convex for which dual methods might become quite useless. To tackle the non-convex problem, using elementary techniques we make the utility of the network concave, however this results in reverse-convex constraints which make the problem non-convex. To deal with such a transformed NUM, we leverage Sequential Convex Programming (SCP) approach to approximate the non-convex problem by a series of convex ones. Based on this approach, we propose a distributed rate allocation algorithm which under mild conditions converges to a locally optimal solution of the original NUM. Numerical results validate the effectiveness, in terms of tractable convergence of the proposed rate allocation algorithm.
Differentiated Instruction: Understanding and Applying Interactive Strategies to Meet the Needs of all the Students

Due to the importance of applying differentiated instruction to meet the student needs, this study was conducted to make a descriptive analysis of the influence of interactive strategies on understanding the knowledge based on the abilities and the needs of each learner. Another aim was to describe the level of implementation of differentiated instruction by the teachers based on the content, process and product for each student.The participants in the research were 200 students, 30 teachers, and 30 parents from public and non-public schools. The research tools utilized in the data collection process were questionnaires for teachers and for learners, and the interview with parents. Through descriptive analysis, research findings showed that the understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction in primary schools is not at the right level and that the differences between public and nonpublic schools are far less visible. Teachers pay more attention to the product and less the content and the differentiated learning process. Parents are also willing to collaborate with the school for this new way of instruction. Although professional development initiatives through trainings in Kosovo have commenced, much is left to be done in order to enable teachers to understand, adopt, and successfully implement differentiated instruction in their classrooms.
Personal factors in talent retention in the South African banking industry

This study explored the influence of personal factors on job retention in a banking services sector setting. South African banking sector employees (n = 262) participated in the study (age range = 18–45 years; female = 62%, white = 57%). The participants were equally distributed in the different geographical locations (metropolitan areas = 53%, inland areas = 47%). The employees self-reported on their personal factors (emotional intelligence and self-esteem) and job retention factors. Regression analysis revealed personal factors as a composite variable to predict the talent retention factors of job characteristics, supervisor support, career opportunities, and work/life balance. Furthermore, the results indicated no significant differences in personal factors and retention factors by geographical location. The findings contribute new insights to the talent retention literature by presenting the importance of the personal attributes and demographical differences of employees.
Expertly Validated Models and Phylogenetically-Controlled Analysis Suggests Responses to Climate Change Are Related to Species Traits in the Order Lagomorpha

Climate change during the past five decades has impacted significantly on natural ecosystems, and the rate of current climate change is of great concern among conservation biologists. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) have been used widely to project changes in species’ bioclimatic envelopes under future climate scenarios. Here, we aimed to advance this technique by assessing future changes in the bioclimatic envelopes of an entire mammalian order, the Lagomorpha, using a novel framework for model validation based jointly on subjective expert evaluation and objective model evaluation statistics. SDMs were built using climatic, topographical, and habitat variables for all 87 lagomorph species under past and current climate scenarios. Expert evaluation and Kappa values were used to validate past and current models and only those deemed ‘modellable’ within our framework were projected under future climate scenarios (58 species). Phylogenetically-controlled regressions were used to test whether species traits correlated with predicted responses to climate change. Climate change is likely to impact more than two-thirds of lagomorph species, with leporids (rabbits, hares, and jackrabbits) likely to undertake poleward shifts with little overall change in range extent, whilst pikas are likely to show extreme shifts to higher altitudes associated with marked range declines, including the likely extinction of Kozlov’s Pika (Ochotona koslowi). Smaller-bodied species were more likely to exhibit range contractions and elevational increases, but showing little poleward movement, and fecund species were more likely to shift latitudinally and elevationally. Our results suggest that species traits may be important indicators of future climate change and we believe multi-species approaches, as demonstrated here, are likely to lead to more effective mitigation measures and conservation management. We strongly advocate studies minimising data gaps in our knowledge of the Order, specifically collecting more specimens for biodiversity archives and targeting data deficient geographic regions.
An embedded adaptive multi-rate wideband speech coder

This paper presents a multi-rate wideband speech coder with bit rates from 8 to 32 kb/s. The coder uses a splitband approach, where the input signal, sampled at 16 kHz, is split into two equal frequency bands from 0-4 kHz and 4-8 kHz, each of which is decimated to an 8 kHz sampling rate. The lower band is coded using the adaptive multi-rate (AMR) family of high-quality narrowband speech coders, while the higher band is represented by a simple but effective parametric model. A complete solution including this wideband speech coder, channel coding for various GSM channels, and dynamic rate adaptation, easily passed all Selection Rules and ranked second overall in the 3GPP AMR Wideband Selection Testing. Besides the high performance, additional advantages of the embedded split-band approach include ease of implementation, reduced complexity, and simplified interoperation with narrowband speech coders.
Adaptive Learning and Monetary Policy in an Open Economy: Lessons from Japan

Motivated by Japan's economic experiences in recent decades, we incorporate adaptive learning into an open economy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to examine the volatility and welfare impact of alternative monetary policies. Comparing four Taylor-styled policy rules that reflect Japan's monetary policy debates, we first show that imperfect knowledge and the associated learning process induce higher volatility in the economy and that explicit exchange rate stabilization is unwarranted. Moreover, contrary to results under the rational expectation paradigm, we find that while tight inflation controls raise output volatility, they can improve overall welfare under learning by smoothing inflation fluctuations. Copyright 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd
The Efficacy and Safety of Transcatheter Arterial Embolization to Treat Renal Hemorrhage after Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) in patients with renal hemorrhage after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and evaluate the risk factors that may result in severe bleeding requiring TAE. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 121 patients with post-PCNL renal hemorrhage. Thirty-two patients receiving endovascular embolization were compared with 89 patients only receiving conservative treatment. The demographic and clinical data were recorded and compared between the two groups. The values of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and serum creatinine (SCr) were recorded preoperatively, postoperatively, and at last follow-up and analyzed to evaluate the safety and efficiency of TAE. Results The successful hemostasis rate of conservative therapy was 73.6% (89/121) and that of TAE was 100% (32/32). SCr and eGFR were not significantly different before PCNL and after the last follow-up of TAE (SCr: 0.95 vs. 0.95 mg/dl, P=0.857; eGFR: 86.77 vs. 86.18 ml/min/1.73m2, P=0.715). The univariate analysis demonstrated that advanced age, urinary tract infection, and diabetes mellitus were significantly associated with severe bleeding during PCNL. Multivariate analysis further identified that diabetes mellitus was an independent risk factor for severe bleeding needing TAE [odds ratio (OR): 3.778, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.276-11.190, and P=0.016]. Conclusion TAE is a safe and effective procedure to treat renal hemorrhage that cannot be resisted by conservative treatment after PCNL. Diabetes mellitus was associated with high risks of severe bleeding needing TAE after PCNL.
Preventing juvenile sexual offending through parental monitoring: a comparison study of youth’s experiences of supervision

ABSTRACT The parental monitoring literature has long observed a link between parental monitoring and juvenile antisocial behaviour. This study extends this line of research to juveniles who commit sexual abuse. The present study investigates whether juvenile reports of parental monitoring differ between juvenile sexual offenders (n = 338), juvenile delinquents (n = 346), and non-incarcerated juvenile controls (n = 256). Results indicate that both incarcerated groups reported significantly less parental knowledge compared to juvenile controls. Further, both juvenile sexual offenders and juvenile controls reported significantly more parental control compared to juvenile delinquents. With regard to parental solicitation, the results were mixed for sexual offenders. They reported high levels of solicitation for some items (e.g. what the youth was doing, who they were with), and lower levels for other items (e.g. where the youth was, whether an adult would be present). When repeating these analyses with the exclusion of non-parent caregivers, a similar pattern of results emerged; however, item-level analyses revealed that parents of juvenile delinquents reported certain types of solicitation and control behaviours more frequently (e.g. asked where the youth was going, made sure the rules were followed) compared to findings from the main sample. Potential explanations for these findings as well as practical implications for prevention are discussed.
The relationships between tranformational leadership, behavioral regulation and self-talk in youth sport

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationships between transformational leadership, behavioral regulation and self-talk content in youth sport. Participants for this study consisted of 286 athletes (56 females, 230 males) from Romania with a mean age of 15.86 years (SD = 1.19; range = 14-19). They were recruited from a variety of individual and team sports, from three different Sport Specific High Schools in Bucharest. Athletes had a mean of 7.39 years (SD = 3.18) in the sport. On average, participants were involved in training for 14 hours per week (M = 14.37; SD = 6.77) and the mean period of time training with their coach was 13 hours per week (M = 13.60; SD = 6.91). Automatic Self-Talk Questionnaire for SportsASTQS, (Zourbanos, Hatzigeorgiadis, Chroni, Theodorakis, & Papaioannou, 2009), Team Coach Leadership ScaleTCLS, (Callow, Smith, Hardy, Arthur, & Hardy, 2009) and Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire BRSQ, (Lonsdale, Hodge, & Rose, 2009) were administered to test the underlined hypotheses. The results showed that intellectual stimulation and inspirational motivation from the TCLS, in step 1, predicted positively positive self-talk, and in step 2, intrinsic motivation from BRSQ, contributed further to the prediction of positive self-talk. Furthermore, acceptance of group goals and appropriate role model in step 1 predicted negatively negative self-talk, and in step 2, intrinsic motivation negatively, and amotivation positively contributed further to the prediction of negative self-talk. Considering all the findings, the present study puts light on the idea that because youth athletes are influenced by the coach, it is important to understand how their influence can affect youth athletes’ self-talk and further more change performance. Institutional Repository Library & Information Centre University of Thessaly 09/12/2017 12:27:40 EET 137.108. 70.7
Is There a 1998bw-like Supernova in the Afterglow of Gamma-Ray Burst 011121?

We use the very simple and successful cannonball model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows (AGs) to analyze the observations of the strongly extinct optical AG of the relatively nearby GRB 011121; these observations were made with ground-based telescopes at early times and with the Hubble Space Telescope at later times. We show that GRB 011121 was indeed associated with a 1998bw-like supernova at the GRB's redshift, as we had specifically predicted for this GRB before the supernova could be observed.
Earnings Management: IPO Valuation and Subsequent Performance

We examine the role of earnings management by issuers prior to making initial public offerings (IPOs). Our results indicate that pre-IPO abnormal accruals are positively related to initial firm value. Entrepreneurs may seek to increase their offering proceeds, temporarily deceiving investors by opportunistically manipulating earnings through accruals management before going public. This would imply a negative relationship between abnormal accruals around the offer date and subsequent firm performance. Confirming earlier studies, we find that abnormal accruals during the offer year are significantly negatively related to subsequent firm stock returns. In addition, we find that abnormal accruals in the preceding year are also significantly negatively related to subsequent performance. Moreover, this result persists even for returns that are risk-adjusted using the multifactor CAPM of Eckbo, Masulis, and Norli (2000). Thus, it appears that aggressive pre-IPO earnings management both increases IPO proceeds and decreases subsequent returns to investors.
Testing variations within the Tagish Lake meteorite—I: Mineralogy and petrology of pristine samples

Four samples (TL5b, TL11h, TL11i, and TL11v) from the pristine collection of the Tagish Lake meteorite, an ungrouped C2 chondrite, were studied to characterize and understand its alteration history using EPMA, XRD, and TEM. We determined that samples TL11h and TL11i have a relatively smaller proportion of amorphous silicate material than sample TL5b, which experienced low‐temperature hydrous parent‐body alteration conditions to preserve this indigenous material. The data suggest that lithic fragments of TL11i experienced higher degrees of aqueous alteration than the rest of the matrix, based on its low porosity and high abundance of coarse‐ and fine‐grained sheet silicates, suggesting that TL11i was present in an area of the parent body where alteration and brecciation were more extensive. We identified a coronal, “flower”‐like, microstructure consisting of a fine‐grained serpentine core and coarse‐grained saponite‐serpentine radial arrays, suggesting varied fluid chemistry and crystallization time scales. We also observed pentlandite with different morphologies: an exsolved morphology formed under nebular conditions; a nonexsolved pentlandite along grain boundaries; a “bulls‐eye” sulfide morphology and rims around highly altered chondrules that probably formed by multiple precipitation episodes during low‐temperature aqueous alteration (≥100 °C) on the parent body. On the basis of petrologic and mineralogic observations, we conclude that the Tagish Lake parent body initially contained a heterogeneous mixture of anhydrous precursor minerals of nebular and presolar origin. These materials were subjected to secondary, nonpervasive parent‐body alteration, and the samples studied herein represent different stages of that hydrous alteration, i.e., TL5b (the least altered) < TL11h < TL11i (the most altered). Sample TL11v encompasses the petrologic characteristics of the other three specimens.
Dystrophin conferral using human endothelium expressing HLA-E in the non-immunosuppressive murine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-E is a non-classical major histocompatibility complex class I (Ib) molecule, which plays an important role in immunosuppression. In this study, we investigated the immunomodulating effect of HLA-E in a xenogeneic system, using human placental artery-derived endothelial (hPAE) cells expressing HLA-E in a mouse model. In vitro cell lysis analysis by primed lymphocytes in combination with siRNA transfection showed that HLA-E is necessary for inhibition of the immune response. Similarly, in vivo cell implantation analysis with siRNA-mediated down-regulation of HLA-E demonstrates that HLA-E is involved in immunosuppression. As hPAE cells efficiently transdifferentiate into myoblasts/myocytes in vitro, we transplanted the cells into mdx mice, a model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. hPAE cells conferred dystrophin to myocytes of the ‘immunocompetent' mdx mice with extremely high efficiency. These findings suggest that HLA-E-expressing cells with a myogenic potential represent a promising source for cell-based therapy of patients with muscular dystrophy.
Extramotor Damage Is Associated with Cognition in Primary Lateral Sclerosis Patients

Objectives This is a cross-sectional study aimed at investigating cognitive performances in patients with primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) and using diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine the topographical distribution of microstructural white matter (WM) damage in patients with or without cognitive deficits. Methods DT MRI scans were obtained from 21 PLS patients and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. All PLS patients underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Tract-based-spatial-statistics (TBSS) was used to perform a whole-brain voxel-wise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA), axial, radial (radD) and mean diffusivity (MD). Results Ten PLS patients had abnormal scores in at least one neuropsychological test (PLS with cognitive deficits, PLS-cd). Compared with healthy controls and cognitively unimpaired PLS patients (PLS-cu), PLS-cd cases showed decreased FA and increased MD and radD in the corticospinal tract (CST), corpus callosum, brainstem, anterior limb of internal capsule, superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi, fornix, thalamic radiations, and parietal lobes, bilaterally. Compared with healthy controls, PLS-cd patients showed further decreased FA and increased radD in the cerebellar WM, bilaterally. Compared with controls, PLS-cu patients showed decreased FA in the mid-body of corpus callosum. In PLS, executive and language test scores correlated with WM damage. Conclusions This is the first study evaluating the relationship between cognitive performance and WM tract damage in PLS patients. PLS can be associated with a multi-domain cognitive impairment. WM damage to interhemispheric, limbic and major associative WM tracts seem to be the structural correlate of cognitive abnormalities in these patients.
Potential Consequences of Abandonment in Preschool-Age: Neuropsychological Findings in Institutionalized Children

Objective: Several longitudinal studies had shown that early deprivation and institutionalization during the first six months of life affects the emotional, cognitive, social and neurophysiologic development. Nevertheless, our understanding of possible similar effects of delayed institutionalization, in preschool-age remains unclear to this day. The goal of this study is to evaluate the cognitive performance of institutionalized children with history of preschool-age physical abandonment. Method: 18 male institutionalized children with history of abandonment during the preschool-age (2–5 years old) and comparison group matched by age, handedness, gender, educational and socioeconomic level were tested on multiple tasks of attention, memory and executive functions. Results: We found a cognitive impairment in the institutionalized children in several measures of attention, memory and executive functions. This is the first report of cognitive impairment related to late abandonment and institutionalization effects (after 2 years old), extending the already known effects on early institutionalization. Conclusions: This preliminary study suggests that environmental factors including abandonment and institutional care, can affect not only the infancy period, but also the preschool period providing new insights into our understanding of neurocognitive development.
Real-Time Rendering of Water in Computer Graphics

The simulation and rendering of realistic looking water is a very difficult task in computer graphics, due to the fact that everybody knows how it should behave and look like. This work will focus on rendering realistic looking water in real time. The simulation of water will not be described. Therefore this paper can be seen as a survey of current rendering methods for water bodies. Though simulation will not be mentioned data structures which are used by the most common simulation methods are described, because they can directly be used as input for the later presented surface extraction and rendering techniques. The correct handling of the interaction of light with a water surface can highly increase the perceived realism of the rendering. Therefore methods for physically exact rendering of reflections and refractions will be shown, using Snell’s law and the Fresnel equations. The light water interaction does not stop with the water surface, but continues inside the water volume, causing caustics and beams of light. Rendering techniques for these phenomena will be described as well as bubbles and foam. CR Categories: I.3. 3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation—Display algorithms I.3. 5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling—Boundary representations I.3. 7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism—Virtual reality
Finite element modelling and experimental study of oblique soccer ball bounce

Abstract In this study, we develop a finite element model to examine the oblique soccer ball bounce. A careful simulation of the interaction between the ball membrane and air pressure in the ball makes the model more realistic than analytical models, and helps us to conduct an accurate study on the effect of different parameters on a bouncing ball. This finite element model includes a surface-based fluid cavity to model the mechanical response between the ball carcass and the internal air of the ball. An experimental set-up was devised to study the bounce of the ball in game-relevant impact conditions. Ball speed, angle, and spin were measured before and after the bounce, as well as ball deformation and the forces during the impact. The finite element model has been validated with three different sets of data, and the results demonstrate that the finite element model reported here is a valuable tool for the study of ball bounce. After validation of the model, the effect of the friction coefficient on soccer ball bounce was studied numerically. Simulation results show that increasing the friction coefficient may result in reversal of the horizontal impact force.