Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Managerial Ownership, Capital Structure and Firm Value: Evidence from China’s Civilian-run Firms

This paper examines the influence of managerial ownership on firm performance through capital-structure choices, using a sample of China’s civilian-run firms listed on the Chinese stock market between 2002 and 2007. The empirical results demonstrate a nonlinear relationship between managerial ownership and firm value. Managerial ownership drives the capital structure into a nonlinear shape, but in an opposite direction to the effect of managerial ownership on firm value. The results of simultaneous regressions suggest that managerial ownership affects capital structure, which in turn affects firm value. Our findings imply that the “interest convergence” and “entrenchment” effects of managers’ behaviour in terms of managerial ownership can also explain the agency-relevant situation of China’s civilian-run firms.
“My Excellent College Entrance Examination Achievement” — Noun Phrase Use of Chinese EFL Students’ Writing

Previous studies have shown that phrasal structure, particularly complex noun phrases with phrasal modifiers, is a feature of advanced academic writing. Therefore, it would be important for those who plan to pursue further studies to learn to write in the way that is appropriate for academic writing. Using the manual annotation function of UAM corpus tool, this study compared the noun phrase use of Chinese EFL students’ writing with that of proficient language users. This study also discussed the significant differences found between these two groups in terms of noun phrase use and their implications for EFL/ ESL writing instruction.
Seasonal variations of Quercus pubescens isoprene emissions from an in natura forest under drought stress and sensitivity to future climate change in the Mediterranean area

Abstract. At a local level, biogenic isoprene emissions can greatly affect the air quality of urban areas surrounded by large vegetation sources, such as in the Mediterranean region. The impacts of future warmer and drier conditions on isoprene emissions from Mediterranean emitters are still under debate. Seasonal variations of Quercus pubescens gas exchange and isoprene emission rates (ER) were studied from June 2012 to June 2013 at the O3HP site (French Mediterranean) under natural (ND) and amplified (AD, 32 %) drought. While AD significantly reduced stomatal conductance to water vapour throughout the research period excluding August, it did not significantly preclude CO2 net assimilation, which was lowest in summer (≈-1 µmolCO2 m−2 s−1). ER followed a significant seasonal pattern regardless of drought intensity, with mean ER maxima of 78.5 and 104.8 µgC gDM-1 h−1 in July (ND) and August (AD) respectively and minima of 6 and < 2 µgC gDM-1 h−1 in October and April respectively. The isoprene emission factor increased significantly by a factor of 2 in August and September under AD (137.8 and 74.3 µgC gDM-1 h−1) compared with ND (75.3 and 40.21 µgC gDM-1 h−1), but no significant changes occurred on ER. Aside from the June 2012 and 2013 measurements, the MEGAN2.1 (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature version 2.1) model was able to assess the observed ER variability only when its soil moisture activity factor γSM was not operating and regardless of the drought intensity; in this case more than 80 % and 50 % of ER seasonal variability was assessed in the ND and AD respectively. We suggest that a specific formulation of γSM be developed for the drought-adapted isoprene emitter, according to that obtained for Q. pubescens in this study (γSM= 0.192e51.93 SW with SW the soil water content). An isoprene algorithm (G14) was developed using an optimised artificial neural network (ANN) trained on our experimental dataset (ER + O3HP climatic and edaphic parameters cumulated over 0 to 21 days prior to the measurements). G14 assessed more than 80 % of the observed ER seasonal variations, regardless of the drought intensity. ERG14 was more sensitive to higher (0 to −7 days) frequency environmental changes under AD in comparison to ND. Using IPCC RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 climate scenarios, and SW and temperature as calculated by the ORCHIDEE land surface model, ERG14 was found to be mostly sensitive to future temperature and nearly insensitive to precipitation decrease (an annual increase of up to 240 % and at the most 10 % respectively in the most severe scenario). The main impact of future drier conditions in the Mediterranean was found to be an enhancement (+40 %) of isoprene emissions sensitivity to thermal stress.
Homogenization and Thermomechanical Processing of Cast Alloy 718

The microstructural response displayed by a cast and homogenized Alloy 718 ingot during subsequent homogenization and elevated temperature deformation treatments was investigated to better understand the effects of chemical segregation on the resulting microstructure of converted billet. In particular, secondary precipitation and its effects upon recrystallization behavior were studied. The study contained three major areas of investigation. First, straight thermal treatments in the temperature range of 1650°F to 2150°F were performed over a range of times. An automated EDXS technique was used to measure reductions in segregation in the heat treated material. The second area involved isothermal deformation over the same temperature range as above. Cylindrical specimens were deformed in compression at a strain rate of 0.1 set-‘, to various strains ranging from 5% to 20% engineering strain. Finally, compression was combined with post-deformation thermal treatment. Microstructural characterization was carried out using optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. It has been shown that nucleation of strain free grains first occurs at the carbide clusters/high angle grain boundaries. Recrystallization was rapid above the 6 solvus, but inhibited at lower temperatures. It appears to be due to precipitation of secondary phases. In addition, the effects of prior segregation were observed in the form of nonuniform phase precipitation, which occurred in many of the deformed samples. This was attributed to a concentration of niobium in the prior boundaries. Implications of these results are discussed in light of uniform billet conversion. Superalloys 718,625 and Various Derivatives Edited by Edward A. Loria The Minerals, M.etals & Materials Society, 1991
Breeding System Evolution in Oxalis alpina: Asymmetrical Expression of Tristylous Incompatibility

Premise of research. Tristylous populations of Oxalis alpina have three floral morphs (short-, mid-, and long-styled), and populations appear to be at different stages in the evolution of distyly via loss of the mid-styled morph. In tristylous populations transitioning to distyly, asymmetrical incompatibility reactions could affect style-morph frequencies and slow the evolution of distyly. We hypothesized that greater success of pollen from long-styled relative to short-styled morphs leads to an excess of mid-styled progeny from mid-styled morphs and favors retention of tristyly despite other forms of selection acting against the mid-styled morph. Methodology. We quantified morph ratios of progeny from naturally pollinated plants. We also compared pollen tube and seed production of mid-styled plants following single-source pollinations using pollen from long- versus short-styled pollen parents, and we investigated the proportion of short-styled progeny following pollinations of mid-styled plants with mixtures of pollen from short- and long-styled plants. Pivotal results. Three lines of evidence generally support the hypothesis that reduced performance of short-styled pollen donors may favor retention of mid-styled plants. (1) Naturally pollinated mid-styled plants exhibited reduced numbers of short-styled progeny for two years in one of two tristylous populations with modified tristylous incompatibility. (2) In populations transitioning toward distyly, mid-styled plants pollinated by short-styled plants had fewer pollen tubes and lower seed production than crosses using long-styled plants as pollen parents. (3) Hand-pollinations of mid-styled plants using mixtures of pollen from short- and long-styled plants resulted in reductions in the proportion of short-styled progeny, consistent with the differences in pollen tube numbers produced by the paternal morphs. Conclusions. Asymmetry in paternity among different pollen donors via pollen tube performance influences the evolution of the breeding system of O. alpina, by affecting the relative proportions of different floral morphs and potentially counteracting selection through inbreeding depression and differential fitness of alleles controlling floral morphs.
Convolutional Neural Networks with Binaural Representations and Background Subtraction for Acoustic Scene Classification

In this paper, we demonstrate how we applied convolutional neural network for DCASE 2017 task 1, acoustic scene classification. We propose a variety of preprocessing methods that emphasise different acoustic characteristics such as binaural representations, harmonicpercussive source separation, and background subtraction. We also present a network structure designed for paired input to make the most of the spatial information contained in the stereo. The experimental results show that the proposed network structures and the preprocessing methods effectively learn acoustic characteristics from the audio recordings, and their ensemble model significantly reduces the error rate further, exhibiting an accuracy of 0.917 for 4-fold cross-validation on the development. The proposed system achieved second place in DCASE 2017 task 1 with an accuracy of 0.804 on the evaluation set.
YouTube and Skype Modes of Virtual Learning Performance in Relations to Cognitive Styles of Students.

The study aimed to find out the relationship between cognitive styles, YouTube learning and Skype learning performance of secondary school students. For that purpose, the researchers randomly selected 20 students from two 9th standards of two English medium secondary schools of Silchar Town, Assam, India to conduct the experiment. Quasi Experimental Design based on Regression Analysis used to assess and relate the effects of variables. 10 class IX students of school 1 was counted as the YouTube learning Group, and 10 class IX students of school 2 was assigned for Skype learning. It resulted that perceiving, feeling, introversion and intuition has the hierarchical significant relationship with YouTube learning performance, however, extroversion, sensing, thinking, judging, has no significant relationship with YouTube learning performance. It also resulted that judging, thinking, sensing, extroversion has no hierarchical relationship with Skype learning performance.
Neural network based adaptive predistortion for the linearization of nonlinear RF amplifiers

The good spectral efficiency of linear modulation techniques makes them attractive for use in high data rate digital radio systems. Unfortunately, the fluctuating envelopes of such systems combined with the nonlinear nature of the high power RF amplifiers commonly used gives rise to spectral spreading, adjacent channel interference, I-Q crosstalk, and degraded bit error rates. A possible solution to these problems is the linearization of the transmitter system by predistortion of the baseband digital signal using a nonlinear filter which is the inverse of the amplifier response. We realize the inverse filter using a backpropagation neural network. A coupler and demodulator provide a feedback path which provides the input to the neural network while the desired signal is the original waveform. The shaped waveform is passed through the network which adaptively corrects for the changing response of the high power RF amplifier. This technique allows us to correct for quite general nonlinearities, significantly reduce spectral spreading, and to improve the bit error rate.
Borrowing Constraints and Homeownership

This paper identifies the impact of borrowing constraints on homeownership in the U.S. in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. While homeownership declines and tightened credit are evident, the role the tightening of credit has had on the probability of individual households to become homeowners has not been previously identified. The homeownership rate in 2010-2013 is estimated to be 2.3 percentage points lower than if the constraints were set at the 2001 level.
Shannon Wavelet Analysis with Applications : A Survey

Among the many families of wavelets available in the literature, Shannon wavelets offer some more specific advantages which are usually missing in the others such as infinite differentiability, analytical expressions, shapely boundedness in the frequency domain, enjoying a generalization of the Shannon sampling theorem, giving rise to the connection coefficients which can be analytically defined for any order derivatives and since it is a known fact that wavelets have been finding enormous applications in science and technology since 1980, so it becomes very fruitful to study the Shannon wavelet and its applications. In the literature a lot of study have been done in this direction, but to our knowledge no comprehensive survey of Shannon wavelet analysis and its applications have been done and hence we take this opportunity. The paper begins with a brief historical Journey from Fourier analysis to wavelet analysis presented in first section. Afterwards, Shannon wavelet, Shannon scaling function, reconstruction of functions and derivatives with their help have been presented in the next four sections. In next eleven sections, applications of Shannon wavelet analysis to differential, integral and integro-differential equations, inverse heat conduction problem, and some real world problems have been surveyed. Finally conclusion is included in the last section.
Study on the Validation of the Korean Version of the Fear of Missing Out (K-FoMO) Scale for Korean College Students

This study, the Fear of Missing Out Scale (FoMO Scale) developed by Przybylski et al. (2013) was adapted and validated to the Korean culture. 3-factors were constructed through EFA and item content analysis. In the CFA, 3 models were constructed to verify the fit of the model. Compared the goodness of fit, 3-factors model with 8 items proved to be the most appropriate. Sub-factors extracted through the characteristic context and rationale of Korean culture are ‘belonging needs’, ‘extrinsic motivation’, and ‘relative deprivation’. K-FoMO scale and the reliability level of each sub-factor were good. Convergent validity was assessed by significant correlation the K-FoMO scores with life satisfaction, positive emotions, negative emotions, and SNS addiction proneness. Discriminant validity was assessed by low correlation with gratitude. At the end, limitation and suggestions for the future research were discussed.
Commentary: Evaluation of Models of Parkinson's Disease

In the recently published review article by Jagmag et al. (2016), some currently available neurotoxin based and genetic models of Parkinson's disease (PD) were described, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of preclinical models use to knowledge of PD. The aim of this commentary is to shed light and to make a reflection on some fundamental issues involving the pathophysiology of PD and additionally bring to the discussion the animal model of PD based on the administration of reserpine (RES).
Development of personal and social autonomy in teenagers and young adults with Down Syndrome: an empirical study on self-representations in family relationships

This study aimed to investigate self-representations within the family and their effects on the development of adaptive skills in terms of personal and social autonomy. The target was a group of teenagers and young adults with Down Syndrome (DS), compared with a group of nondisabled individuals. The purposes of this study were: 1) to show a relationship between the development of autonomy during adolescence and the perceptions of feelings and attitudes experienced within the family; 2) to identify a link between a) family relationships which are more oriented towards recognizing the maturation processes with the goal of the autonomy of adolescents with DS, and b) the building of adequate self-representations with positive effects on personal and social adaptation. The study sample was composed of 170 adolescents and young adults, 85 of whom have DS. The instruments employed were the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale - Survey Form (VABS), which measures the level of Adaptive Behavior by three domains (Communication, Daily Living and Socialization), and the Family Relations Test: Children’s Version (FRTC), which assesses the feelings
Development of an Evidence-based Professional Learning Program Informed by Online Teachers' Self-efficacy and Threshold Concepts

As online education continues to expand across varied educational sectors, so does the demand for professional development programs to guide academic teaching staff through the processes of developing their capacities to design and teach online courses. To meet these challenges at one higher education institution, a mixed methods research study was implemented to identify the professional learning needs of academic teaching staff for the purposes of developing a tailor-made professional development program. The principles of self-efficacy and threshold concepts were used to inform the design of the study. Data were systematically gathered from the participants to determine self-efficacy, concerns, and questions and experiences of academic teaching staff with online teaching. Findings revealed that academic staff held threshold concepts, skills and attitudes about online teaching. Three groups of staff were identified, all with varying forms of professional development requirements. This case study account demonstrates how an evidence-based project provided the basis for a research-informed institutional professional development program that is currently guiding academic staff through their development as online course designers and teachers.
Evaluation of antimicrobial activity and preliminary phytochemical screening of Mesua ferrea seeds extract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the ant imicrobial activity and phytoconstituents of hexane, methanol and aqueous extracts of seeds o f Mesua ferrea Linn. In vitro. The antimicrobial activity of different extracts was te sted against the gram positive and the gram negative bacterial strains and some fungal strains by observing the zone of inhibition diameter. The gram positive bacteria used in the te st were Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus and the gram negative bacteria were Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus v , fungal strains like Aspergillus niger , Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans were used. Proteus vulgaris and Bacillus subtilis were the most sensitive strain to the hexane and m ethanolic extract of Mesua ferrea and exhibited the maximum zone of inhibition diameter. Mesua ferrea did not show any activity against Escherichia coli . methanolic extract of Mesua ferrea was most sensitive against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus with maximum inhibitory zone diameter exhibited against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus . Mesua ferrea seeds extracts were inactive against Candida albicans. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, phenolics, tannins, flavonoids and terpenoids. The results confirmed the antimicrobial activity of Mesua ferrea seeds extracts against various human pathogenic bacteria and fungus.
The Effect of Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Bank Performance Evidence from Saudi Banking Sector

This study investigates the effect of Corporate Governance Mechanisms on bank performance, using a sample of nine Saudi banks during the period 2011-2016. The study employed six corporate governance mechanisms to examine their effect on two performance measures; ROA and ROE. In addition, the study used three control variables to separate the effect of the corporate governance variables on bank performance. Using panel data regression, the results indicated that board independence and the ownership of the largest three shareholders were the only corporate governance mechanisms that have a negative and significant effect on ROA. Board independence and the ownership of the largest three shareholders had a negative and significant effect or ROE, while the ownership of the largest shareholder and the size of audit committee had a positive and significant impact on ROE.
Normalization of Social Media Text using Deep Neural Networks

This paper sets out to investigate ways of normalizing noisy text that appear on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc. We proposed a deep learning based approach to text normalization using Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) based Encoder–Decoder architecture with Long Short Term Memory (LSTM). To circumvent the unavailability of suitable large noisy–clean parallel dataset, we developed synthetic datasets. We trained and evaluated the proposed model on our synthetic datasets and the WNUT 1 shared task dataset. The uniqueness of our approach is in the use of synthetic datasets in a transfer learning approach for improving the performance of text normalization based on deep neural models. Our transfer learning based deep neural model produced state-of-the-art results (F1 score 0.9098) outperforming the previous best performing model on the WNUT test set by 7%.
A Context-Aware Fog Enabled Scheme for Real-Time Cross-Vertical IoT Applications

As the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm is maturing, innovative, and novel services are being envisioned. An upcoming trend is the depiction of services enacted through seamless integration of multiple vertical IoT services, termed as cross-vertical or unified IoT services in this paper. Traditional Cloud-based centralized network architectures cannot cater to real-time responses demanded by such unified IoT applications. Moreover, introducing Fog nodes within the network architecture, though a promising alternative, cannot sustain the burden of a huge number of applications that culminates in massive data handling. In this paper, we envision employing lessons learned from context-aware computing, specifically context sharing among interdependent vertical IoT applications to address this delay requirement of such unified IoT applications by enacting context sharing among Fog nodes for minimizing system delay. The detailed network model and context sharing mechanism have been presented and the service time minimization has been framed as an optimization problem. Algorithms for context sharing and delay tolerant load balancing have been presented and simulation results carried out demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology.