Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust Distributed Estimation Using the Embedded Subgraphs Algorithm

We propose a new iterative, distributed approach for linear minimum mean-square-error (LMMSE) estimation in graphical models with cycles. The embedded subgraphs algorithm (ESA) decomposes a loopy graphical model into a number of linked embedded subgraphs and applies the classical parallel block Jacobi iteration comprising local LMMSE estimation in each subgraph (involving inversion of a small matrix) followed by an information exchange between neighboring nodes and subgraphs. Our primary application is sensor networks, where the model encodes the correlation structure of the sensor measurements, which are assumed to be Gaussian. The resulting LMMSE estimation problem involves a large matrix inverse, which must be solved in-network with distributed computation and minimal intersensor communication. By invoking the theory of asynchronous iterations, we prove that ESA is robust to temporary communication faults such as failing links and sleeping nodes, and enjoys guaranteed convergence under relatively mild conditions. Simulation studies demonstrate that ESA compares favorably with other recently proposed algorithms for distributed estimation. Simulations also indicate that energy consumption for iterative estimation increases substantially as more links fail or nodes sleep. Thus, somewhat surprisingly, sensor network energy conservation strategies such as low-powered transmission and aggressive sleep schedules could actually prove counterproductive. Our results can be replicated using MATLAB code from www.dsp. rice.edu/software
Levels of ICT Integration among Teacher Educators in a Teacher Education Academic College.

This article examines the perspective of teacher educators and academic officials in an academic teacher education program regarding the integration of ICT in the teacher education program. The study portrays the current state of the ICT integration process and the implementation of the program for “Adapting Teacher Training Colleges to 21st Century Education” in a specific academic college in one of Israel’s outlying areas. This mixed methods study combined quantitative and qualitative methods. Data was collected by means of a closed questionnaire, an open-ended questionnaire for the teacher educators (N = 68), and semi-structured interviews conducted with the academic officials (N = 12). Findings revealed a hierarchical range of ICT integration in teaching, which reflects different profiles of teacher educators who integrate innovative pedagogies. The three integration levels (the basic level, the focused level, and the creative level) reflect the scope of ICT integration in the context of teacher training creating a continuum of integration and implementation, which can serve as an infrastructure for the effective adoption and integration of this innovative pedagogy by teacher educators and academic officials in academic teacher training colleges.
Nonlinear geometric inequalities via induction-on-scales

We use the method of induction-on-scales to prove certain diffeomorphism-invariant nonlinear Brascamp-Lieb inequalities. Our main theorem recovers the nonlinear Loomis-Whitney inequality of Carbery, Wright and the first author, and a variant of the recent trilinear convolution inequality of Bejenaru, Herr and Tataru. Our methods are based on those of the latter.
India's Senior Citizens' Policy and an Examination of the Life of Senior Citizens in North Delhi

The paper investigates the ageing situation in India and the development of the government initiatives for the welfare of senior citizens. It also presents the initial results of a survey that the author conducted in 2011 in North Delhi. The main features related to ageing in India are 'feminisation', 'rurality' and 'poverty'. The survey in North Delhi reveals the differences between the male and the female senior citizens, and the vulnerability of the latter, in particular. The social security coverage such as pensions and health insurance was found quite limited among the respondents.
Domain-Assisted Product Aspect Hierarchy Generation: Towards Hierarchical Organization of Unstructured Consumer Reviews

This paper presents a domain-assisted approach to organize various aspects of a product into a hierarchy by integrating domain knowledge (e.g., the product specifications), as well as consumer reviews. Based on the derived hierarchy, we generate a hierarchical organization of consumer reviews on various product aspects and aggregate consumer opinions on these aspects. With such organization, user can easily grasp the overview of consumer reviews. Furthermore, we apply the hierarchy to the task of implicit aspect identification which aims to infer implicit aspects of the reviews that do not explicitly express those aspects but actually comment on them. The experimental results on 11 popular products in four domains demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
Ethnic Concentration and Nonprofit Organizations: The Political and Urban Geography of Immigrant Services in Boston, Massachusetts

This article considers the geographic distribution of nonprofit organizations serving immigrants across municipalities within the Greater Boston area in an effort to identify variations in the levels of assistance available to major foreign-born populations in the region. The analysis relies on data from the Census and the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Results suggest that geographic context matters, including immigrant settlement patterns, racial heterogeneity, and fiscal and institutional characteristics of towns and cities, in shaping availability of nonprofit resources to immigrants. These findings highlight large socio-spatial disparities in immigrant services and challenge the wisdom of devolving responsibility for such assistance to local governments and ultimately nonprofits, as new entrants settle in larger numbers in areas previously unaffected by immigration and ill-prepared to address immigrant needs. The research contributes to debates on the rescaling of immigrant policy and service provision and literature on the geography of integration by engaging with scholarship in urban and political geography.
Extragalactic source counts and contributions to the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background: predictions for the Planck Surveyor mission

We present predictions for the counts of extragalactic sources, the contributions to fluctuations and their angular power spectrum in each channel foreseen for the Planck Surveyor (formerly COBRAS/SAMBA) mission. The contribution to fluctuations owing to clustering of both radio and far-IR sources is found to be generally small in comparison with the Poisson term; however the relative importance of the clustering contribution increases and may eventually become dominant if sources are identified and subtracted down to faint flux limits. The central Planck frequency bands are expected to be ‘clean’: at high galactic latitude (|b| > 20°), where the reduced galactic noise does not prevent the detection of the extragalactic signal, only a tiny fraction of pixels is found to be contaminated by discrete extragalactic sources. Moreover, the ‘flat’ angular power spectrum of fluctuations resulting from extragalactic sources substantially differs from that of primordial fluctuations; therefore, the removal of contaminating signals is eased even at frequencies where point sources give a sizeable contribution to the foreground noise.
Mapping Two-Dimensional Deformation Field Time-Series of Large Slope by Coupling DInSAR-SBAS with MAI-SBAS

Mapping deformation field time-series, including vertical and horizontal motions, is vital for landslide monitoring and slope safety assessment. However, the conventional differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) technique can only detect the displacement component in the satellite-to-ground direction, i.e., line-of-sight (LOS) direction displacement. To overcome this constraint, a new method was developed to obtain the displacement field time series of a slope by coupling DInSAR based small baseline subset approach (DInSAR-SBAS) with multiple-aperture InSAR (MAI) based small baseline subset approach (MAI-SBAS). This novel method has been applied to a set of 11 observations from the phased array type L-band synthetic aperture radar (PALSAR) sensor onboard the advanced land observing satellite (ALOS), spanning from 2007 to 2011, of two large-scale north–south slopes of the largest Asian open-pit mine in the Northeast of China. The retrieved displacement time series showed that the proposed method can detect and measure the large displacements that occurred along the north–south direction, and the gradually changing two-dimensional displacement fields. Moreover, we verified this new method by comparing the displacement results to global positioning system (GPS) measurements.
Design and brain activity : A review of neuroscience research on design creativity

Softwares and computer simulations are widely used in design engineering and industrial design practice and the development of such tools require to understand the cognitive mechanisms of design activity. Design cognition, and more precisely “neuroscience of design”, is a field that still needs to be investigated. In fact, although general creativity (divergent thinking) has been studied for more than a decade already, creativity in design recently emerged as a research topic. In this paper, we review recent research in neuroscience on general creativity and design creativity and we draw perspectives for future research in neuroscience of design.
Gastrointestinal Myiasis by Larvae of Sarcophaga sp. and Oestrus sp. in Egypt: Report of Cases, and Endoscopical and Morphological Studies

Four cases of gastric or intestinal myiasis are reported. The cases contain 2 males (1 child 10 years old, and 1 adult 40 years old) and 2 females (1 girl 18 years old, and 1 adult 50 years old) from Minia Governorate, Southern Egypt. Three of them, including cases no. 1, 3, and 4, were gastric myiasis, and complained of offensive hematemesis of bright red blood. Minute moving worms, larvae of the fly, were found in the vomitus. On the other hand, case no. 2 had intestinal myiasis, and complained of abdominal distention, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The stool of case 2 was mixed with blood, and minute moving worms were observed in the stool. Endoscopy was performed to explore any pathological changes in the stomach of the patients. The larvae were collected and studied macroscopically, microscopically, and us-ing a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to identify their species. Three different types of larvae were identified. The larvae isolated from case 1 were diagnosed as the second stage larvae of Sarcophaga species, and the larvae isolated from case 2 were the third stage larvae of Sarcophaga species. On the other hand, the larvae isolated from cases 3 and 4 were diagnosed as the third stage larvae of Oestrus species.
Analysis of Changes in Traumatic Symptoms and Daily Life Activity of Children Affected by the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami over Time

Background On March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami caused tremendous damage and traumatized a number of people, including children. This study aimed to compare traumatic symptoms and daily life activity among children 20 months after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami with those observed after 8 months. Methods The study comprised two groups. The first comprised 12,524 kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school children in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, who were evaluated 8 months after the disaster. The second comprised 10,597 children from the same place who were evaluated 20 months after the disaster. The Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms for Children 15 items (PTSSC-15), a self-completion questionnaire on traumatic symptoms, and a questionnaire on children's daily life were distributed to the children. An effective response was obtained from 11,639 (92.9%, 8 months after) and 10,597 (86.9%, 20 months after) children. Results The PTSSC-15 score was significantly higher in junior high school girls than in boys. The PTSSC-15 score was significantly higher in 4th–6th grade girls than in boys after 8 months. Elementary and junior high school children evaluated after 20 months had a significantly lower PTSSC-15 score than those evaluated after 8 months. The number of children having breakfast was significantly higher after 8 months than that after 20 months. In both the groups, children of all grades who had breakfast had a significantly lower PTSSC-15 score than those who did not have breakfast. Conclusions We conclude that traumatic symptoms and daily life activity of children who survived the earthquake and tsunami improved over time.
Extracting keyword and keyphrase from online privacy policies

One of the key components of constructing an ontology is a taxonomy. Creating a comprehensive taxonomy involves extracting keywords and keyphrases from the domain corpus. It is a time consuming endeavour that involves domain expertise and syntactic and structural knowledge of the corpus in question. In this paper we explore different keyword and keyphrase extraction algorithms for the domain of online privacy policies. To do this we used a variety of well-known techniques such as TF-IDF, RAKE, TextRank, and AlchemyAPI, benchmarked against manual annotation. We then further evaluated the performances of various algorithms over a large corpus of 631 privacy policies. Due to the inconsistent language of privacy policies algorithms evaluating single documents (RAKE, TextRank, AlchemyAPI) outperformed the one evaluating the entire corpus (TF-IDF).
Serial Entrepreneurship and Born-Global New Ventures - A Case Study

Based on a longitudinal case study, we aim to understand how serial entrepreneurs can foster the development of born-global ventures. We consider a born-global start-up as the final stage of the learning process for a serial entrepreneur, advancing propositions regarding the importance of prior entrepreneurial experience for born-global venture creation and growth. We suggest that the serial entrepreneur's previous entrepreneurial experiences could substitute for the lack of knowledge, opportunity recognition and social networks of a born-global start-up. Thus, we recognize the necessity of a shift in the unit of analysis, from born-global start-up to a global serial entrepreneur, suggesting to follow a dynamic approach when the born-global start-up issue is discussed.
Exploring the relationships between patient characteristics and their dialysis care experience.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that it is possible for patient experience to be influenced by factors that are not attributable to health-care. Therefore, if patient experience is to be used as an accurate indicator of clinical performance, then it is important to understand its determinants. METHODS We used data from 840 dialysis patients who completed a validated patient experience survey. We created a potential theoretical framework based on available clinical knowledge to hypothesize the relationships between 13 demographic, socio-economic and health status factors and three outcome measures: global rating of the dialysis centre and the patient experience with the nephrologist's and nurses' care. The theoretical framework guided the selection of confounding variables for each determinant, which were then entered as terms in multivariable linear regression models. RESULTS Patients who were of older age, of non-European decent, and who had a lower educational level, lower albumin level, with better self-rated health and who were without co-morbidities reported higher global ratings with the dialysis centre than their counterparts. Past myocardial infarction and better self-rated health were found to be determinants of a more positive experience while in the nephrologist's care. A more positive experience with nurses' care was associated with factors including older age, Dutch origin background, lower educational level, lower albumin levels and better self-rated health. CONCLUSIONS Several characteristics of dialysis patients influence the way they rate and experience their care. When using the patient experience and ratings as indicators of clinical performance, they should be adjusted for such factors as identified in our study. This will facilitate a meaningful comparison of dialysis centres, and enable informed decision making by patients, insurers and policy makers.
Liver Stiffness by Transient Elastography Predicts Liver-Related Complications and Mortality in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

Background Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography (TE, FibroScan) is a validated method for noninvasively staging liver fibrosis. Most hepatic complications occur in patients with advanced fibrosis. Our objective was to determine the ability of LSM by TE to predict hepatic complications and mortality in a large cohort of patients with chronic liver disease. Methods In consecutive adults who underwent LSM by TE between July 2008 and June 2011, we used Cox regression to determine the independent association between liver stiffness and death or hepatic complications (decompensation, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplantation). The performance of LSM to predict complications was determined using the c-statistic. Results Among 2,052 patients (median age 51 years, 65% with hepatitis B or C), 87 patients (4.2%) died or developed a hepatic complication during a median follow-up period of 15.6 months (interquartile range, 11.0–23.5 months). Patients with complications had higher median liver stiffness than those without complications (13.5 vs. 6.0 kPa; P<0.00005). The 2-year incidence rates of death or hepatic complications were 2.6%, 9%, 19%, and 34% in patients with liver stiffness <10, 10–19.9, 20–39.9, and ≥40 kPa, respectively (P<0.00005). After adjustment for potential confounders, liver stiffness by TE was an independent predictor of complications (hazard ratio [HR] 1.05 per kPa; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–1.06). The c-statistic of liver-stiffness for predicting complications was 0.80 (95% CI 0.75–0.85). A liver stiffness below 20 kPa effectively excluded complications (specificity 93%, negative predictive value 97%); however, the positive predictive value of higher results was sub-optimal (20%). Conclusions Liver stiffness by TE accurately predicts the risk of death or hepatic complications in patients with chronic liver disease. TE may facilitate the estimation of prognosis and guide management of these patients.
The Search for Competent Capital: Financing of High Technology Small Firms in Sweden and USA

The pecking order theory states that firms choose financing in the following order: internal finance-debt-equity. However, most of the research has been conducted on larger (publicly-listed) firms. This article presents a unique empirical material on the financing of high technology small firms (HTSFs) in Linköping, Sweden and Santa Clara County, USA. The data reveals how firms are financed and their preferences for different financial sources. Whilst traditional financial theory and pecking order studies assume only three different financial sources (internal financing-debt-equity), this study also considers who the money comes from: venture capitalists, business angels, banks, corporate venture capital, governments, employees or the firms' founders. The paper shows that the pecking order is different for HTSFs than for larger firms. The HTSFs in the study have a preference for equity financing. The paper also shows that there are differences in financing between HTSFs in Linköping and Silicon Valley and that these differences are not explained by differences in pecking order but rather by differences in availability of finance--in other words, the functioning of the financial systems and the competence provided by the various financiers. HTSFs are primarily searching for appropriate financing.
Class voting, spatial segregation and metropolitan context: Operators in pluralized urban countries

The theoretical argument behind class voting research is in an economically segregated society social class normally explains electoral preferences. This paper questions the class voting model using Mexico s 2000 presidential elections as a case study. The ensuing research shows evidence that (1) there is spatial segregation across social classes in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, (2) political parties increased their geographies of exclusion between the 1994 and the 2000 presidential elections, and (3) although political parties excluded each other spatially, both class voting and the voter local context played only a minimal role in determining electoral outcomes. Rather, the vote of rejection and the desire for political change were more important factors for the outcome of the election. * Carlos J. Vilalta y Perdomo is director of the graduate program in Political Analysis and Media in the Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico City and visiting scholar in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Address: Calle del Puente 222, Col. Ejidos de Huipulco; 14380 Tlalpan, Mexico D. F. Email: carlos.vilalta@itesm.mx
Fifteen Minutes of Fame? The Market Impact of Internet Stock Picks

We examine 120 Nasdaq and over-the-counter "buy" recommendations by Internet sites from April 1999 to June 2001. The stock picks show substantial short- and long-run price and liquidity gains, although no new information is revealed about them. We find that stocks with lower initial liquidity have proportionately greater liquidity gains on the pick day. Further, stocks with lower initial liquidity and higher pick-day liquidity have higher pick-day excess returns. These results support the idea that stocks have multiple liquidity equilibria and that the stock picks, by coordinating uninformed trading activity, push initially illiquid stocks to a higher liquidity equilibrium.