Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
1 International Politics and Import Diversification

This paper examines whether international politics affects trade and, if so, what kinds of products are affected. We first show that deterioration of relations between the United States and another country, measured by divergence in their UN General Assembly voting patterns, reduces US imports from that country during 1962-2000. Though statistically significant, the effect of “political distance” on trade is small compared with the frictions imposed by other trade barriers. Indeed, using sector-level trade data, we show that except for petroleum and some chemical products, US imports are not affected by international politics. American firms, however, diversify their imports of oil significantly away from political opponents of the US. In contrast to the usual claim that oil is a strategic commodity, we propose an alternative economic interpretation ― oil trade is often associated with backward vertical FDI that is subject to the risks of hold-up and expropriation. We provide suggestive evidence that trade in products where rents are appropriable are more likely to be affected by international politics. JEL classification: F13, F51, F59, Q34
HybridSOM: A generic rule extraction framework for self-organizing feature maps

The self-organizing feature map (SOM) is an unsupervised neural network. It preserves a high-dimensional training data space's approximate characteristics, while scaling it to a two-dimensional grid. Few SOM-based rule extraction methods exist, and little analysis has been done on their overall viability. This paper presents the novel HybridSOMframework, which allows the combination of a SOM with any standard rule extraction algorithm, creating a customized hybrid rule extractor. Some HybridSOMvariations and traditional rule extraction algorithms are empirically compared, and the framework is critically discussed. This analysis also points to new conclusions on the viability of SOM-based rule extraction, in general.
An Autoencoder as a Naive Approach to Audio Source Separation

The separation of music signals into meaningful constituents is investigated through the use of an autoencoder. An autoencoder is an unsupervised artificial neural network which has been used with success in the processing of images. Here we apply the method to the time-frequency representation of a music signal with the intention that the method will be able to identify different source components of the signal. First we see if the autoencoder is able to recreate the input, this is the method by which an autoencoder is trained. The result shows that the network has difficulty recreating the input timefrequency representation, especially along the time axis. Secondly we look at the code layer, where the network provides an abstract representation of the inputs. Again the result shows that the time frame overpowers the activation of hidden units and no clear separation of the sources are observed. Significant explanation of possible improvements and alterations to the method is discussed.
Reinforced AdaBoost Learning for Object Detection with Local Pattern Representations

A reinforced AdaBoost learning algorithm is proposed for object detection with local pattern representations. In implementing Adaboost learning, the proposed algorithm employs an exponential criterion as a cost function and Newton's method for its optimization. In particular, we introduce an optimal selection of weak classifiers minimizing the cost function and derive the reinforced predictions based on a judicial confidence estimate to determine the classification results. The weak classifier of the proposed method produces real-valued predictions while that of the conventional Adaboost method produces integer valued predictions of +1 or −1. Hence, in the conventional learning algorithms, the entire sample weights are updated by the same rate. On the contrary, the proposed learning algorithm allows the sample weights to be updated individually depending on the confidence level of each weak classifier prediction, thereby reducing the number of weak classifier iterations for convergence. Experimental classification performance on human face and license plate images confirm that the proposed method requires smaller number of weak classifiers than the conventional learning algorithm, resulting in higher learning and faster classification rates. An object detector implemented based on the proposed learning algorithm yields better performance in field tests in terms of higher detection rate with lower false positives than that of the conventional learning algorithm.
Knowledge Management Systems Success: An Assessment Model for Project Based Knowledge Repositories

Knowledge has been broadly recognized as the key element for gaining competitive advantage. Companies are investing more on knowledge management systems. However, no models are customized to evaluate the success of knowledge management systems. To address this issue, this study seeks to develop and test two models for the assessment of the success of a particular type of KMS: project repositories. These two models are based on DeLone and McLean’s model of Information Systems Success and Seddon’s respecified model. Their models are updated for project repositories through the addition of three relationships.
Good Things Are Not Eternal: How Consideration Leadership and Initiating Structure Influence the Dynamic Nature of Organizational Justice and Extra-Role Behaviors at the Collective Level

The objective of this study was to test the linear and curvilinear influence of initiating structure (IS) and consideration leadership on the variability of extra-role behaviors over time, through the mediating effect of within-store level of distributive (DJ) and procedural justice (PJ). Data from 1,857 employees in 116 business units of a Canadian retailer collected over four waves were analyzed using random coefficient modeling. Our results show that IS and consideration have significant linear and curvilinear effects on within-unit PJ and DJ climates over time, and an indirect influence on the within-unit variability of extra-role behaviors through the mediating effect of DJ and PJ climates. Results underline the complexity of the effects of both leadership dimensions on PJ and DJ climates. While consideration is associated with an increase of both justice climates over time, low and high levels of IS are associated with a decrease in PJ climate over time, and a moderate level of IS was related to an increase of PJ climate. Moreover, the positive effects of leadership behaviors on extra-role behaviors shift completely after a certain time threshold. Surprisingly, while unit-level extra-role behaviors increased over time under high structure leadership, such behaviors decreased under high consideration. Finally, the results showed that the positive influence of PJ and DJ climates on unit-level extra-role behaviors decreases over time, and that low fairness units experience a more dramatic decrease of extra-role behaviors with time.
The Message as a Seed: Predicting the Diffusion of Anti-Smoking Arguments from Message Construal

For many years, mass media health campaigns have strived to change population health-related attitudes and intentions. While it is important to assess the direct effects of exposure to health campaign messages on these campaign outcomes, it is equally valuable to examine whether messages can be further propagated into the public communication environment. When people decide to replicate (replication) the core arguments used in campaign messages as they diffuse them to additional campaign targets, this enhances the reach of a campaign. Moreover, when people extend (extension) the core arguments of campaign messages by diffusing arguments in the same category as the campaign theme but those not specifically targeted in campaign messages, this increases the diversity of campaign-relevant communication. This dissertation aimed to examine how exposure to anti-smoking campaign messages influences patterns of replication and extension with four experimental studies. The first two studies examined whether message exposure can lead to replication and extension. Then, guided by construal level theory, the latter two studies examined whether different message characteristics and mindsets can increase or decrease patterns of extension. Study 1 found that exposure to why appeal messages (messages about reasons to quit smoking) and how appeal messages (messages about methods to quit smoking) influenced people to choose arguments that were targeted by the messages they were exposed to, to send to smokers. Study 2 focused on whether exposure to these messages influenced the selection of arguments that were consistent with the appeals (why and how), but were not targeted by the messages participants were exposed to, and found partial support. Study 3 found that exposure to why appeal messages with proximal temporal frames could hinder the selection of non-targeted why arguments. However, no support was found for the hypothesis that inducing different construal mindsets could increase or decrease the selection of non-targeted arguments (Study 4). The studies provided empirical tests of replication and extension—both outcomes that are important for advancing campaign effects. They also delved into the research question of whether certain message characteristics can promote or undermine the pattern of extension. Study results can inform campaign developers about which message strategies could be successful in further propagating campaign-relevant information into the public communication environment. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Communication First Advisor Robert C. Hornik This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/2417
The Effect of Garlic Derivatives (S-Allylmercaptocysteine, Diallyl Disulfide, and S-Allylcysteine) on Gentamicin Induced Ototoxicity: An Experimental Study

Objectives Gentamicin is a potent aminoglycoside antibiotic. Ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity are the main side effects which restrict the use of gentamicin. Garlic with its intrinsic antioxidant activity may prove beneficial in prevention from ototoxicity. S-allylmercaptocysteine (SAMC), diallyl disulfide (DD), and S-allylcysteine (SAC) are three active compounds found in garlic. In this study, we investigated the effect of SAMC, DD, and SAC on the ototoxicity induced by gentamicin in rats, by using brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA). Methods Thirty male Wistar rats with intact Preyer’s reflex initially weighing 220–260 g were randomly assigned to either the gentamicin injection with SAMC treatment group (Genta-w SAMC), DD treatment group (Genta-w DD), SAC treatment group (Genta-w SAC), gentamicin injection without any active compounds (AC) treatment groups (Genta-w/o AC), or control group (n=6 rats each group). Gentamicin was given 120-mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally once daily for 25 days to subjects in all groups except the control group. SAMC 100-mg/kg, and DD 50-mg/kg body weight were given intragastrically, and SAC 250-mg/kg body weight was given intraperitoneally once daily to subjects in Genta-w SAMC, and Genta-w DD, and Genta-w SAC groups, respectively during the study. After 25 days hearing thresholds were evaluated by using BERA test. Results The mean amplitude of auditory thresholds (sensation level [SL]) measured by using BERA for the Genta-w SAMC, Genta-w DD, Genta-w SAC, Genta-w/o AC, and control groups were 22±8, 25±5, 30±9, 54±11, and 10±7 dB SL, respectively (mean±SD). The differences between every active compound group (Genta-w SAMC, Genta-w DD, and Genta-w SAC) and Genta-w/o AC were statistically significant (P<0.016). Conclusion SAMC, DD, and SAC are derivative of garlic seems to attenuate aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss. The effect of SAMC and DD seems to be more prominent than that of SAC.
Renegotiation-Proof Relational Contracts with Side Payments

We study infinitely repeated two player games with perfect information, where each period consists of two stages: one in which the parties simultaneously choose an action and one in which they can transfer money to each other. We first derive simple conditions that allow a constructive characterization of all Pareto-optimal subgame perfect payoffs for all discount factors. Afterwards, we examine different concepts of renegotiation-proofness and extend the characterization to renegotiation-proof payoffs.
Hospital Teaching Intensity and Mortality for Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and Pneumonia

Background:Under the Affordable Care Act, health care reimbursement will increasingly be linked to quality and costs. In this environment, teaching hospitals will be closely scrutinized, as their care is often more expensive. Furthermore, although they serve vital roles in education, research, management of complex diseases, and care of vulnerable populations, debate continues as to whether teaching hospitals deliver better outcomes for common conditions. Objective:To determine the association between risk-standardized mortality and teaching intensity for 3 common conditions. Research Design:Using CMS models, 30-day risk-standardized mortality rates were compared among US hospitals classified as Council of Teaching Hospital (COTH) members, non-COTH teaching hospitals, or nonteaching hospitals. These analyses were repeated using ratios of interns and residents to beds to classify teaching intensity. Subjects:The study cohort included Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 66 years or older hospitalized in acute care hospitals during 2009–2010 for acute myocardial infarction (N=342,145), heart failure (N=647,081), or pneumonia (N=598,366). Outcome Measure:The 30-day risk-standardized mortality rates for each condition, stratified by teaching intensity. Results:For each diagnosis, compared with nonteaching hospitals there was a 10% relative reduction in the adjusted odds of mortality for patients admitted to COTH hospitals and a 6%–7% relative reduction for patients admitted to non-COTH teaching hospitals. These findings were insensitive to the method of classifying teaching intensity and only partially explained by higher teaching hospital volumes. Conclusions:Health care reimbursement strategies designed to increase value should consider not only the costs but also the superior clinical outcomes at teaching hospitals for certain common conditions.
Giving to Women and Girls: An Emerging Area of Philanthropy

Philanthropy for women’s and girls’ causes is a growing area of interest among donors and fundraisers. However, beyond foundation giving, limited research has been conducted to understand who gives to women’s and girls’ issues and donors’ motivations for such support. Using the frameworks of collective identity and the social identification theory of care, we conducted a sequential mixed-methods study in the United States to investigate donors’ characteristics and experiences. Through a national survey, we find that women are more likely to give to women’s and girls’ causes and that age and income are the most significant determinants of this giving. In focus groups, donors report giving to women’s and girls’ causes based on three motivational themes: personal experiences of gender inequality, a belief that supporting women’s rights is beneficial for society, and the perceived effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, largely supporting the social identification theory of giving.
Analytical Solutions for a Family of Gaussian Impinging Jets

Various types of impinging jet flows are analytically modeled using inviscidfree Gaussian jet solutions superimposed with experimentally fitted boundary layer models. Improved (more robust) and simplified solutions to existing models are defined. Velocity profiles, surface pressure distributions, and streamline plots are calculated for circular, plane, and annular impinging jets. The models show excellent agreement with existing experimental results in both laminar and turbulent conditions and for different Reynolds numbers.
Plasma Glutamine Concentrations in Liver Failure

Background Higher than normal plasma glutamine concentration at admission to an intensive care unit is associated with an unfavorable outcome. Very high plasma glutamine levels are sometimes seen in both acute and chronic liver failure. We aimed to systematically explore the relation between different types of liver failure and plasma glutamine concentrations. Methods Four different groups of patients were studies; chronic liver failure (n = 40), acute on chronic liver failure (n = 20), acute fulminant liver failure (n = 20), and post-hepatectomy liver failure (n = 20). Child-Pugh and Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores were assessed as indices of liver function. All groups except the chronic liver failure group were followed longitudinally during hospitalisation. Outcomes were recorded up to 48 months after study inclusion. Results All groups had individuals with very high plasma glutamine concentrations. In the total group of patients (n = 100), severity of liver failure correlated significantly with plasma glutamine concentration, but the correlation was not strong. Conclusion Liver failure, regardless of severity and course of illness, may be associated with a high plasma glutamine concentration. Further studies are needed to understand whether high glutamine levels should be regarded as a biomarker or as a contributor to symptomatology in liver failure.
MacaquesVirus Replication in Mauritian Cynomolgus with Control of Simian Immunodeficiency T Cell Responses Correlate + Specific CD8

Speciﬁc major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I alleles are associated with an increased frequency of spontaneous con-trol of human and simian immunodeﬁciency viruses (HIV and SIV). The mechanism of control is thought to involve MHC class I-restricted CD8 (cid:1) T cells, but it is not clear whether particular CD8 (cid:1) T cell responses or a broad repertoire of epitope-speciﬁc CD8 (cid:1) T cell populations (termed T cell breadth) are principally responsible for mediating immunologic control. To test the hypothesis that heterozygous macaques control SIV replication as a function of superior T cell breadth, we infected MHC-homozy-gous and MHC-heterozygous cynomolgus macaques with the pathogenic virus SIVmac239. As measured by a gamma interferon enzyme-linked immunosorbent
Conditioning probabilistic databases

Past research on probabilistic databases has studied the problem of answering queries on a static database. Application scenarios of probabilistic databases however often involve the conditioning of a database using additional information in the form of new evidence. The conditioning problem is thus to transform a probabilistic database of priors into a posterior probabilistic database which is materialized for subsequent query processing or further refinement. It turns out that the conditioning problem is closely related to the problem of computing exact tuple confidence values. It is known that exact confidence computation is an NP-hard problem. This has led researchers to consider approximation techniques for confidence computation. However, neither conditioning nor exact confidence computation can be solved using such techniques. In this paper we present efficient techniques for both problems. We study several problem decomposition methods and heuristics that are based on the most successful search techniques from constraint satisfaction, such as the Davis-Putnam algorithm. We complement this with a thorough experimental evaluation of the algorithms proposed. Our experiments show that our exact algorithms scale well to realistic database sizes and can in some scenarios compete with the most efficient previous approximation algorithms.
Metrics for Probabilistic Geometries

We investigate the geometrical structure of probabilistic generative dimensionality reduction models using the tools of Riemannian geometry. We explicitly define a distribution over the natural metric given by the models. We provide the necessary algorithms to compute expected metric tensors where the distribution over mappings is given by a Gaussian process. We treat the corresponding latent variable model as a Riemannian manifold and we use the expectation of the metric under the Gaussian process prior to define interpolating paths and measure distance between latent points. We show how distances that respect the expected metric lead to more appropriate generation of new data.
Source and transport controls on the movement of nitrate to public supply wells in selected principal aquifers of the United States

In 2003–2005, systematic studies in four contrasting hydrogeologic settings were undertaken to improve understanding of source and transport controls on nitrate movement to public supply wells (PSW) in principal aquifers of the United States. Chemical, isotopic, and age tracer data show that agricultural fertilizers and urban septic leachate were the primary sources of large nitrate concentrations in PSW capture zones at Modesto, California (Central Valley aquifer system) and York, Nebraska (High Plains aquifer). Urban septic leachate and fertilizer (possibly nonfarm) were the primary sources of large nitrate concentrations in PSW capture zones at Woodbury, Connecticut (glacial aquifer system), and Tampa, Florida (Floridan aquifer system), respectively. Nitrate fluxes to the water table were larger in agricultural settings than urban settings, indicating that it would be beneficial to reduce PSW capture zone areas in agricultural regions. Mixing calculations indicate that about 50 to 85% of the nitrate in water from the PSW could be from those modern anthropogenic sources, with the remainder coming from sources in old (>50 years) recharge or sources in young recharge in undisturbed settings such as forests. Excess N2 concentrations and age tracers showed that denitrification at Modesto occurred gradually (first‐order rate constant of 0.02/a) in a thick reaction zone following a ∼30‐year lag time after recharge. Denitrification generally was not an important nitrate sink at Woodbury. At York and Tampa, denitrification occurred rapidly (0.5 to 6/a) in thin reaction zones in fine‐grained sediments that separated the anoxic PSW producing zones from overlying oxic, high‐nitrate ground water. Particle tracking showed that a major pathway by which anthropogenic nitrate reached the York and Tampa PSW was by movement through long well screens crossing multiple hydrogeologic units (York) and by movement through karst features (Tampa), processes which reduced ground water residence times in the denitrifying zones. These results illustrate how PSW vulnerability to nitrate contamination depends on complex variations and interactions between contaminant sources, reaction rates, transit times, mixing, and perturbation of ground water flow in contrasting hydrogeologic settings.