Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kernel group sparse representation based classifier for multimodal biometrics

Classification is an important pattern recognition paradigm with a multitude of applications in popular research problems. Utilizing multiple data representations to improve the accuracy of classification has been explored in literature. However, approaches such as combining classifiers using majority voting and score level fusion do not utilize the underlying structure of the data which is available at the representation stage itself. In this paper, we propose a kernelization based extension to the group sparse representation classifier which can utilize multiple representations of input data to improve classification performance. By using a kernel, these representations are processed in a higher dimensional space where they are more separable, without substantially increasing computational costs. The proposed algorithm selects the ideal kernel to use along with its parameters automatically as part of the training process. We evaluate the proposed algorithm on three challenging biometric problems namely, cross distance face recognition, RGB-D face recognition, and multimodal biometrics to showcase its efficacy. Experimentally, we observe that the proposed algorithm can efficiently combine multiple data representations to further improve classification performance.
What makes people trust online gambling sites?

A validated model of trust was used as a framework for an empirical study to identify on- and offline factors that influence gamblers' perception of an online casino's trustworthiness. The results suggest that the quality with which casino's address gamblers' trust concerns by providing appropriate content is the prime factor. However, designing for trust must be part of consistent strategy that also involves customer service usability.
Three Estonian Companies' Management of the Russian Boycott During the Summer of 2007

ABSTRACT This article analyzes three Estonian companies' management of the Russian boycott during the summer of 2007. The explorative nature of the study made a case study methodology a suitable research approach. The respondents' statements about the boycott revealed a “business as usual” attitude. This attitude isaccounted for as a sign of preparation for crises that facilitated the respondent companies' management of the boycott. Also, the sanctions appeared to strengthen the relations between the respondent companies and their Russian partners. The boycott was, therefore, not perceived as a major threat to the respondent companies' businesses in Russia.
The role of exposure reconstruction in occupational human health risk assessment: Current methods and a recommended framework

Exposure reconstruction for substances of interest to human health is a process that has been used, with various levels of sophistication, as far back as the 1930s. The importance of robust and high-quality exposure reconstruction has been recognized by many researchers. It has been noted that misclassification of reconstructed exposures is relatively common and can result in potentially significant effects on the conclusions of a human health risk assessment or epidemiology study. In this analysis, a review of the key exposure reconstruction approaches described in over 400 papers in the peer-reviewed literature is presented. These approaches have been critically evaluated and classified according to quantitative, semiquantitative, and qualitative approaches. Our analysis indicates that much can still be done to improve the overall quality and consistency of exposure reconstructions and that a systematic framework would help to standardize the exposure reconstruction process in the future. The seven recommended steps in the exposure reconstruction process include identifying the goals of the reconstruction, organizing and ranking the available data, identifying key data gaps, selecting the best information sources and methodology for the reconstruction, incorporating probabilistic methods into the reconstruction, conducting an uncertainty analysis, and validating the results of the reconstruction. Influential emerging techniques, such as Bayesian data analysis, are highlighted. Important issues that will likely influence the conduct of exposure reconstruction into the future include improving statistical analysis methods, addressing the issue of chemical mixtures, evaluating aggregate exposures, and ensuring transparency with respect to variability and uncertainty in the reconstruction effort.
Biological impact of missing-value imputation on downstream analyses of gene expression profiles

MOTIVATION Microarray experiments frequently produce multiple missing values (MVs) due to flaws such as dust, scratches, insufficient resolution or hybridization errors on the chips. Unfortunately, many downstream algorithms require a complete data matrix. The motivation of this work is to determine the impact of MV imputation on downstream analysis, and whether ranking of imputation methods by imputation accuracy correlates well with the biological impact of the imputation. METHODS Using eight datasets for differential expression (DE) and classification analysis and eight datasets for gene clustering, we demonstrate the biological impact of missing-value imputation on statistical downstream analyses, including three commonly employed DE methods, four classifiers and three gene-clustering methods. Correlation between the rankings of imputation methods based on three root-mean squared error (RMSE) measures and the rankings based on the downstream analysis methods was used to investigate which RMSE measure was most consistent with the biological impact measures, and which downstream analysis methods were the most sensitive to the choice of imputation procedure. RESULTS DE was the most sensitive to the choice of imputation procedure, while classification was the least sensitive and clustering was intermediate between the two. The logged RMSE (LRMSE) measure had the highest correlation with the imputation rankings based on the DE results, indicating that the LRMSE is the best representative surrogate among the three RMSE-based measures. Bayesian principal component analysis and least squares adaptive appeared to be the best performing methods in the empirical downstream evaluation.
Analisis Pengaruh Konsumsi, Investasi, dan Inflasi Terhadap Produk Domestik Bruto di Indonesia Tahun 2000-2012

Economic development in a country, basically aims to achieve social prosperity through economic growth, and economic development among these there are linkages between national and regional development close to each other, thus forming a strong economy, strong, and evenly. Economic development is not just struggling to think and worry about how to achieve high economic growth. Development was to improve the quality of life and well-being of society. Economic growth alone is measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of consumption, investment, and inflation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The research was conducted in Indonesia from 2000 to 2012 in the form of quarter as much data as the number 52. This research used Two Stage Least Square (TSLS) as an analytical technique. Based on the analysis, it was found that consumption and investment, are significantly positive toward GDP models, while inflation is positive but not significant toward GDP. Consumption is significantly positive towrd investment model, while the inflation variable is positive but not significant toward investment model. Inflation is positive but not significant toward consumption models.
Toxicological evaluation of landfill leachate using plant (Allium cepa) and fish (Leporinus obtusidens) bioassays

The disposal of municipal waste in landfills may pose an environmental problem because the product of the decomposition of these residues generates large volumes of leachate, which may present high toxicity. The aim of this study was to assess the toxic and genotoxic effects of a sample of untreated leachate in fish (Leporinus obtusidens) and onions (Allium cepa). The leachate was collected in a landfill located in the region of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, southern Brazil. The fish were exposed to raw leachate, at concentrations of 0.5%, 1.0%, 5%, 10% and 20% for 6 days, while the bulbs of A. cepa were exposed to concentrations of 5%, 10%, 25%, 50% and 100% for 48 h. For fish, the concentrations of 5%, 10% and 20% were lethal, thus indicating high toxicity; however, sublethal concentrations (0.5% and 1.0%) showed no genotoxicity by micronucleus test when compared with the control group. In the bioassays involving onions, high toxicity was observed, with significant reduction of root growth and mitotic index in bulbs exposed to the 100% concentration of the leachate. An increase in the frequency of chromosome abnormalities in the A. cepa root cells in anaphase–telophase was observed in accordance with the increase in the concentration of leachate (5%, 10%, 25% and 50%), with values significantly greater than the control, at the highest concentration. The results showed that the leachate contains toxic and genotoxic substances, thus representing a major source of environmental pollution if not handled properly.
The Two Facets of Social Policy Preferences

Most political economy models start from the assumption that economic self-interest is a key predictor of support for income redistribution. A growing literature, in contrast, emphasizes the role of “other-oriented” concerns, such as social solidarity or affinity for the poor. These frameworks generate distinct, often conflicting predictions about variation in mass attitudes toward redistribution. We argue that this tension is in part an artifact of conceptualizing demand for redistribution as unidimensional and propose distinguishing between redistribution conceived as taking from the “rich” and redistribution conceived as giving to the “poor. ” These two facets of redistribution prime different individual motives: self-oriented income maximization on the one hand and other-oriented social affinity with welfare beneficiaries on the other. We find strong evidence for this framework using British longitudinal survey data and cross-sectional data from four advanced industrial countries. We discuss the implications for studying changes in mass support for redistributive social policies.
ISSUES FACING URBAN AGRISCIENCE TEACHERS: A DELPHI STUDY

This national study used the Delphi technique to identify the issues facing urban agriscience teachers. The first round of the study used a questionnaire with one open-ended question to generate responses from the expert panel. In the second round, respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with 72 issues identified in round one using a Likert-type scale. In round three, participants were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with 49 statements retained from round two. Consensus was reached on 17 issues facing agriscience teachers in urban areas which were identified as: challenges presented by the No Child Left Behind legislation; lack of awareness of agriculture by parents, faculty, community and students; lack of parental involvement; budgets and school funding; and time management.
Effects of different proportion of carbohydrate in breakfast on postprandial glucose excursion in normal glucose tolerance and impaired glucose regulation subjects.

BACKGROUND The variability of postprandial plasma glucose is an independent risk factor for diabetes. The type and amount of carbohydrate may be important determinants of glycemic control. The aim of the study was to compare the effects of different proportions of carbohydrate in breakfast on postprandial blood glucose fluctuations in impaired glucose regulation (IGR) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) subjects. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This is a cross-sectional study of two groups including 55 subjects with IGR and 78 individuals with NGT. Their recorded breakfast was sorted into low-carbohydrate (LC) (carbohydrate <45%), medium-carbohydrate (MC) (carbohydrate 45-65%), and high-carbohydrate (HC) (carbohydrate >65%) meals according to the proportion of carbohydrate. Glucose concentrations were continuously measured with a continuous glucose monitoring system, and parameters such as the incremental area under the curve (iAUC) of glucose and postprandial glucose excursion (PPGE) were calculated to evaluate postprandial glucose fluctuations. RESULTS The postprandial fluctuations of glucose increased gradually with increased proportions of carbohydrate in breakfast in both IGR and NGT subjects. For the MC and HC meals, iAUC, PPGE, postprandial glucose spike (PGS), and mean blood glucose were significantly greater than those in the NGT group (P<0.05), respectively. The median time to PGS and the time period in which glucose concentrations decreased to baseline after the MC and HC meals in the IGR group were significantly longer than those in the NGT group (P<0.01), respectively. Compared with the NGT subjects for the HC meal, the IGR subjects consuming the MC meal had greater PGS, range of glucose concentrations, SD, and PPGE (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The proportion of carbohydrate in breakfast contributes to glucose excursions in the NGT and IGR subjects. In the IGR subjects, a HC meal should be avoided and a LC meal should be recommended to prevent development of diabetes.
Physiology of the Parietal Cell and Therapeutic Implications

The field of acid suppression has been advanced by therapeutics of increasing specificity for inhibiting gastric acid secretion. Particularly important are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which inhibit the activity of the gastric acid pump (H+,K+‐adenosine triphosphatase), the final common step in gastric acid production. Histamine2‐receptor antagonists, which act at an early stage of the acid secretion pathway, are less effective and are subject to intolerance. The PPIs are weak bases that undergo accumulation in the acidic space of the secreting parietal cell and are converted in acid to the active thiophilic form, which then forms disulfide bonds with key cysteines of the gastric acid pump. Pantoprazole differs from other PPIs in terms of its reaction with cysteine 822 in the pump and with cysteine 813, a common binding site for all PPIs. Both cysteines are in the sixth transmembrane segment, which is part of the ion transport pathway. This selective binding may have an impact on the dwell time of pantoprazole versus other PPIs because it is inaccessible to reducing agents, in contrast to cysteine 813. Pantoprazole is also very stable (has a slow rate of activation) at neutral pH values compared with other PPIs and has a relatively robust plasma concentration‐time curve. These agents are important in the management of duodenal ulcers, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug‐induced ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and dyspepsia, but basic pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences among them may affect clinical utility.
Uterine leiomyoma in the Eker rat: A unique model for important diseases of women

Eker rats carry a defect in the Tsc‐2 tumor suppressor gene and female Eker rats develop uterine leiomyoma with a high frequency. The presentation, response to hormones and molecular alterations in these mesenchymal smooth muscle tumors, closely resembles their cognate human disease. Female rats and tumor‐derived cell lines from Eker rat leiomyomas (ELT lines) have been developed as an in vivo/in vitro model system for preclinical studies to identify novel therapeutic agents for this disease and for studying disease pathogenesis. In addition to serving as a model for uterine leiomyoma, Eker rats have proven valuable for studying lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a related proliferative smooth muscle disease of women. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
1 CORRELATING EVAPORATION HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT OF REFRIGERANT R-134 a IN A PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER

The present study deals with developing a predictive methodology for evaporation heat transfer coefficient of refrigerant R-134a flowing in a plate heat exchanger. Correlation schemes proposed by Yan and Lin (1999b) for modeling the heat transfer coefficient in both a singlephase water-to-water experiment and a two-phase evaporation experiment with refrigerant R134a in a plate heat exchanger are found to result in large discrepancies with their own experimental data. In the present study Yan and Lin’s plate heat exchanger data is used to develop improved correlations for single-phase heat transfer coefficient of water as well as twophase evaporation heat transfer coefficients of refrigerant R-134a. Two schemes are presented for correlating the two-phase data, and they are compared with the correlating schemes available in literature (Yan and Lin, 1999b; and Kandlikar, 1991). It is found that the new correlation schemes developed in this work provide an accurate fit to the experimental data, and a final correlation scheme is proposed for future use in modeling the evaporation heat transfer coefficient of refrigerant R-134a in a plate heat exchanger configuration.
TEKNIK AUDIT BERBANTUAN KOMPUTER SEBAGAI PREDIKTOR KUALITAS AUDIT

This paper analyzes about Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (TABK) on audit quality. This research was conducted in the BPK RI Representative Bali Province. The data collected in this study with saturated sample method. Data analysis technique in this paper uses simple linear regression. This paper gives the results TABK positive and statistically significant in audit quality, which means that the better the quality the better the application TABK audit.
Average Distance Travelled To School by Primary and Secondary School Students in Nigeria and Its Effect on Attendance

This study investigated average distance travelled to school by students in primary and secondary schools in Anambra, Enugu, and Ebonyi States and effect on attendance. These are among the top ten densely populated and educationally advantaged States in Nigeria. Research evidences report high dropout rates in them. Samples of 36 primary, 21 secondary; 41 primary, 24 secondary; and 28 primary, 16 secondary schools from Anambra, Enugu, and Ebonyi respectively, were selected through simple random sampling. Data gathered through a questionnaire were analyzed to answer four research questions raised. Results revealed that students in 38.87, 36.59, and 28.57 percent of primary schools, and 23.81, 29.17, and 18.75 percent of secondary schools in Anambra, Enugu, and Ebonyi States respectively, travelled less than one kilometer to school. Others travelled up to five kilometers. Results on effect of distance travelled on attendance revealed that for primary and secondary schools, Anambra State recorded 77.78 and 71.43 percent, Enugu State 85.37 and 70.83 percent, and Ebonyi State 96.43 and 93.75 percent respectively. It was concluded that majority of these children travelled more than the stipulated one kilometer maximum to school, indicating that many schools were located far away from children�s homes, and this affected attendance adversely.
Shareholder passivity: a viable explanation for corporate governance failures at NewsCorp?

Why would shareholders remain passive despite economic incentives to address corporate governance failings at the company level? In crafting a response to this question, our article addresses contemporary debates on the monitoring role of investors in ensuring the companies they own maximize shareholder value and adhere to high standards of corporate governance. Although rich, the existing literature primarily addresses the normative issue of whether shareholders should take on oversight functions, rather than factors that may induce or inhibit oversight. Responding to this gap in the literature, we examine shareholder passivity through a qualitative case analysis of the behaviour of NewsCorp investors. We argue that the corporate governance failures at NewsCorp resulted not just from absent internal controls at the Board level, but also from the failure of available external governance mechanisms. Our findings show that agency-level, structural and cultural barriers stymied the efforts of activist investors seeking corporate governance reform at NewsCorp. We draw the insights of investors together within a set of policy recommendations that could mitigate shareholder passivity. In keeping with our exploratory focus, we propose promising theoretical trajectories for advancing the related research programme through approaches that better account for the interplay between structure, agency and culture.
Exploratory Study of the Measurement Scales for the Perceived Image and Advertising Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsers in a Tourism Context

ABSTRACT This article presents an exploratory study of the scales used to measure the perceived image and advertising effectiveness of celebrity endorsers in a tourism context. The respondents are tourists from mainland China who were exposed to manipulated tourism destination advertisements. The results indicate that the dimension of trustworthiness is not as distinct as has been proposed, and the framework was modified accordingly. The revised model achieved an acceptable fit and is deemed appropriate for follow-up studies.
The Effects of Preference Characteristics and Overconfidence on Economic Incentives

This dissertation is a collection of three independent research papers and three chapters with surveys introducing into the respective literature. The first paper analyses the effects of introducing Inequity Aversion in a Moral Hazard Problem, the second paper is about optimal delegation in groups involved in contests, and the third paper is about the optimal delegation decision of firms who can hire possibly overconfident managers.
A Multi-State Factor-Analytic and Psychometric Meta-Analysis of Agricultural Mechanics Laboratory Management Competencies.

For more than 20 years, the 50 agricultural mechanics laboratory management competencies identified by Johnson and Schumacher in 1989 have served as the basis for numerous needs assessments of secondary agriculture teachers. This study reevaluated Johnson and Schumacher’s instrument, as modified by Saucier, Schumacher, Funkenbusch, Terry, and Johnson (2008), to reduce the number of competencies and update the constructs of agricultural mechanics laboratory management competencies through factor–analytic and psychometric analyses. Five–hundred and three in–service secondary agriculture teachers from six states, surveyed between the spring of 2008 and the spring of 2010, served as the population for this study. As a result, the 70 agricultural mechanics laboratory management competencies included in the instrument modified by Saucier et al. (2008) were reduced to 33 competencies, in eight constructs. A further outcome was reflected in the psychometric evaluation of the eight constructs, which resulted in acceptable internal consistency reliabilities that ranged from . 82 to . 96. Multi–state benchmarks for agricultural mechanics laboratory management abilities of secondary agriculture teachers were also proposed. The results further indicated that the revised constructs were appropriate to assess agricultural mechanics laboratory management competencies across Huberman’s (1989) five teacher career stages.
Customer Preferences for Reliable Power Supply: Using Data on Actual Choices of Back-Up Equipment

This paper empirically examines customer preferences for the reliable sources of electricity using data obtained from a survey of back-up systems owned by large computer users in Japan. The empirical results based on probabilistic discrete choice models indicate that (1) customers face a trade-off between the price and the reliability of the power supply, and (2) customer characteristics, such as types of business and levels of electricity usage, have significant impacts on the choice of back-up apparatuses. The estimates of cost changes that would offset reliability changes imply that the financial and communications sectors are more concerned about reliability than are other sectors. Copyright 1994 by MIT Press.