Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biadditive Mixed Models - Advancing Computational Methods and Applications

Multiplicative mixed models can be applied in a wide range of scientific disciplines, since they are relevant in every situation where an interaction between a fixed effect and a random effect is present. Until now, no R-package has been published, which can fit this type of models. The lack of user friendly open source tools to fit these models, is the main reason that the models are not used as often as they could or should be. In this paper we introduce the user friendly R-package mumm for fitting multiplicative mixed models in a time-efficient manner. To illustrate the interpretation of the multiplicative term, we provide four data analysis examples, where the model is fitted to data sets that stem from studies in sensometrics, agriculture and medicine. With these examples it is shown that the statistical inference can be improved by using a multiplicative mixed model, instead of a linear mixed model which is usually employed.
Developing computational thinking through games in scratch

Computational thinking (CT), as a paradigm for learning computer science among young students, has seen a large increase in popularity during recent years. Mainly it is described as a problem-solving process that includes logical, analytical, algorithmic thinking and dispositions, such as the ability to confidently deal with complexity and open-ended problems. The goal is to inspire and engage the learners in such a way that they get an idea of concepts on a concrete operational level. Its development could be supported by different activities, including variety of curriculum approaches, workshops, summer schools, seminars etc. In the paper we analyse the projects developed by primary school pupils during the constructionist workshops and the projects developed by students, prospective computer science teachers. We were interested in how the students understand computational concepts, as a dimension of CT, reflected in their projects. We quantitatively assessed projects with Dr. Scratch tool, which checks the presence of the previously mentioned concepts and offers a feedback report with ideas and tips how to improve the code, aiming to encourage students’ desire to keep on developing their programming skills. We compare the learning outcomes of two different projects: Maze and Escape Room. Our focus is on differences in thinking between pupils and students.
A Framework for Analyzing Influencer Marketing in Social Networks: Selection and Scheduling of Influencers

Explosive growth in the number of users on various social media platforms has transformed the way firms strategize their marketing activities. To take advantage of the vast size of social networks, firms have now turned their attention to influencer marketing wherein they employ independent influencers to promote their products on social media platforms. Despite the recent growth in influencer marketing, the problem of network seeding (i.e., identification of influencers to optimally post a firm’s message or advertisement) neither has been rigorously studied in the academic literature nor has been carefully addressed in practice. We develop a data-driven optimization framework to help a firm successfully conduct (i) short-horizon and (ii) long-horizon influencer marketing campaigns, for which two models are developed, respectively, to maximize the firm’s benefit. The models are based on the interactions with marketers, observation of firms’ message placements on social media, and model parameters estimated via empirical analysis performed on data from Twitter. Our empirical analysis discovers the effects of collective influence of multiple influencers and finds two important parameters to be included in the models, namely, multiple exposure effect and forgetting effect. For the short-horizon campaign, we develop an optimization model to select influencers and present structural properties for the model. Using these properties, we develop a mathematical programming based polynomial time procedure to provide near-optimal solutions. For the long-horizon problem, we develop an efficient solution procedure to simultaneously select influencers and schedule their message postings over a planning horizon. We demonstrate the superiority of our solution strategies for both short- and long-horizon problems against multiple benchmark methods used in practice. Finally, we present several managerially relevant insights for firms in the influencer marketing context. This paper was accepted by J. George Shanthikumar, big data analytics.
Yet another generalization of Sylvester's theorem and its application

In this paper, we consider Sylvester’s theorem on the largest prime divisor of a product of consecutive terms of an arithmetic progression, and prove another generalization of this theorem. As an application of this generalization, we provide an explicit method to find perfect powers in a product of terms of binary recurrence sequences and associated Lucas sequences whose indices come from consecutive terms of an arithmetic progression. In particular, we prove explicit results for Fibonacci, Jacobsthal, Mersenne and associated Lucas sequences.
A performance-efficient and practical processor error recovery framework

Continued reduction in the size of a transistor has affected the reliability of processors built using them. This is primarily due to factors such as inaccuracies while manufacturing, as well as non-ideal operating conditions, causing transistors to slow down consistently, eventually leading to permanent breakdown and erroneous operation of the processor. Permanent transistor breakdown, or faults, can occur at any point in time in the processor’s lifetime. Errors are the discrepancies in the output of faulty circuits. This dissertation shows that the components containing faults can continue operating if the errors caused by them are within certain bounds. Further, the lifetime of a processor can be increased by adding supportive structures that start working once the processor develops these hard errors. This dissertation has three major contributions, namely REPAIR, FaultSim and PreFix. REPAIR is a fault tolerant system with minimal changes to the processor design. It uses an external Instruction Re-execution Unit (IRU) to perform operations, which the faulty processor might have erroneously executed. Instructions that are found to use faulty hardware are then re-executed on the IRU. REPAIR shows that the performance overhead of such targeted re-execution is low for a limited number of faults. FaultSim is a fast fault-simulator capable of simulating large circuits at the transistor level. It is developed in this dissertation to understand the effect of faults on different circuits. It performs digital logic based simulations, trading off analogue accuracy with speed, while still being able to support most fault models. A 32-bit addition takes under 15 micro-seconds, while simulating more than 1500 transistors. It can also be integrated into an architectural simulator, which added a performance overhead of 10 to 26 percent to a simulation. The results obtained show that single faults cause an error in an adder in less than 10 percent of the inputs. PreFix brings together the fault models created using FaultSim and the design directions found using REPAIR. PreFix performs re-execution of instructions on a remote core, which pick up instructions to execute using a global instruction buffer. Error prediction and detection are used to reduce the number of re-executed instructions. PreFix has an area overhead of 3.5 percent in the setup used, and the performance overhead is within 5 percent of a fault-free case. This dissertation shows that faults in processors can be tolerated without explicitly switching off any component, and minimal redundancy is sufficient to achieve the same.
Ideal Family Size and Fertility in Egypt: An Overview of Recent Trends

Egypt is already the most populous Arab country in the world with 93 million citizens in 2016 which may grow to about 120 million by 2030 if the same level of fertility continues. This paper aims to offer an overview of the evolution over time of the ideal number of children in Egypt, assessing previous researches and giving a particular emphasis on most recent data on such topic. In a context of raising fertility, whose causes are still unknown, we test the persistence of a high ideal number of children among younger cohorts.
Topological Structure, Reachability, and Stabilization of Constrained Boolean Control Networks via Event-Triggered Control

This paper is concerned with the topological structure, reachability, and stabilization for Boolean control networks (BCNs) with state constraints via event-triggered control (ETC) scheme. In the first part, the topological structure of BCNs with state constraints is studied. Under the framework of state constrain, the definitions of fixed point and cycle are first defined. A novel phenomenon is that there may exist two kinds constrained fixed points, which are, respectively, named as the livelock and deadlock ones. It is different with the traditional fixed point. Accordingly, a formula is presented to calculate the number of constrained fixed points and constrained cycles. In the second part, the constrained reachability and stabilization problem of the event-triggered controlled BCNs are investigated. Two necessary and sufficient criteria are, respectively, obtained. Furthermore, an algorithm is developed to design all feasible controllers. Finally, a reduced model of the lac operon in the Escherichia coli is shown to illustrate the efficiency of the obtained results.
Fast Computation of Electromagnetic Scattering From a Metal–Dielectric Composite and Randomly Distributed BoRs Cluster

An efficient equivalence principle algorithm with spherical equivalent source (SEPA) is proposed to analyze the electromagnetic scattering from a metal–dielectric composite and randomly distributed bodies of revolution (BoRs) cluster, which is called SEPA-CBoR for short. Due to the rotationally symmetrical property, the electromagnetic currents on the BoRs and the equivalence spheres (ESs) are all expanded by the basis functions of BoR. In this way, the self-action and the interaction can be both calculated by using the method of moment for BoR (BoR-MoM). With the repeatability fully used, the self-action for the BoRs with the same size just needs to be calculated once. Moreover, the interaction can also be got once when the size and relative displacement vector of their corresponding ESs are the same. Since these self-action/interaction matrices are constructed in mutually orthogonal Fourier modes, the entire problem is eventually solved by a couple of small matrix equations independently. As a result, the SEPA-CBoR method can greatly save the memory requirement and solution time. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency for the composite BoRs cluster problems. Especially, it is helpful to distinguish the fake targets with the accurate echo signs obtained from the efficient SEPA-CBoR method.
The Effects of Lime on Acid Properties of Soil and on Faba Bean Yield in Banja District. The Case of Sankit Lideta, Awi Zone Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

This study was conducted in the known acid soil area of Ethiopia Awi zone which is found in the Amhara regional state. Five levels of lime introduced (0, 1150kg/ha, 2300kg/ha, 3450kg/ha, 4600kg/ha) on the faba bean productivity in the acidic soils. This experiment was arranged in a factorial experiment using randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and 39 . 13kg/ha Urea and100kg/ha TSP had been used as the source of N and P, respectively. Crop data such as plant height, biomass yield and grain yield , 50% flowering ,50% maturity,95% maturity, number of pods/plant ,number of seeds /pod ,number of seeds /plant ,lodging ,stand count at emerge and harvest collected and analyzed using SAS Software version 9. The result of this study indicated that 4600kg/ha, lime brought significantly higher result than the control. As lime level increased from the 0 to 4600kg/ha, grain yield, 50% flowering, biomass yield, number of pods /plant, number of seeds/plant increased. However, as lime level increased the number of seeds/ pod, stand count at emerges, stand count at harvest, 50%maturity, 95%maturity did not bring significant change.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Here, we bring readers extracts from the latest issues of The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews relevant to the fields of psychiatry and neurology. We feature a summary of the results, reviewers' conclusions, and implications for clinical practice and research, from selected new reviews featured in issues 6 and 7, 2011. For further information, visit www.thecochranelibrary. com. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Interface Ltd
Modeling usage of an online research community

MODELING USAGE OF AN ONLINE RESEARCH COMMUNITY by Yi Zhang Although online communities have been thought of as a new way for collaboration across geographic boundaries in the scientific world, they have a problem attracting people to keep visiting. The main purpose of this study is to understand how people behave in such communities, and to build and evaluate tools to stimulate engagement in a research community. These tools were designed based on a research framework of factors that influence online participation and relationship development. There are two main objectives for people to join an online community, information sharing and interpersonal relationship development, such as friends or colleagues. The tools designed in this study are to serve both information sharing and interpersonal relationship development needs. The awareness tool is designed to increase the sense of a community and increase the degree of social presence of members in the community. The recommender system is designed to help provide higher quality and personalized information to community members. It also helps to match community members into subgroups based on their interests. The designed tools were implemented in a field site — the Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN) Research community. A longitudinal field study was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the designed tools. This research explored people's behavior inside a research community by analyzing web server logs. The results show that although there are not many interactions in the community space, the WebCenter has been visited extensively by its members. There are over 2,000 hits per day on average and over 5,000 article accesses during the observation period. This research also provided a framework to identify factors that affect people's engagement in an online community. The research framework was tested using the PLS modeling method with online survey responses. The results show that perceived usefulness performs a very significant role in members' intention to continue using the system and their perceived preliminary networking. The results also show that the quality of the content of the system is a strong indicator for both perceived usefulness of the community space and perceived ease of use of the community system. Perceived ease of use did not show a strong correlation with intention to continue use which was consistent with other studies of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). For the ALN research community, this online community helps its members to broaden their contacts, improve the quality and quantity of their research, and increase the dissemination of knowledge among community members. MODELING USAGE OF AN ONLINE RESEARCH COMMUNITY
Pancreatic Cancer Risk Perception and Worry in Familial High-risk Patients Undergoing Endoscopic Ultrasound for Surveillance

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with a five-year survival rate of 5.6%. Approximately 5 – 10% of cancer diagnoses are due to a hereditary predisposition. While some cancer syndromes have been shown to increase the risk for pancreatic cancer above the population risk of ~2%, a gene for familial pancreatic cancer has not been identified. In either of these situations, surveillance for high-risk individuals has not been well established as compared to other more common cancers associated with hereditary cancer syndromes. The goal of this study is to identify familial individuals’ top motivation for attending the high-risk pancreas clinic, and for those individuals who elect endoscopic ultrasound, assess if their feelings about their cancer risk and level of worry change after the procedure. For this study, a high-risk, unaffected population was recruited, along with a comparison group of individuals referred for endoscopic ultrasound due to a pancreatic abnormality. Using the Health Belief Model as a framework, participants were asked to complete two validated questionnaires pertaining to their cancer risk perception and level of worry about pancreatic cancer. The first questionnaire was completed before the endoscopic ultrasound, and the second questionnaire was sent home with the participant after the procedure for completion. Data analysis revealed both similarities and differences in the two cohorts. Both populations showed similar trends in the benefits of the endoscopic ultrasound and the fear of the procedure due to a potential negative outcome. Family history and familial support demonstrated the largest difference in trend values between the case and comparison cohorts. This study has public health importance because of the serious consequences of pancreatic cancer. High-risk individuals are looking for surveillance options to improve the early detection of pancreatic cancer, and to date, there is not an established surveillance protocol. As more research is done, a better understanding of the psychosocial impact of surveillance in this population can be better understood.
COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT METHODS FOR GENERATION AND ABSORPTION OF WATER WAVES

The knowledge of water wave characteristics (generation, propagation, transformation and breaking) is fundamental for hydrodynamic studies and the design of ocean, coastal and port structures. In addition to the small-scale experimental studies, the use of numerical models is also a very important tool in hydrodynamic studies. To have reliable numerical results a proper validation is required. The main objective of this paper is to compare different methods of wave generation and wave absorption in a numerical flume, and to find what is the most suited to simulate non-breaking regular wave propagation in a two-dimensional flume in deep water condition. The numerical simulations were made using the OpenFOAM® software package. Two solvers, waves2Foam and IHFoam/OlaFlow, the utility GroovyBC and a mesh stretching technique are compared. These numerical codes solve the transient Navier-Stokes equations and use a VoF (Volume of Fluid) method to identify the free surface. A solution dependence study with the methods of wave generation and wave absorption is presented. The results are also compared with the theoretical wave and experimental data. The results show that the different methods of generation produce waves similar to the theoretical and the experimental ones, only slightly differences were visible. The three method of wave dissipation considered produce very different results: IHFoam/OlaFlow is not able to dissipate the wave tested; the mesh stretching technique is able to dissipate the waves but produces a water level rise; the waves2Foam solver is able to dissipate properly the wave tested.
The UCLA Experience: Class of 1994, Survey & Report.

ABSTRACT This document reports the results of a January 1995 survey of a random selection of 1,500 alumni who graduated from UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) in June 1994; 440 (29 percent) responded prior to the specified deadline. A copy of the survey instrument is included with this report. Responses to the survey were compared with responses to surveys in 1992 and 1991. Some of the more interesting shifts in opinion are highlighted in a "Notable Findings" section as well as in chart form. Twenty other charts present statistics on: (1) students accepted to UC Berkeley but who chose to attend UCLA; (2) primary reason for selecting UCLA; (3) amounts of student loans; (4) weakest components of the UCLA experience; (5) 1994 graduates who have jobs; (6) income levels; (7) current occupations; (8) persons enrolled in or interested in graduate or professional programs; (9) involvement in Greek and other activities; (10) alcohol consumption while students; (11) participation in senior class activities, including commencement; (12) ranking of student experiences; and (13) UCLA aspects in need of improvement. (MAE)
Experimental analysis of one-dimensional Faraday waves on a liquid layer subjected to horizontal vibrations

In this paper, we experimentally show the synchronous (harmonic) nature of the primary surface waves formed on a layer of water (∼1 mm) pinned to a glass substrate and subjected to horizontal (lateral) vibrations. With well-controlled experiments, we attenuated cross-waves and studied the primary standing waves in a one-dimensional wave configuration, with a high precision mechanical vibrator, capable of generating a range of forcing frequencies (100–500 Hz) and amplitudes (1–5 µm). We demonstrate that the emergence of instability (in the form of standing waves) depends upon the forcing amplitude and frequency and the average thickness of the liquid layer. Experiments reveal that the surface remains stable for sufficiently thin and thick layers of the liquid, while instability appears for thicknesses in between the two mentioned lower and upper limits. We show and analyze that, for the average liquid thickness of h = 1.5 mm, asymmetric modes of oscillations appear on the liquid surface; however, with a change in the film thickness and length of the surface profile, symmetric modes may occur as well (h = 2 mm). The problem studied here, i.e., a liquid film with pinned contact lines subjected to horizontal vibrations, shows some of the characteristics of an infinitely extended lateral liquid film, a liquid layer in a container with walls, and a sessile droplet.In this paper, we experimentally show the synchronous (harmonic) nature of the primary surface waves formed on a layer of water (∼1 mm) pinned to a glass substrate and subjected to horizontal (lateral) vibrations. With well-controlled experiments, we attenuated cross-waves and studied the primary standing waves in a one-dimensional wave configuration, with a high precision mechanical vibrator, capable of generating a range of forcing frequencies (100–500 Hz) and amplitudes (1–5 µm). We demonstrate that the emergence of instability (in the form of standing waves) depends upon the forcing amplitude and frequency and the average thickness of the liquid layer. Experiments reveal that the surface remains stable for sufficiently thin and thick layers of the liquid, while instability appears for thicknesses in between the two mentioned lower and upper limits. We show and analyze that, for the average liquid thickness of h = 1.5 mm, asymmetric modes of oscillations appear on the liquid surface; however, with a ch.