Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A noise suppressing filter design for reducing deconvolution error of both-directions downward sloped asymmeric RTN long-tail distributions

A noise suppressing filter design technique to reduce deconvolution error of both-directions downward sloped asymmetrical long-tail distribution of the Random Telegraph Noise (RTN) is proposed. The filter is used in Lucy-Richardson-deconvolution (LRDec) iteration process. The deconvolution is required for inversely analyzing RTN long tail distribution effects on VLSI time-dependent operating margin. The proposed noise suppressing filters avoid unwanted phase misalignment between the distribution curves of feedback gain and deconvolution target for right and left tails. This results in reduction of its relative deconvolution errors by about 12-fold compared with the conventional LRDec. The accuracy of the fail-bit-count (FBC) prediction is increased by about 100-fold.
Consumer Intentions to Use Electronic Banking Channels: The Role of Task-Channel Fit

The increase in electronically mediated self-service technologies in the banking industry is changing the way banks service consumers. Despite a large body of research on electronic banking channels, no study has been undertaken to explore the importance of the fit between electronic banking channels and banking tasks. Nor has there been research into how task-channel fit and other factors influence consumer intentions to use electronic banking channels. Integrating task-technology fit theory with acceptance and adoption research, this research develops and tests a research model that explains how the task-channel fit (TCF) and other factors impact on consumers' intentions to use electronic banking channels. An exploratory study was first conducted, investigating industry experts' perceptions towards the concept of task-channel fit of electronic banking channels. The findings demonstrate that the concept was perceived as being highly relevant by bank managers. A research model was then developed drawing on the existing literature on electronic banking channels. Following this, five exploratory focus groups were conducted in order to assess the initial conceptualization of the research model. Subsequently, a survey questionnaire instrument was developed using judgment rounds and two pretest evaluations. Central to the scale development was the measurement of the TCF construct. Drawing on IS strategy and alignment literatures, a parallel instrument was created in order to determine TCF across several unique dimensions. A pilot study assessed responses from 280 consumers using Internet banking for two different banking tasks. Overall, the scales demonstrated high reliability and showed adequate construct validity. The analysis of the pilot study suggested that the TCF construct and other antecedents of consumer intentions to use Internet banking explained a substantial amount of variance in the dependent variable. The scales were refined in light of the pilot study. In the main study, 340 responses were collected from consumers using Internet banking for account inquiries or financial loans. The results showed that the TCF construct was a strong predictor of consumers' perceptions on the usefulness of Internet banking and their attitudes towards these services for both banking tasks. Overall, the TCF construct and other identified variables accounted for at least 63% of variance in the dependent variable.
Rapid evolutionary radiation of marine zooplankton in peripheral environments.

Populations of jellyfish, Mastigias sp. , landlocked in tropical marine lakes during the Holocene, show extreme genetic isolation (0.74 < or = phiST < or = 1.00), founder effects (genetic diversity: 0.000 < or = pi < or = 0.001), rapid morphological evolution, and behavioral adaptation. These results demonstrate incipient speciation in what we propose may be modern analogues of Plio-Pleistocene populations isolated in ocean basins by glacially lowered sea level and counterparts to modern marine populations isolated on archipelagos and other distant shores. Geographic isolation in novel environments, even if geologically brief, may contribute much to marine biodiversity because evolutionary rates in marine plankton can rival the most rapid speciation seen for limnetic species, such as cichlids and sticklebacks. Marine lakes present situations rare in their clarity for studying evolution in marine taxa.
Audit Committee

The University of Alberta and the University of Alberta Students’ Union occupy Indigenous land in amiskwacîswâskahikan (Beaver Hills House), on Treaty 6 territory. From time immemorial, the banks along the river valley have been known as the Pehonan, a meeting place for the nêhiyawak (Cree), the Niitsítapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Dënes ųł iné (Dene), Ojibway/Saulteaux/Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and others. The University, the Students’ Union and much of the city are located on the unlawfully stolen land of the forcibly removed Papaschase Cree. We acknowledge that sharing this land gives each of us the responsibility to research the historic contexts of Treaty 6, to reflect on our personal relationships to the land, the Nations we’ve named, and to our roles in upholding justice on this territory. Since they began, the Students’ Union and the University have benefited from historic and ongoing dispossession of land and resources from Indigenous Peoples. As a result, it is our responsibility to seek the restitution of this land and its resources. Finally, we seek to do better by working to make our learning, research, and governance align with the histories, languages, teachings, and cultures of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples in the land presently occupied by the Canadian state. We encourage critical reflection by asking the following question. In relation to the territory on which you are situated, what role do you play in strengthening the resistance and resurgence of Indigenous students within your communities?
A prospective study of alcohol, diet, and other lifestyle factors in relation to obstructive uropathy

The association of alcohol, diet, and other lifestyle factors with obstructive uropathy was investigated in a cohort of 6581 Japanese‐American men, examined and interviewed from 1971 to 1975 in Hawaii. By studying this migrant population with its heterogeneous exposures, it increases the probabilities of identifying potential risk factors of this prostate disorder. After 17 years of follow‐up, 846 incident cases of surgically treated obstructive uropathy were diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Total alcohol intake was inversely associated with obstructive uropathy (P < 0.0001). The relative risk was 0.64(95% confidence interval: 0.52–0.78) for men drinking at least 25 ounces of alcohol per month compared with nondrinkers. Among the 4 sources of alcohol, a significant inverse association was present for beer, wine, and sake, but not for spirits. Buddhist (vs. other) religion, rural (vs. urban) birthplace, and the presence of prostate symptoms were each associated with increased risk of obstructive uropathy, but no association was found with education, number of marriages, or cigarette smoking. Increased beef intake was weakly related to an increased risk (P = 0.047), while no association was found with the consumption of 32 other food items in the study. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss. Inc.
Calculation of Acoustic Velocity in Annular Space of the Pumping Well's Casing Based on AMDF

A calculation method of acoustic velocity based on AMDF(Average Magnitude Deference Function) utilizes AMDF's period recognition ability,processing coupling's echo data using many frames,and obtaining time interval of the adjacent coupling's echo of the respective frame from the first valley point.Then,acoustic velocity corresponding to the frame was calculated out according to the length of oil tube.The above method has long recognition distance, high measurement precision,and doesn't need regular coupling's echo.The practical application shows that the acoustic velocity calculated with the above method approaches to real acoustic velocity more.Calculation precision of acoustic velocity can be improved by appropriately increasing frame size and sampling rate.
Does Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation Improve or Impair Corporate Investment Efficiency?

We develop a framework with which to analyze the interactions among auditor attestation strategy, corporate investment decision, and capital market valuation. We use this framework to examine mandatory audit firm rotation (Section 207 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) and identify its three potential effects: the real (cash flow) effect; the attestation effect; the price effect. In particular, we show that mandatory audit firm rotation impairs corporate investment efficiency for firms with rosy prospects but improves corporate investment efficiency for firms with gloomy prospects.
Assimilation of Synthetic Remotely Sensed Soil Moisture in Environment Canada's MESH Model

With recent advances in satellite microwave soil moisture estimation, particularly the launch of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite and the soil moisture active passive mission, there is an increased demand for exploiting the potential of satellite microwave soil moisture observations to improve the predictive capability of hydrologic and land surface models. This study presents the implementation of the 1-D version of the ensemble Kalman filter scheme to assimilate satellite soil moisture into Environment Canada's Standalone Modélisation Environmentale-Surface et Hydrologie (MESH) model that couples the Canadian land surface scheme with a distributed hydrological model. This paper examines the performance of the established assimilation scheme by conducting a series of synthetic assimilation experiments in which the satellite soil moisture and the reference (“true”) solutions were derived from the MESH model simulations. The synthetic analyses have demonstrated the capability of the assimilation system, given the synthetic satellite soil moisture and the intentionally degraded model estimates, to accurately approximate the “true” surface layer and root-zone soil moisture solutions. The experiments have also revealed the impacts of a series of factors (ensemble size, vegetation cover, observing frequency, specification of observation, and model input error parameters) upon the quality of the assimilation estimates, which can provide an important guidance for the practical application of the assimilation scheme.
Mobile Trusted Computing

Trusted computing technologies for mobile devices have been researched, developed, and deployed over the past decade. Although their use has been limited so far, ongoing standardization may change this by opening up these technologies for easy access by developers and users. In this survey, we describe the current state of trusted computing solutions for mobile devices from research, standardization, and deployment perspectives.
Don't Trust Trust: A Dynamic Approach to Controlling Supplier Involvement in New Product Development†

Prior literature stresses the importance for manufacturers to use formal and informal controls to coordinate collaborative new product development activities with suppliers. In doing so, the existence of trust between manufacturers and suppliers is believed to play a key role because it enables manufacturers to reduce investments in formal controls and rely more on less costly informal controls. Manufacturers and suppliers don't suddenly trust each other though: trust typically grows over time as the partners get to know each other. Trust may also decrease if manufacturers overuse formal controls or if suppliers underperform. These fluctuations in trust over the course of supplier�manufacturer relationships complicate the so-called trust�control nexus and raise important questions about the impact of trust on the efficiency and effectiveness of formal and informal controls as coordination mechanisms. Therefore, this study examines how manufacturers should balance formal and informal controls over time to reap the full benefits of collaborative product development with suppliers. For that purpose, a conceptual and system dynamics model are developed, which incorporate the links among formal and informal controls, trust, and the supplier's development performance. In an empirical validation in the context of the shipbuilding industry, the results reject the notion that manufacturers must lessen formal controls and increase informal controls with trust. Instead, it is most efficient and effective to invest always in formal controls, particularly process control, to coordinate supplier involvement in new product development. These results have important theoretical and managerial implications: Informal controls are not as profitable as expected.
Molecular Distinction between Alternative Oxidase from Monocots and Dicots1

The alternative oxidase (Aox) is encoded in two discrete gene subfamilies in higher plants. Aox1 is most widely known for its induction by stress stimuli in many tissues and is present in both monocot and eudicot plant species. Aox2, on the other hand, is usually constitutive or developmentally
Variability in Telavancin Cross-Reactivity among Vancomycin Immunoassays

ABSTRACT Telavancin is a semisynthetic lipoglycopeptide with a dual mechanism of action against Gram-positive pathogens. Two brief reports have suggested potential cross-reactivity of telavancin with the vancomycin particle-enhanced turbidometric immunoassay (PETIA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate several commercially available vancomycin immunoassays (fluorescence polarization [FPIA], enzyme-multiplied immunoassays [EMIT], PETIA, and chemiluminescent immunoassay [CMIA]) for cross-reactivity with telavancin. Seven sites were selected to analyze serum samples for vancomycin. Each site received a set of samples (n = 18) which combined drug-free serum with telavancin, 7-OH telavancin metabolite, or vancomycin. Immunoassays demonstrating potential cross-reactivity were further evaluated by sending a duplicate sample set to multiple laboratories. Cross-reactivity was defined as the percent theoretical concentration (reported concentration/theoretical concentration × 100). No cross-reactivity was seen with FPIA or EMIT. Within the theoretical concentration range of 5 to 120 μg/ml of telavancin, the Synchron PETIA system reported vancomycin concentrations ranging from 4.7 to 54.2 μg/ml compared to vancomycin concentrations from 1.1 to 5.6 μg/ml for the Vista PETIA system. The Architect CMIA system reported vancomycin concentrations in the range of 0.27 to 0.97 μg/ml, whereas Advia Centaur XP CMIA reported vancomycin concentrations between 1.6 and 31.6 μg/ml. The Architect CMIA immunoassay had the lowest percent cross-reactivity (0.8 to 5.4%), while the Synchron PETIA immunoassay demonstrated the highest percent cross-reactivity (45.2 to 53.8%). Telavancin samples measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy were within 93.9 to 122% of theoretical concentrations. Vancomycin concentrations were not measured in any 7-OH telavancin-spiked sample. Vancomycin concentrations measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy were within 57.2 to 113% of theoretical concentrations. PETIA and CMIA measured vancomycin concentrations in telavancin-spiked samples. Significant variability in percent cross-reactivity was observed for each platform regardless of immunoassay method.
Plant L 10 Ribosomal Proteins Have Different Roles during Development and Translation under Ultraviolet-B Stress 1

Ribosomal protein L10 (RPL10) proteins are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) has three RPL10 genes encoding RPL10A to RPL10C proteins, while two genes are present in the maize (Zea mays) genome (rpl10-1 and rpl10-2). Maize and Arabidopsis RPL10s are tissue-specific and developmentally regulated, showing high levels of expression in tissues with active cell division. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments indicate that RPL10s in Arabidopsis associate with translation proteins, demonstrating that it is a component of the 80S ribosome. Previously, ultraviolet-B (UV-B) exposure was shown to increase the expression of a number of maize ribosomal protein genes, including rpl10. In this work, we demonstrate that maize rpl10 genes are induced by UV-B while Arabidopsis RPL10s are differentially regulated by this radiation: RPL10A is not UV-B regulated, RPL10B is down-regulated, while RPL10C is up-regulated by UV-B in all organs studied. Characterization of Arabidopsis T-DNA insertional mutants indicates that RPL10 genes are not functionally equivalent. rpl10A and rpl10B mutant plants show different phenotypes: knockout rpl10A mutants are lethal, rpl10A heterozygous plants are deficient in translation under UV-B conditions, and knockdown homozygous rpl10B mutants show abnormal growth. Based on the results described here, RPL10 genes are not redundant and participate in development and translation under UV-B stress.
MOBILE BANKING IN INDIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Unlike traditional form of banking, mobile banking has emerged as more convenient and user friendly form of banking. Technology plays an important role in banking sector. Mobile phone is the common technology that becomes part of every individual in this information era. As India is the second largest telecom market in the world and have high potential for expanding banking services using mobile. Mobile banking focuses on customer requirement of anytime, anywhere banking concept into reality. Yet there are number of issues and threats in mobile banking system and the major problem is the non-adoption by the customers. For the research both primary and secondary data were used. The data was collected from 150 respondents from Delhi city in the month of November and December 2013. Around 61.33% respondents opinioned that this system is less costly and time saving and 58.67% respondents would like to try this service. In this paper, we will share what is mobile banking (m- banking), RBI guidelines for mobile banking in India, advantages of adopting this new technology both for the banking sector as well as the consumer and issues which needs to be addressed relating to this new form of banking. The paper also looks at various factors which explain why consumers are not using mobile banking and other technologies in banking. It would also try to suggest why people are not currently using mobile banking and try to suggest how to overcome this problem and increase the acceptance levels.
Missed opportunities for earlier treatment? A qualitative interview study with parents of children admitted to hospital with serious respiratory tract infections

Objective To identify potential opportunities for earlier intervention among children who develop a complicated respiratory tract infection (RTI). Design Qualitative, face-to-face, individual interview study, either in hospital or at home, with parents of children admitted to hospital with a complicated RTI. Setting Participants were recruited from a large UK teaching hospital, and described events (largely) prior to hospital admission. Participants Parents of 22 children (12 with empyema, 8 with pneumonia, 1 with peritonsillar abscess and 1 with mastoiditis). Results Parents' accounts revealed missed opportunities for timely treatment resulting from parental and health service associated factors. Themes relating to parental factors included problems assessing the severity of the illness (5 parents), beliefs about accessing health services (10 parents; including fear of appearing ‘neurotic’, belief that their concerns would not be taken seriously, and belief that their child would not be prescribed antibiotics or would be prescribed antibiotics too readily) and feeling powerless to challenge clinical authority (7 parents). Health service associated factors included perceived problems accessing healthcare services (13 parents; including inadequate primary care triage, barriers to accessing timely consultations and past experience of problems accessing healthcare leading to failure to consult) and perceived poor quality clinical encounters (11 parents; including inadequate assessment and communication). Conclusion Addressing, where appropriate, these parental (skills, fears and beliefs) and health service (access and consultation quality) associated factors may lead to more prompt care for seriously ill children.
ANALISIS PENGARUH PERSEPSI KEBERMANFAATAN, PERSEPSI KEMUDAHAN DAN KEPERCAYAAN TERHADAP PENGGUNAAN MOBILE BANKING

The mobile technology advancement has been growth rapidly. Every persons use mobile phone to support their daily activities. This condition make banks have to change their traditional methods of customer service to adoption of information technology. Customers today require more personalized services at any time and any place. Mobile banking is one of advanced information technologies that can employ to achieve a high level of customer services and emerging technology that permits conduct of banking transaction through mobile phone. For bank’s customers, this application will support their banking transaction if they think it has a usefulness and easy to use. The important one is customer trust to mobile banking application. This research purposes to test the effect of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trust to use of mobile banking. A survey was conducted to customers of Bank Mandiri Boyolali, esspecially mobile banking application user. Collected data analized with multiple regression analysis. The results of this research show that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trust tend to have effect on use of mobile banking.
Financial Management: Training Needs of Public Secondary School Principals in Machakos County, Kenya

The study examined the financial management training needs of public secondary school principals with the specific intent of suggesting content areas for development of effective training programs for training of secondary school principals in order to facilitate prudent management of financial resources in public secondary schools in Kenya. Theoretically, the study was based on needs assessment which suggests that needs analyses should be conducted to provide data for design and evaluation of training and training systems. The study sampled 16 public secondary school principals in Masinga Sub-county of Machakos County, Kenya during the 2013/2014 academic year. Stratified and proportional sampling techniques were employed to select the sample. Questionnaires and interview collected data. Mixed methods were employed to analyse data. It was found that many secondary school principals still faced challenges in managing financial resources of secondary schools and training of principals in financial management was ineffective. It was concluded that the lack of motivation amongst principals and insufficient time to attend training programs hampered provision of effective training on financial management. It is recommended that effective financial management training programs should be developed based on identification and analysis of their needs. Training programs should also be devolved so that they can focus on specific training needs of principals in order to facilitate principals’ acquisition of knowledge and skills required to improve financial management and performance of secondary schools. Key words: financial management, needs, training