Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Security of Error Correcting Code for biometric Encryption

The importance of security of BE systems in relation to an Error Correcting Code (ECC) is emphasized. The security of the BE system proposed in Kanade et al paper “Three Factor Scheme For Biometric-Based Cryptographic Key Regeneration Using Iris” is analyzed. It is shown that the error correcting scheme with zero insertions, which was employed in the paper, can be easily cracked by an attacker. By knowing the locations of only 7 zeros for each 32-bit block of the Hadamard ECC, an attacker can reconstruct the entire 198-bit key within a fraction of a second. The generalization of the attack for the ECCs other than Hadamard is discussed.
Does Search-facilitating Technology Improve the Transparency of Financial Reporting?

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an emerging technology that facilitates directed searches and simultaneous presentation of related financial statement and footnote information. We investigate whether using an XBRL‐enhanced search engine helps nonprofessional financial statement users acquire and integrate related financial information when making an investment decision. We conduct our investigation in the context of recognition versus disclosure of stock option compensation. Our results reveal that many users do not access the technology, but those who do use it are better able to acquire and integrate information. Specifically, we find that when stock option accounting varies between firms, the use of an XBRL‐enhanced search engine increases the likelihood that individuals acquire information about stock option compensation disclosed in the footnotes. We also find that XBRL helps individuals integrate the implications of this information, resulting in different investment decisions betwe.
Estimation of the Demand Function in a Declining Industry: The Case of the U.S. Photographic Film Industry

This paper investigates the impact of the digital camera on the demand for photographic film that are now facing the declining demand. Although few studies estimate demand function of declining industry, it is important in an oligopoly market to know how the slope of demand function changes when firms set price. By estimating a static duopoly model with GMM, this study demonstrates that the demand for photo film becomes inelastic by the introduction of the digital camera. This result is consistent with a "cream-skimming" story that the digital camera takes away more price-sensitive customers.
CSCW for preparing formal software specifications: Issues and implementation

In this study, we concern with how a group of rectifiers can be worked on preparing and producing correct formal software specification and how can they communicate with each other. To address these subjects, we come into view of two different issues, collaborative issues and formal specification issues. Each of these issues is taken into consideration when we propose the solution of the subject that is a web-based model of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) for Z specification document. This model provides software developers with web environment that supports them to collaborate and to help them to produce correct software formal specifications. A web-based prototype application system based on this model has been developed.
Cognitive Performance Patterns in Healthy Individuals with Substantia Nigra Hyperechogenicity and Early Parkinson’s Disease

Introduction: Hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra (SN+) is a risk marker for Parkinson’s disease (PD) which can be detected before the diagnosis. In healthy individuals, SN+ has been associated with slight deficits in specific cognitive functions, suggesting cognitive impairment as a possible pre-diagnostic marker for PD. However, the pattern of cognitive deficits associated with SN+ has not yet been compared with those present in PD. Methods: Data of 262 healthy individuals with normal echogenicity (SN-) and 48 healthy individuals with SN+ were compared with 82 early stage PD patients using the “Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s disease” test battery. First, the test clusters (factors) were identified using a principal component analysis (PCA). Mean group performance of cognitive tests belonging to distinct factors, according to the PCA, and single subtest performances were compared using analyses of variance. Second, the number of individuals with abnormal cognitive performances (z-score < -1.0) were compared between groups. Results: Verbal memory, semantic and executive function, and praxis were identified as components of cognitive performances. The SN+ group performed significantly worse than the SN- group in tests assessing semantic and executive function, with a non-significant decrease in verbal memory. On the subtest level, individuals of the SN+ group scored significantly lower than the SN- group on the Boston Naming Test (BNT; p = 0.008). In all subtests, the percentages of PD patients with values below the cut-off for abnormal performance were higher than in the SN- group. Moreover, more individuals from the SN+ group scored below the cut-off in the BNT (SN- = 8.4%, SN+ = 20.8%, p = 0.01) and TMT-B (SN- = 6.9%, SN+ = 16.7%, p = 0.02), compared to the SN- group. Conclusion: This study confirms poorer performance of healthy individuals with SN+ compared to SN- in specific cognitive domains. However, against the SN- group, the cognitive profile of the SN+ group was not fully consistent with the profile of early PD patients. Our data argues that cognitive impairment associated with SN+ might differ slightly from that seen in early PD. Compensational mechanisms in the early phases of neurodegeneration, and the fact that only a subgroup of SN+ will develop PD, may partly explain these differences.
A whole face is more than the sum of its halves: Interactive processing in face perception

Facial information is processed interactively. Yet, such interactive processing has been examined for discrimination of face parts rather than complete faces. Here we assess interactive processing using a novel paradigm in which subjects discriminate complete faces. Face stimuli, which comprise unilateral facial information (hemifaces) or bilateral facial information from one face (consistent) or two different faces (inconsistent), are shown centrally in a face‐matching task. If each half of a complete face is processed independently, accuracy for complete faces can be predicted by the union of accuracies for right and left hemifaces. However, accuracy exceeded this independence prediction for consistent faces (facilitation) and fell below the prediction for inconsistent faces (interference). These effects were reduced or absent for inverted faces. Our findings are consistent with reports of stronger interactive processing for upright than for inverted faces and they quantify effects of interactive processing on the discrimination of complete faces.
Differential Effects of Drugs Targeting Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) and Non-CSC Populations on Lung Primary Tumors and Metastasis

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought to be responsible for tumor initiation and recurrence after chemotherapy. Targeting CSCs and non-CSCs with specific compounds may be an effective approach to reduce lung cancer growth and metastasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of salinomycin, a selective inhibitor of CSCs, with or without combination with paclitaxel, in a metastatic model. To evaluate the effect of these drugs in metastasis and tumor microenvironment we took advantage of the immunocompetent and highly metastatic LLC mouse model. Aldefluor assays were used to analyze the ALDH+/− populations in murine LLC and human H460 and H1299 lung cancer cells. Salinomycin reduced the proportion of ALDH+ CSCs in LLC cells, whereas paclitaxel increased such population. The same effect was observed for the H460 and H1299 cell lines. Salinomycin reduced the tumorsphere formation capacity of LLC by more than 7-fold, but paclitaxel showed no effect. In in vivo experiments, paclitaxel reduced primary tumor volume but increased the number of metastatic nodules (p<0.05), whereas salinomycin had no effect on primary tumors but reduced lung metastasis (p<0.05). Combination of both drugs did not improve the effect of single therapies. ALDH1A1, SOX2, CXCR4 and SDF-1 mRNA levels were higher in metastatic lesions than in primary tumors, and were significantly elevated in both locations by paclitaxel treatment. On the contrary, such levels were reduced (or in some cases did not change) when mice were administered with salinomycin. The number of F4/80+ and CD11b+ cells was also reduced upon administration of both drugs, but particularly in metastasis. These results show that salinomycin targets ALDH+ lung CSCs, which has important therapeutic effects in vivo by reducing metastatic lesions. In contrast, paclitaxel (although reducing primary tumor growth) promotes the selection of ALDH+ cells that likely modify the lung microenvironment to foster metastasis.
The UN and Global Political Economy: Trade, Finance, and Development

1. The UN Trade and Development Debates of the 1940s 2. The UN Recruits Economists 3. Michal Kalecki, the World Economic Report, and McCarthyism 4. From Full Employment to Economic Development 5. The Early Terms-of-Trade Controversy 6. ECLA, Industrialization, and Inflation 7. Competitive Coexistence and the Politics of Modernization 8. The Birth of UNCTAD 9. UNCTAD under Raul Prebisch: Success or Failure? 10. World Monetary Problems and the Challenge of Commodities 11. The Conservative Counterrevolution of the 1980s 12. What Lessons for the Future?
Sustaining Cooperation: Community Enforcement vs. Specialized Enforcement

We introduce the possibility of coercive punishment by specialized enforcers into a model of community enforcement. We assume that, just as regular agents need to be given incentives to cooperate with each other, specialized enforcers need to be given incentives to carry out costly punishments. We fully characterize optimal equilibria in the model. When the specialized enforcement technology is sufficiently effective, cooperation is best sustained by a “one-time enforcer punishment equilibrium”, where any deviation by a regular agent is punished only once, and only by enforcers. In contrast, enforcers themselves are disciplined (at least in part) by community enforcement. The reason why there is no community enforcement following deviations by regular agents is that such a response, by reducing future cooperation, would decrease the amount of punishment that enforcers are willing to impose on deviators. Conversely, when the specialized enforcement technology is less effective, optimal equilibria involve a mix of specialized enforcement and community enforcement (which might take the form of “ostracism”). Our results hold both under perfect monitoring of actions and under various types of private monitoring.
Hong Kong Consumer Prices are Flexible

It is generally believed that prices in Hong Kong are flexible. If this received wisdom is correct then the Currency Board system, which precludes a nominal exchange rate adjustment in response to macroeconomic shocks, may have little macroeconomic cost. However, this belief in price flexibility is based on very little empirical evidence. In this paper, we seek to rectify this in a study the behaviour of sub-indices of the Hong Kong Consumer Price Index. We compare estimated moments in the data against the predictions of models based on flexible prices, capacity constraints, rational inattention, and menu costs. We find evidence in favour of flexible prices.
PREDICTIVE DENSITY ESTIMATION FOR MULTIPLE REGRESSION

Suppose we observe X ∼ Nm(Aβ,σ2I) and would like to estimate the predictive density p(y|β) of a future Y ∼ Nn(Bβ,σ2I). Evaluating predictive estimates by Kullback–Leibler loss, we develop and evaluate Bayes procedures for this problem. We obtain general sufficient conditions for minimaxity and dominance of the “noninformative” uniform prior Bayes procedure. We extend these results to situations where only a subset of the predictors in A is thought to be potentially irrelevant. We then consider the more realistic situation where there is model uncertainty and this subset is unknown. For this situation we develop multiple shrinkage predictive estimators and obtain general minimaxity and dominance conditions. Finally, we provide an explicit example of a minimax multiple shrinkage predictive estimator based on scaled harmonic priors.We acknowledge Larry Brown, Feng Liang, Linda Zhao, and three referees for their helpful suggestions. This work was supported by various NSF grants, DMS-0605102 the most recent.
Late Emission from the Type Ib/c SN 2001em: Overtaking the Hydrogen Envelope

The Type Ib/c supernova SN 2001em was observed to have strong radio, X-ray, and Hα emission at an age of ~2.5 yr. Although the radio and X-ray emission have been attributed to an off-axis gamma-ray burst, we model the emission as the interaction of normal SN Ib/c ejecta with a dense, massive (~3 M☉) circumstellar shell at a distance of ~7 × 1016 cm. We investigate two models, in which the circumstellar shell has or has not been overtaken by the forward shock at the time of the X-ray observation. The circumstellar shell was presumably formed by vigorous mass loss with a rate of ~(2-10) × 10-3 M☉ yr-1 at ~(1-2) × 103 yr prior to the supernova explosion. The hydrogen envelope was completely lost and subsequently was swept up and accelerated by the fast wind of the presupernova star up to a velocity of 30-50 km s-1. Although interaction with the shell can explain most of the late emission properties of SN 2001em, we need to invoke clumping of the gas to explain the low absorption at X-ray and radio wavelengths.
Innovative quality management practices in the Dutch construction industry

Quality management practices do support the management of strategically important innovation processes. This conclusion is based on empirical research in the Dutch construction industry. A large‐scale innovative construction project is intensively studied during a three‐year period. The quality management practices that are used in this project to support the management of strategically important innovation processes are described and analyzed. The description and analysis is based on an analytical framework that consists of six quality management practices: design, planning, systems, goal, positioning, and interaction practices. The analytical framework is based on a theoretical study in the field of strategic quality management. The empirical research points out that planning, positioning and interaction practices in quality management support the management of strategic innovation. It also indicates that systems and goal practices in quality management can be supportive to the management of strategic innovation.
Biases, Evolutionary Processes and Homomorphisms in Options-Based Indices and Traditional Stock/Bond Index Methods in Incomplete Markets with Un-Aggregated Preferences and NT-Utilities

While Stock/bond and Options-based Indices, Index tracking funds and ETFs have grown in popularity during then last ten years, there are many structural problems inherent in Index calculation methodologies and the legal/economic structure of ETFs, which create substantial tracking errors. Many synthetic ETFs/Funds are constructed with swaps and or futures contracts, and have evolved into quasi- indices. These problems raise actionable issues of “Suitability” and “fraud” under US securities laws, because most Indices and ETFs are mis-leading, have substantial tracking errors and don’t reflect what they are supposed to track. This article contributes to the existing literature by: i) critiquing the calculation methods for options-based Indices (Futures Indices, VIX Index and related indices; Buy-Write Indices, and Credit-Default-Swap Indices) and synthetic ETFs/Funds; and ii) showing that these options-based indices don’t evolve in tandem with, and thus don’t represent the markets that they are supposed to, partly due to the equivalents of reproduction (the timing, rates of, and amount of creation of options contracts); natural selection (changes in the demand for, and supply of options contracts that constitute the index); re-combination (the effects of the creation and use of options spreads – which are combinations of options contracts); and mutation (changes in the inherent risk and or relative risk of a group of options contracts on one asset); iv) introducing new critiques of calculation methods for traditional non-option stock/bond Indices and showing that these options-based indices don’t evolve in tandem with, and thus don’t represent the markets that they are supposed to, partly due to the equivalents of reproduction (the announcement of quarterly operating results of companies in the index); natural selection (index-rebalancing, and demand/supply of shares that constitute the index); re-combination (the effects of arbitrage and use of spread-trading); and mutation (changes in the inherent risk and or relative risk of underlying companies in the index); v) introducing the Biases inherent in, and the adverse effects in traditional calculation methods for Stock/bond Indices, and how such biases affect representations and analysis of pattern-formation and Adaptive Systems; and showing how these biases/effects can form the basis for harmful arbitrage activities. The issues in this article have implications for analysis of pattern-formation and Evolutionary Computation in markets given the discussions in Moon & Lu (2015); Harmon, Lagi, et. al. (2015); Fenn, et al. (2011); and Kriener, Helias, Rotter, et. al. (2014).
K2-29 b/WASP-152 b: AN ALIGNED AND INFLATED HOT JUPITER IN A YOUNG VISUAL BINARY

In the present paper we report the discovery of a new hot Jupiter, K2-29 b, first detected by the Super-WASP observatory and then by the K2 space mission during its campaign 4. The planet has a period of 3.25 days, a mass of 0.73 ± 0.04 M♃, and a radius of 1.19 ± 0.02 R♃. The host star is a relatively bright (V = 12.5) G7 dwarf with a nearby K5V companion. Based on stellar rotation and the abundance of lithium, we find that the system might be as young as ~450 Myr. The observation of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect shows that the planet is aligned with respect to the stellar spin. Given the deep transit (20 mmag), the magnitude of the star and the presence of a nearby stellar companion, the planet is a good target for both space- and ground-based transmission spectroscopy, in particular in the near-infrared where both stars are relatively bright.
Complex Chebyshev Approximation forFIR Filter

| The alternation theorem is at the core of eecient real Chebyshev approximation algorithms. In this paper, the alternation theorem is extended from the real-only to the complex case. The complex FIR lter design problem is reformulated so that it clearly satisses the Haar condition of Chebyshev approximation. An eecient exchange algorithm is derived for designing complex FIR lters in the Chebyshev sense. By transforming the complex error function , the Remez exchange algorithm can be used to compute the optimal complex Chebyshev approximation. The algorithm converges to the optimal solution whenever the complex Chebyshev error alternates; in all other cases, the algorithm converges to the optimal Chebyshev approximation over a subset of the desired bands. The new algorithm is a generalization of the Parks-McClellan algorithm, so that arbitrary magnitude and phase responses can be approximated. Both causal and non-causal lters with complex or real-valued impulse responses can be designed. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
The Impact of a Carbon Tax on International Tourism

A simulation model of international tourist flows is used to estimate the impact of a carbon tax on aviation fuel. The effect of the tax on travel behaviour is small: A global $1000/tC would change travel behaviour to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from international aviation by 0.8%. This is because the imposed tax is probably small relative to the air fare. A $1000/tC tax would less than double air fares, and have a smaller impact on the total cost of the holiday. In addition, the price elasticity is low. A carbon tax on aviation fuel would particularly affect long-haul flights, because of high emissions, and short-haul flights, because of the emission during take-off and landing. Medium distance flights would be affected least. This implies that tourist destinations that rely heavily on short-haul flights (that is, islands near continents, such as Ireland) or on intercontinental flights (e.g., Africa) will see a decline in international tourism numbers, while other destinations may see international arrivals rise. If the tax is only applied to the European Union, EU tourists would stay closer to home so that EU tourism would grow at the expense of other destinations. Sensitivity analyses reveal that the qualitative insights are robust. A carbon tax on aviation fuel would have little effect on international tourism, and little effect on emissions.
A Cascaded Syntactic and Semantic Dependency Parsing System

We describe our CoNLL 2008 Shared Task system in this paper. The system includes two cascaded components: a syntactic and a semantic dependency parsers. A first-order projective MSTParser is used as our syntactic dependency parser. In order to overcome the shortcoming of the MSTParser, that it cannot model more global information, we add a relabeling stage after the parsing to distinguish some confusable labels, such as ADV, TMP, and LOC. Besides adding a predicate identification and a classification stages, our semantic dependency parsing simplifies the traditional four stages semantic role labeling into two: a maximum entropy based argument classification and an ILP-based post inference. Finally, we gain the overall labeled macro F1 = 82.66, which ranked the second position in the closed challenge.
Factors Affecting Teachers' Use of Information and Communication Technology.

Research studies in the past decade have shown that computer technology is an effective means for widening educational opportunities, but most teachers neither use technology as an instructional delivery system nor integrate technology into their curriculum. Studies reveal a number of factors influencing teachers’ decisions to use ICT in the classroom: non-manipulative and manipulative school and teacher factors. These factors are interrelated. The success of the implementation of ICT is not dependent on the availability or absence of one individual factor, but is determined through a dynamic process involving a set of interrelated factors. It is suggested that ongoing professional development must be provided for teachers to model the new pedagogies and tools for learning with the aim of enhancing the teaching-learning process. However, it is important for teacher trainers and policy makers to understand the factors affecting effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different approaches to ICT use in teacher training so training strategies can be appropriately explored to make such changes viable to all.