Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling the User’s Plans and Goals

This work is an ongoing research effort aimed both at developing techniques for inferring and constructing a user model from an information-seeking dialog and at identifying strategies for applying this model to enhance robust communication. One of the most important components of a user model is a representation of the system's beliefs about the underlying task-related plan motivating an information-seeker's queries. These beliefs can be used to interpret subsequent utterances and produce useful responses. This paper describes the IREPS system, emphasizing its dynamic construction of the task-related plan motivating the information-seeker's queries and the application of this component of a user model to handling utterances that violate the pragmatic rules of the system's world model. By reasoning on a model of the user's plans and goals, the system often can deduce the intended meaning of faulty utterances and allow the dialogue to continue without interruption. Some limitations of current plan inference systems are discussed. It is suggested that the problem of detecting and recovering from discrepancies between the system's model of the user's plan and the actual plan under construction by the user requires an enriched model that differentiates among its components on the basis of the support the system accords each component as a correct and intended part of the user's plan.
The Role of Mobility in Tax and Subsidy Competition

In this paper, we analyse the role of mobility in tax and subsidy competition. Our primary result is that increasing ‘relocation’ mobility of firms leads to increasing ‘net’ tax revenues under fairly weak conditions. While enhanced relocation mobility intensifies tax competition, it weakens subsidy competition. The resulting fall in the governments’ subsidy payments overcompensates the decline in tax revenues, leading to a rise in net tax revenues. We derive this conclusion in a model in which two governments are first engaged in subsidy competition and thereafter in tax competition, and firms locate and potentially relocate in response to the two political choices.
Efficient power control for broadcast in wireless communication systems

Energy efficiency is a measure of performance in wireless networks. Therefore, controlling the transmitter power at a given node increases not only the operating life of the battery but also the overall system capacity by successfully admitting new nodes between a source and a destination. It is essential to find effective means of power control of point-to-point, broadcasting and multicasting scenarios. In past work A. T. Chronopoulos et al. (2002), we presented a new scheme state space-based control design (SSCD) using both the state space and optimal control methodology in discrete-time for power control in wireless systems. Further, we proved the convergence of the overall network with our algorithm using Lyapunov stability analysis. We made a comparison with a well known distributed power control (DPC) scheme. Here we present simulation results and comparisons for point-to-point communication with random node placement. We also combined the schemes SSCD and DPC with a tree based broadcast algorithm BIP to obtain broadcast tree in ad-hoc networks with power control. We show the effectiveness of the new algorithm through simulations.
NATIONAL WEEDS PROGRAM IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL WEEDS ON BIODIVERSITY: A REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT OF A METHODOLOGY

FOREWORD The impact of environmental weeds on the natural environment is an area that has been little studied in Australia. More often than not, impact is assumed rather than quantified. If the impact of environmental weeds on nature conservation values is not quantitatively assessed before a control program is begun, valuable resources can be wasted. For instance, how would it be possible to determine the level at which the weed invasion has a negligible impact on the natural environment? This is a critical question when you are considering investing resources towards the control of environmental weeds. Key questions that need to be asked before control programs are undertaken for environmental weeds include determining the impact of weeds on native species and ecosystem functions, the threshold densities at which there is little or no impact of the weed on conservation values, and what factors can be manipulated to reduce that impact. This report reviews the impact of environmental weeds on biodiversity values and assesses the techniques used in various quantitative studies. It provides a standardised methodology incorporating experimental design and data analysis options that address the above questions. This publication is a comprehensive document providing excellent material for future research and planning for environmental weed management. It is an invaluable contribution to the area of impact assessment and I hope it will be considered an important tool for use by all agencies and individuals concerned with biodiversity conservation.
The Influence of Context on Dialogue Act Recognition

This article presents an analysis of the influence of context information on dialog act recognition. We performed experiments on the widely explored Switchboard corpus, as well as on data annotated according to the recent ISO 24617-2 standard. The latter was obtained from the Tilburg DialogBank and through the mapping of the annotations of a subset of the Let's Go corpus. We used a classification approach based on SVMs, which had proved successful in previous work and allowed us to limit the amount of context information provided. This way, we were able to observe the influence patterns as the amount of context information increased. Our base features consisted of n-grams, punctuation, and wh-words. Context information was obtained from one to five preceding segments and provided either as n-grams or dialog act classifications, with the latter typically leading to better results and more stable influence patterns. In addition to the conclusions about the importance and influence of context information, our experiments on the Switchboard corpus also led to results that advanced the state-of-the-art on the dialog act recognition task on that corpus. Furthermore, the results obtained on data annotated according to the ISO 24617-2 standard define a baseline for future work and contribute for the standardization of experiments in the area.
DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS’ NEED: Evaluating Interactions from Moore’s Theory of Transactional Distance

This study draws on the experience from a focus group interviews under the distance learning programme known as Program Pensiswazahan Guru (PPG) organized by the Malaysian Ministry of Education in collaboration with local universities and institutes of education. Its purpose is to uncover students’ perception about the platform used by International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) which is the Learning Management System (LMS). LMS is a vital instructional medium especially for the varsity distant learners. Michael Moore’s Theory of Transactional Distance is used as the guiding framework to gain insights on learning and interactions in this e-learning setting. Teacher-student interactions are analyzed for better understanding of the phenomena under study. The findings indicate that in terms of usability LMS is perceived as a good platform to acquire information on content and to receive feedback from instructors. However, IIUM learners hope for more interactivity where learners can communicate amongst themselves beside engaging with the instructor-learner- content interactions that they currently experience via the system. This study aspires to provide insights on the significance of interactions from distance learners’ perception.
Kinetic Assessment and Therapeutic Modulation of Metabolic and Inflammatory Profiles in Mice on a High-Fat and Cholesterol Diet

The kinetics of metabolic and inflammatory parameters associated with obesity were evaluated in a murine diet-induced obesity (DIO) model using a diet high in fat and cholesterol. Cellular infiltration and mediator production were assessed and shown to be therapeutically modulated by the PPARgamma agonist rosiglitazone. C57BL/6 mice were maintained on a 45% fat/ 0.12% cholesterol (HF/CH) or Chow diet for 3, 6, 16, or 27 weeks. Flow cytometry was employed to monitor peripheral blood monocytes and adipose tissue macrophages (ATM). Gene expression and protein analysis methods were used to evaluate mediator production from total epididymal fat (EF), stromal vascular fraction (SVF), and sorted SVF cells. To investigate therapeutic intervention, mice were fed a HF/CH diet for 12 weeks and then a diet formulated with rosiglitazone (5 mg/kg) for an additional 6 weeks. A HF/CH diet correlated with obesity and a dramatic proinflammatory state. Therapeutic intervention with rosiglitazone attenuated the HF/CH induced inflammation. In addition, a novel population was found that expressed the highest levels of the pro-inflammatory mediators CCL2 and IL-6.
Behavioral / Systems / Cognitive Effective Connectivity of the Human Cerebellum during Visual Attention

Insights from both lesion and neuroimaging studies increasingly substantiate the view that the human cerebellum not only serves motor control but also supports various cognitive processes. Higher cognitive functions like working memory or executive control have been associated with the phylogenetically younger parts of the cerebellum, crus I and crus II. Functional connectivity studies corroborate this notion as activation of the cerebellum correlates with activity in numerous areas of the cerebral cortex. Moreover, these cerebrocerebellar loops were shown to be topographically organized. We used an attention-to-motion paradigm to elaborate on the effective connectivity of cerebellar crus I during visual attention. Psychophysiological interaction analyses demonstrated enhanced connectivity of the cerebel
Automatic Chinese aspectual classification using linguistic indicators

The lack of regular morphological tense markers makes Chinese aspectual classification complicated. An approach of Chinese aspectual classification based on linguistic indicators is proposed in this paper. Forty-nine indicators are used in the classification, and they are divided into three levels. Based on our approach, two three-layers classifiers are also constructed. In close test and open test, these two three-layers classifiers both achieve higher accuracy than single classifier. The indicators are then evaluated and selected by RELIEF-F evaluation algorithm for the further experiments. The experiments using pruned features selected by RELIEF-F can also achieve good results.
A study on incidence rate of dengue fever in rural area of Thiruvannamalai district

Background: In Tamil Nadu, the dengue outbreak is often associated with monsoon periods clubbed with draught. Basic population statistics such as incident rate was needed very much. Hence this study was planned a) to know the incidence rate of dengue fever in Kattampoondi primary health centre area in Thiruvannamalai district and b) to find out age-sex pattern of the cases.Methods: A longitudinal descriptive study was conducted among the residents of villages served by Kattampoondi primary health center during July to December, 2017. Four villages were selected by random sampling technique. The population came about 9385. Only confirmed dengue cases as per WHO case definition, during July to December 2017 were found and confirmed cases included thereafter.Results: The total dengue cases in the study area with a population of 9385 were found to be 75. Among 75 cases of dengue, 43 (57%) were males and 32 (43%) were females. Out of 75 cases, 36 (48%) cases occurred in the age group of 15 and above, 34 (45%) cases occurred between 5 to 15 years of age and 5 (7%) cases occurred among under five.Conclusions: When compared to state incidence rate, the incidence rate of this PHC area was significantly high. This might be due to good surveillance work. Though all age groups and both sexes are susceptible to dengue fever, personal protection might be the reason for low incidence rate among children with below 5 year of age.
A Genetic Variant in Primary miR-378 Is Associated with Risk and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a Chinese Population

Background MiR-378 has been reported to be related to cell survival, tumor growth and angiogenesis and may participate in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and prognosis. Genetic variants in primary miR-378 (pri-miR-378) may impact miR-378 expression and contribute to HCC risk and survival. This study aimed to assess the associations between a genetic variant in primary miR-378 and HCC susceptibility and prognosis. Methods We conducted a case-control study to analyze the association of rs1076064 in pri-miR-378 with hepatocellular carcinoma risk in 1300 HCC patients with positive hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 1344 HBV carriers. Then, we evaluated the correlation between the polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis in 331 HCC patients at either intermediate or advanced stage without surgical treatment. Results The variant genotypes of rs1076064 were associated with a decreased HCC risk in HBV carriers [Adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.90, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.81–1.00, P = 0.047]. Moreover, HCC patients with the variant genotypes were associated with a better survival [Adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.70, 95% CIs = 0.59–0.83, P<0.0001 in an additive genetic model]. The reporter gene assay showed that the variant G allele of rs1076064 exerted higher promoter activity than the A allele. Conclusions These findings indicate that rs1076064 may be a biomarker for HCC susceptibility and prognosis through altering pri-miR-378 transcription.
Does Distance Still Matter? Geographic Proximity and New Product Development

Many firms rely on external organizations to acquire knowledge that is useful for developing creative new products and reducing the time needed to bring these products to market. Cluster theory suggests that this knowledge is often obtained from organizations located in close geographic proximity. Specifically, proximity is assumed to foster heightened face-to-face communication, strengthened relational ties, increased knowledge acquisition, and enhanced new product outcomes. The authors identify the limitations of these assumptions and offer an enriched model of the influence of geographic proximity on new product development, which they test using both a cross-sectional survey of 155 firms in the U.S. optics industry and a longitudinal follow-up survey of 73 of these firms. They find that firms located in close proximity engage in increased face-to-face communication, but this communication has little effect on the acquisition of the types of knowledge that lead to enhanced new product outcomes. In contrast, they find that e-mail communication leads to both enhanced new product creativity and development speed. In addition, they find that relational ties moderate rather than mediate the path connecting geographic proximity and new product outcomes. These findings imply that the new product development outcomes typically ascribed to close geographic proximity may actually be attributed to strong relational ties.
Positive Cueing: Promoting Sustainable Consumer Behavior By Cueing Common Environmental Behaviors as Environmental

People frequently fail to see themselves as environmentally conscious consumers; one reason for this is that they are oftentimes prone to dismissing their more common ecological behaviors (e.g., avoid littering) as non-diagnostic for that particular self-image. The cueing of commonly performed ecological behaviors as environmentally friendly (what we call positive cueing) renders both cued and non-cued common ecological behaviors more diagnostic for the inference of pro-environmental attitudes (Study 1). As a result, positive cueing increases the likelihood that people will see themselves as consumers who are concerned with the degree to which their behavior is environmentally responsible (Study 2). The cueing of common ecological behaviors leads participants to choose environmentally friendly products with greater frequency, and even to use scrap paper more efficiently (Study 3). We discuss the implications for effective social marketing campaigns.
World Journal of Modelling and Simulation

Network simulation tools are frequently used to analyze performance of MANET protocols and applications. They commonly offer only simple radio propagation models that neglect obstacles of a propagation environment. The radio wave propagation model has a strong impact on the results of the simulation run. This work shows different radio propagation models into a simulation tool. The model is based on data of the simulation area in urban area. Consequently, we obtain different performance evaluation results. This paper gives insights on the effect of different propagation models for MANETs in indoor and outdoor environments and presents the parameters and the results of simulating using network simulator.
SHORT-TERM Hα VARIABILITY IN M DWARFS

We spectroscopically study the variability of Hα emission in mid- to late-M dwarfs on timescales of ∼0.1–1 hr as a proxy for magnetic variability. About 80% of our sample exhibits statistically significant variability on the full range of timescales probed by the observations, and with amplitude ratios in the range of ∼1.2–4. No events with an order of magnitude increase in Hα luminosity were detected, indicating that their rate is ≲0.05 hr−1 (95% confidence level). We find a clear increase in variability with later spectral type, despite an overall decrease in Hα “activity” (i.e., LHα/Lbol). For the ensemble of Hα variability events, we find a nearly order of magnitude increase in the number of events from timescales of about 10–30 minutes, followed by a roughly uniform distribution at longer durations. The event amplitudes follow an exponential distribution with a characteristic scale of Max(EW)/Min(EW) − 1 ≈ 0.7. This distribution predicts a low rate of ∼10−6 hr−1 for events with Max(EW)/Min(EW) ≳ 10, but serendipitous detections of such events in the past suggest that they represent a different distribution. Finally, we find a possible decline in the amplitude of events with durations of ≳0.5 hr, which may point to a typical energy release in Hα events for each spectral type (EHα ∼ LHα × t ∼ const). Longer observations of individual active objects are required to further investigate this possibility. Similarly, a larger sample may shed light on whether Hα variability correlates with properties such as age or rotation velocity.
Characteristics, correlates, and outcomes of childhood and adolescent depressive disorders

Depressive illness beginning early in life can have serious developmental and functional consequences. Therefore, understanding the disorder during this developmental stage is critical for determining its etiology and course, as well as for deveiopinq effective intervention straieqies. This paper summarizes current knoviedqe reqardinq the etiology, phenomenoiogy, correlates, natural course, and consequences of unipolar depression in children and adolescents. Using adult depression as a framevork, the unique aspects of childhood and adolescence are considered in order to better understand depression within a developmental context. The data suggest that the clinical presentation, correlates, and natural course of depression are remarkably similar across the lifespan. There are, however, important developmental differences. Specifically, the familial and psychological context in which depression develops in youngsters is associated with variability in the frequency and nature of depressive symptoms and comorbid conditions among children and adolescents. Maturational differences have also been identified in the neurobiological correlates of depression. These developmental differences may be associated with the observed variability in clinical response to treatment and longitudinal course. Characterization of the developmental differences will be helpful in developing more specific and effective interventions for youngsters, thereby allowing them to reach their full potential as adults.
DNA repair gene Ercc1 is essential for normal spermatogenesis and oogenesis and for functional integrity of germ cell DNA in the mouse

Ercc1 is essential for nucleotide excision repair (NER) but, unlike other NER proteins, Ercc1 and Xpf are also involved in recombination repair pathways. Ercc1 knockout mice have profound cell cycle abnormalities in the liver and die before weaning. Subsequently Xpa and Xpc knockouts have proved to be good models for the human NER deficiency disease, xeroderma pigmentosum, leading to speculation that the recombination, rather than the NER deficit is the key to the Ercc1 knockout phenotype. To investigate the importance of the recombination repair functions of Ercc1 we studied spermatogenesis and oogenesis in Ercc1-deficient mice. Male and female Ercc1-deficient mice were both infertile. Ercc1 was expressed at a high level in the testis and the highest levels of Ercc1 protein occurred in germ cells following meiotic crossing over. However, in Ercc1 null males some germ cell loss occurred prior to meiotic entry and there was no evidence that Ercc1 was essential for meiotic crossing over. An increased level of DNA strand breaks and oxidative DNA damage was found in Ercc1-deficient testis and increased apoptosis was noted in male germ cells. We conclude that the repair functions of Ercc1 are required in both male and female germ cells at all stages of their maturation. The role of endogenous oxidative DNA damage and the reason for the sensitivity of the germ cells to Ercc1 deficiency are discussed.