Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Financial Performance Trends of United States Hockey Inc: A Resource-Dependency Approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the 2009 to 2016 financial performance of the US Hockey Inc., using financial effectiveness indicators and financial efficiency ratios. Design/methodology/approach With the assistance of financial trend analysis, archival data were used to examine the financial performance (evaluated by net income), financial effectiveness (indicated by total assets and total revenues) and financial efficiency (examined by programme services ratios and return on assets) of US Hockey Inc. Findings On average, the financial performance of the organization was positive ($30,895 net income per year). Financial effectiveness was steady with increases in assets and revenues. Financial efficiency was poor with 79% of revenues spent on programme services and 1.45% average return on asset. Research limitations/implications The results can be generalized to similar national non-profit sports federations but not corporate sports entities with dissimilar financial goals. Practical implications The results revealed that national non-profit sports federations can boost their financial performance by maintaining a double strategically focus on both financial effectiveness and financial efficiency. Originality/value The study used both financial effectiveness and financial efficiency measures to evaluate the financial performances of a national non-profit sports federation – a neglected approach similar studies.
Scheduling issues for interfacing to high speed networks

It is shown that a straightforward design of the schedulers on the adapter and the host operating system makes a system prone to receive livelocks, significantly increases receive latency, potentially starves transmission of packets, and increases packet loss. Receive livelocks and starvation of transmission of packets can have wide-ranging consequences in the network. When viewed from an endsystem perspective, transport protocols can unnecessarily time-out, and cause retransmissions. For an intermediate system, these problems can result in control packets not being transmitted in a timely manner. Several of these problems are attributable to poor scheduling algorithms based one interrupts and priorities, which are unsuitable in an overloaded environment. That several of these problems are due to the traditional way of scheduling communications is shown by means of a measurement study on an end system. An approach to scheduling communication functions which would alleviate, if not eliminate, these problems is outlined. <<ETX>>
Simulation of high-speed interconnects in a multilayered medium in the presence of incident field

Simulation of high-speed circuits and interconnects in the presence of incident electromagnetic interference is becoming an important step in the design cycle. An accurate and efficient method for the analysis of incident field coupling to traces in inhomogeneous medium is described. The method is based on the application of the physical optics technique. An interconnect circuit simulation stamp is derived. This stamp provides an easy link to current simulators and to recently developed model reduction techniques. In addition to accounting for the inhomogeneity of the medium, this method provides significant computational efficiency improvement over conventional approaches.
Evaluating teacher performance in language learning classes: the gap between students and department administrators

ABSTRACT Using data from multiple evaluation instruments to evaluate university teachers’ teaching quality has been popular in practice; however, the inconsistency of these evaluation results has not received sufficient attention. This study intended to fill the gap by investigating the main reasons for the discrepancy in teaching performance that resulted from student evaluation surveys and classroom observations of two administrators from the English department in one of the largest universities in Vietnam. Student evaluation surveys (n = 604) suggested that teachers performed better in activities that focused on instructional techniques than when promoting classroom interaction and student engagement. Structural equation models further showed that activities that engaged them in learning and promoted classroom interaction had a strong positive effect on their overall satisfaction with their teachers’ performances. However, interviews with administrators from the department revealed the conflicting finding that they felt that teachers whose teaching performance was less satisfactory should focus primarily on instructional techniques.
Influence of Investment Opportunity Set, Financial Leverage, and Voluntary Disclosure on Real Activities Manipulation of Manufacturing Companies Listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of investment opportunity sets, financial leverage, and voluntary disclosure on the real activities manipulation of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange over the period of 2011-2015. This research used the hypothesis testing model. The sample selection is using the purposive sampling method which resulted around 130 companies. The data in this research were obtained from the annual report and analyzed by using panel regression model. The results found that the investment opportunity set does not affect the real activities manipulation, while financial leverage and voluntary disclosure have effect on the real activities manipulation.
Evaluating Network Security Using Internet-wide Measurements

This thesis presents methods and tools to tackle current challenges in Internet measurements, security analyses of protocols covering three different areas, and public measurement services. We develop ZMapv6 and goscanner to make Internet-scale measurements in the IPv6 Internet feasible. Next, we analyze HTTPS security techniques, the amplification potential of BACnet devices, and the security of IPMI devices. Our IPv6 Hitlist Service provides a public service with up-to-date IPv6 measurement data.
Foundational studies for measuring the impact, prevalence, and patterns of publicly sharing biomedical research data

Many initiatives encourage research investigators to share their raw research datasets in hopes of increasing research efficiency and quality. Despite these investments of time and money, we do not have a firm grasp on the prevalence or patterns of data sharing and reuse. Previous survey methods for understanding data sharing patterns provide insight into investigator attitudes, but do not facilitate direct measurement of data sharing behaviour or its correlates. In this study, we evaluate and use bibliometric methods to understand the impact, prevalence, and patterns with which investigators publicly share their raw gene expression microarray datasets after study publication.To begin, we analyzed the citation history of 85 clinical trials published between 1999 and 2003. Almost half of the trials had shared their microarray data publicly on the internet. Publicly available data was significantly (p=0.006) associated with a 69% increase in citations, independently of journal impact factor, date of publication, and author country of origin.Digging deeper into data sharing patterns required methods for automatically identifying data creation and data sharing. We derived a full-text query to identify studies that generated gene expression microarray data. Issuing the query in PubMed Central, Highwire Press, and Google Scholar found 56% of the data-creation studies in our gold standard, with 90% precision. Next, we established that searching ArrayExpress and the Gene Expression Omnibus databases for PubMed article identifiers retrieved 77% of associated publicly-accessible datasets.We used these methods to identify 11603 publications that created gene expression microarray data. Authors of at least 25% of these publications deposited their data in the predominant public databases. We collected a wide set of variables about these studies and derived 15 factors that describe their authorship, funding, institution, publication, and domain environments. In second-order analysis, authors with a history of sharing and reusing shared gene expression microarray data were most likely to share their data, and those studying human subjects and cancer were least likely to share.We hope these methods and results will contribute to a deeper understanding of data sharing behavior and eventually more effective data sharing initiatives.
Translating the Integration Challenges to Molecular Device Requirements - Analysis of Scaling Constraints in Molecular Random Access Memories

Integrating molecular memory devices into large scale arrays is a key requirement for translating the miniature size of molecular devices into ultradense memory systems. This in turn imposes constraints on the individual molecular memory devices. A circuit theory approach is used to derive a general parameterized memory circuit model, from which quantitative relationships between the device on:off ratio, noise margin and memory size are studied. Assuming a small interconnect impedance and a reasonable noise margin, a 7:1 on:off ratio would be sufficient for a 4kbit memory, while a 16kbit memory would require a 13:1 ratio. Parasitic impedances become significant in architectures employing molecular interconnect, and full-scale memory circuit simulations are presented as a case study. This way, trends for the impact of all system parameters on system scalability are examined.
Information flow over compound wireless relay networks

Relay networks was formulated in the 1970s, but the complete characterization of the achievable rates of relay networks is open, even for the simplest three node network (single source, single destination, one relay). This is true even for the special case of Gaussian relay networks, where Gaussian broadcast and multiple access channels model the relay network interactions. Our philosophy was to simplify the models and obtain insights with the hope to approximately characterize the general Gaussian relay network capacity. We started with a linear deterministic model which incorporated both the main distinguishing characteristics of wireless channels, i.e., broadcast and multiple access. For such a model we had a complete characterization of the relay network capacity in terms of an intuitively satisfying max-flow min-cut result . This also led to an achievability result for arbitrary deterministic model determining the relay network interactions (broadcast, multiple access). The analysis for arbitrary deterministic functions needed the notion of typicality and gave insight to an approximate characterization of the wireless relay network capacity.
Memory integrated noise reduction IC for television

Because television sets are often used in areas where the reception conditions are less than optimal, the inclusion of a noise reduction filter in the receiver adds an attractive feature. A new IC for economy TV 2-D spatial noise filtering has been designed and is described in this paper. It includes a novel circuit for noise-level estimation for optimal filtering under varying reception conditions. When cascaded with commonly-available motion-adaptive temporal noise filters, a high quality 3-D concept for high-end TV results. The average improvement in noise level is some 3 dB in stand-alone operation, and some 6 dB when cascaded.
Opportunities, barriers, and adoption factors of mobile commerce for the informal sector in developing countries in Africa: A systematic review

Mobile commerce (m‐commerce) is extensively being deployed in both formal and informal sectors in Africa. There is evidence that mobile services such as m‐commerce can improve the overall revenue and productivity in various sectors globally. M‐commerce interventions have gained popularity for the last decades owing to their nature of being ubiquitous, convenient, localised, and personalised. However, there is little comprehensive and integrated literature on m‐commerce services on the informal sector in the developing countries in Africa. This article therefore provides results of systematic review from literature on the opportunities, barriers, and adoption factors of m‐commerce services for the informal sector in Africa. This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for System Reviews and Meta‐Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Out of 459 records that were screened, 20 was the final number of eligible studies after applying the exclusion criteria. This systematic review found that there are technical, social, cultural, and financial factors that hamper the uptake of m‐commerce for the informal sector in Africa. Furthermore, benefits and m‐commerce adoption factors have also been discussed. The study finally provides recommendations for the effective and sustainable utilisation of m‐commerce services for the informal sector in Africa.
Genetic Algorithm Optimized Packet Filtering

In this paper, we present a method to optimize packet filtering by genetic algorithm. Packet filtering in our work consists of packet capturing and firewall rules reordering. Genetic algorithm is used to automate rules reordering and the discovery of optimal combination of packet capture configuration, in the framework of PF_RING platform and rules ordering. Our method has been tested in different sizes of network traffic load. Genetic Algorithm evolves configuration based on the recorded throughput rates; the higher the throughput the better the solution. Results obtained indicate the effectiveness of the approach.
Communication receivers based on Markov models of the fading channel

The problem researched is the comparison of different finite-state Markov channel (FSMC) models used to approximate the Rayleigh fading channel. The criterion used to compare the Markov models is the error performance of receivers based on the FSMC, where the sufficient statistics are obtained from the Jakes-Clarke (1974) fading channel. The FSMC receivers perform joint maximum a posteriori (MAP) sequence detection and channel estimation using the Viterbi algorithm. Receiver outputs of bit decision and channel estimation error are used as the measure of comparison between various models and a well-developed reference receiver. For this research 1/sup st/ and 2/sup nd/ order models were implemented. Simulation results suggest that there can be a significant improvement in receiver performance when the receiver is based on a 2/sup nd/ order model over a 1/sup st/ order model. Likewise, an improvement in performance is observed when the number of Markov states is increased.
Identification of finger flexions from continuous EEG as a brain computer interface

Much of the research in the development of a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) has focused on differentiating between several possible commands rather than the identification of control signals from continuous EEG. This generally results in the detection of many unintended commands while the operator is trying to rest. This work implements an Asynchronous Signal Detector (ASD) capable of identifying index finger flexions from a continuous sampling of surface electrodes. Spatiotemporal features are classified using Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ). The ASD can function as a stand alone BCI capable of recognizing a single control signal or operate in conjunction with an existing BCI method to recognize multiple commands.
Why people use social networking services in Korea

Social network services (SNS) provide ways for people to express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences through computer-mediated communication. As SNS become increasingly more popular, studies on individuals’ usage motivations of SNS are conducted to explain the acceptance of SNS and their usage intentions. However, situations in which people become stressed with SNS are also developing. Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider the objectives that people are pursuing when they are using SNS. Using motivation theory and self-disclosure theory, this study in Korea examined the factors influencing self-disclosure and the mediating role of self-disclosure examined in terms of subjective well-being. Based on the results of structural equation model analysis, communication in the SNS had the biggest impacts on self-disclosure; information, entertainment, and privacy concerns also were influential. The results also indicated that self-disclosure caused subjective well-being. This study is one of the first to examine the mediating role of self-disclosure on subjective well-being in social network services.
A highly linear CMOS Gm-C bandpass filter with on-chip frequency tuning

A fourteenth-order CMOS transconductance-C (G/sub m/-C) bandpass filter with on-chip automatic frequency tuning is described. By using highly linear G/sub m/-C integrators, the filter achieves 75 dB dynamic range over 700 kHz noise bandwidth. The measured intermodulation distortion (IM3) @ 600 kHz for a 4 V/sub pp/ input signal is only -61 dB. On-chip automatic frequency tuning provides more than 300% center frequency range (i.e., 165-505 kHz) of the filter with /spl plusmn/1% frequency accuracy. The 0.7-/spl mu/m CMOS filter measures 4.8 mm/sup 2/ and consumes 70 mW from a single 5 V power supply.
A MODEL FOR THE OPTIMAL PROGRAMMING OF RAILWAY FREIGHT TRAIN MOVEMENTS

The area of railroad scheduling and associated problems offers a potentially fruitful field for research in management science. The mass of data; the need for considering numerous aspects of the problem simultaneously; and the variety of restrictions (arising from the technology, labor agreements and government regulation) make the control of day to day operations a management problem of great complexity. The problems at this level are further compounded by the need for developing, at the same time, methods for planning and evaluating major changes in facilities. Such methods, if they are to be effective, must be capable of tracing out the implications of these changes on the day to day operation and appraising the results in the light of the long-run objectives of the railroad. This paper is an account of an attempt to apply certain techniques of management science to some of these scheduling problems as they were found to exist on a large terminal switching railroad.
Determination of Pre-Service Elementary Science Teachers' Knowledge Level About Greenhouse Effect

The aim of this study is to determine pre-service elementary science teachers’ knowledge level about greenhouse effect. In the study, the questionnaire of 36 items was applied to 319 pre-service elementary science teachers by using scanning model. Percentage (%), frequency (f) and single factor variance analysis were done by using SPSS statistical package program for the data gained from the application. As a result of the analysis it was stated that the students have some misconceptions about greenhouse effect and that there was not a significant difference among the pre-service elementary science teachers’ knowledge level about greenhouse effect according to their grade level.
An Investigation into Savings Behaviour of Households in Midrand, Johannesburg

Saving is a crucial component for the economic health of a country and can act as a shield for international capital movements. Low savings behaviour of households in South Africa and in particular that of Midrand, is of great concern. High levels of unemployment, financial illiteracy and debt, contribute negatively to the level of savings. This research study investigates the savings behaviour of households in the Midrand using quantitative methods from data collected from 191 households which participated in the study. The results revealed that many households in Midrand are not financially literate and have a poor savings culture. The inability to budget and lack of financial planning are some of the factors that hinder households from saving. The study shows that households in Midrand are aware of the importance of saving, despite not saving enough. These households earn higher than the average household in South Africa and are more educated. Poor saving behaviour is a result of financial illiteracy. The study recommends that financial education should be part of the curriculum at schools; programmes by both the private and government sectors should be put in place to educate their employees; withdrawal from pension funds should be strictly monitored; parents should encourage their children to start saving from an early age; tax rebates could be a tool to improve savings, and a compulsory saving platform should be introduced to all people earning an income.
Proceedings of the 1st workshop on Network and system support for games

Games in different manners have always been part of human live. Especially to play together with other people, to measure strengths and capabilities is of major interest to most humans. Hence, new technologies have also been used to provide for new games and new game categories.The computer-based game exists in a large variety of forms, from first-player shooters to role-playing games to puzzles, and for largely varying endsystems, from standard PCs to specialized game-consoles to mobile telephones. Whilst single-player computer games have existed for decades, networked games have recently found widespread interest. For some of the more popular network-based multiplayer games, appropriate system and network support is required to provide the players with sufficient performance. For example, in an interactive real-time game, delays introduced by local processing and network transmission may cause inconsistencies in the distributed state of the game. Research into networked games is becoming increasingly popular. But from a technical point of view, the boundary between games and more 'serious' applications is not always clearly defined. Flight simulators, for instance, may be seen as games but also as (semi) professional 'training tools'. Starting from some discussions about research issues in the games realm, the idea to hold a workshop devoted to this topic came up in fall 2001. This led to the organization of this First International Workshop on Network and System Support for Games, Braunschweig, Germany, April 16-17, 2002. We followed a very tight schedule during the workshop organization to allow for up-to-date contributions. Authors and PC members worked hard to make the schedule and finally the workshop program possible. The high quality of the papers in the workshop proceedings demonstrates that the theme is a very active and interesting research area.
Timed-Release Predicate Encryption and Its Extensions in Cloud Computing

Predicate encryption is a novel cryptographic primitive that provides fine-grained control over the accesses to encrypted data. In predicate encryption, a message can be encrypted with a public key and a set of attributes. The private key owner uses his own private key to generate a secret token corresponding to a predicate. An evaluator can take the secret token to decrypt ciphertexts if and only if the set of attributes of the ciphertexts satisfies the predicate of the secret token. Predicate encryption could be used in cloud computing such as remote untrusted storages and encrypted webmail search. Biometric matching could also be constructed by predicate encryption. In this manuscript, we first propose an extension of predicate encryption, called timed-release predicate encryption. The evaluator decrypts the ciphertexts that satisfy the predicate only after a specified time period in our construction. Therefore, our proposed encryption scheme can provide not only ciphertext retrieval with search privacy protection but time trigger. It could be used in the applications of cloud storages and networks that need to seal the secret delegated events or happenings before a specified time. We also provide the formal proofs of IND-CCA (indistinguishability under chosen ciphertext attack) security, attribute hiding, and timed-release properties for the construction.