Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the Robustness of Objective Pilling Classification with the Two- Dimensional Discrete Wavelet Transform

Previously, we proposed a new method of frequency domain analysis based on the two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform to objectively measure pilling intensity in sample fabric images. We have further evaluated this method, and our results indicate that it is robust to small horizontal and/or vertical translations and to significant variations in the brightness of the image under analysis, and is sensitive to rotation and to dilation of the image. These results suggest that as long as precautions are taken to ensure fabric test samples are imaged under consistent conditions of weave/knit pattern alignment (rotation) and apparent interyarn pitch (dilation), the method will yield repeatable results.
The moderating effect of the concentration of institutional investors in the relation between earnings surprise and abnormal returns

Purpose: The study analyzes the moderating effect of the concentration of institutional investors in the relation earnings surprise and abnormal returns in publicly traded Brazilian companies. Method: Data was collected from the Thomson Reuters® database. The institutional investor is treated in this research as a shareholder who holds common shares and operates with Assets Under Management. The earnings surprise was computed as the difference between the earnings report by the company and the estimated by the consensus of the analysts while the abnormal returns were calculated using the Event Study method. Altogether, 118 companies listed on B3 were investigated during the period from 2010 to 2018, totaling 2,264 observations. Results: The results confirmed the positive earnings surprise can generate positive abnormal returns following the announcement of quarterly financial results. However, the moderating effect of the concentration of institutional investors on the surprisereturn relationship was inconclusive because no statistical evidence was found that the concentration of institutional investors could change the direction or strength that the positive earnings surprise caused in abnormal returns. Contributions: The study contributes to the understanding of the role of institutional investors in the capital market, seeking to understand whether the financial sophistication attributed to these investors is sufficient to reduce the anomalies in the share price caused by the surprises in profits.
ProtoSound: A Personalized and Scalable Sound Recognition System for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Users

Recent advances have enabled automatic sound recognition systems for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) users on mobile devices. However, these tools use pre-trained, generic sound recognition models, which do not meet the diverse needs of DHH users. We introduce ProtoSound, an interactive system for customizing sound recognition models by recording a few examples, thereby enabling personalized and fine-grained categories. ProtoSound is motivated by prior work examining sound awareness needs of DHH people and by a survey we conducted with 472 DHH participants. To evaluate ProtoSound, we characterized performance on two real-world sound datasets, showing significant improvement over state-of-the-art (e.g., +9.7% accuracy on the first dataset). We then deployed ProtoSound's end-user training and real-time recognition through a mobile application and recruited 19 hearing participants who listened to the real-world sounds and rated the accuracy across 56 locations (e.g., homes, restaurants, parks). Results show that ProtoSound personalized the model on-device in real-time and accurately learned sounds across diverse acoustic contexts. We close by discussing open challenges in personalizable sound recognition, including the need for better recording interfaces and algorithmic improvements.
Rape and other forms of sexual violence in South Africa

• Sexual assault, compelled sexual assault and compelled self-sexual assault. Sexual assault includes sexual acts that do not involve penetration (such as groping, for example), while compelled sexual assault, like compelled rape, covers those situations where one person is intimidated into sexually assaulting another. Compelled self-sexual assault refers to situations where one party is pressurised into masturbating or touching themselves in other sexual ways on the command of another.
DMSO_A_339066 4829..4841

Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; Heart Center & Beijing Key Laboratory of Hypertension, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia; Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA; Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Malmö, Sweden
Sell-Side and Buy-Side Performance with Target Price in Brazil

Objective: O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar a performance de analistas buy-side e sell-side brasileiros na previsão de preços-alvo. Este trabalho investigou a existência de viés, acurácia e nível de atingimento dos preços-alvo. Method: O método utilizado para investigar a performance foi o de testes de médias. Utilizamos regressões a fim de encontrar elementos que explicassem as diferenças na previsão dos preços-alvos. A amostra foi composta por empresas brasileiras acompanhadas por tais analistas durante os anos de 2013 a 2018, preços-alvo estipulados por analistas buy-side de um investidor institucional brasileiro e do consenso de mercado dos analistas sell-side extraídos da Bloomberg. Results: Os resultados indicaram a existência de viés mais otimista por parte dos analistas buy-side em todos os testes. Quando utilizadas todas as empresas da amostra, verificouse melhor acuracidade e melhor nível de atingimento dos preços-alvo pelos analistas sell-side. Quando utilizada apenas empresas emissoras de ADR, não houve diferença na acurácia e no nível de atingimento dos preços-alvo, e o viés otimista se reduziu para os dois grupos de analistas. bertura de analistas, menor valor de mercado e menor volume de negociação. Contributions: Este trabalho contribui com a literatura ao apontar que as divergências no desempenho dos analistas buy-side e sell-side se revelam evidentes para as empresas com menor e menos rígida cobertura de analistas; confirma que o fraco ambiente institucional contribui para uma precificação (preços-alvo) de menor precisão; e avança na qualidade da amostra em relação a outras trabalhos, ao utilizar as mesmas empresas e o mesmo objeto de estudo (preço-alvo). Este artigo aponta como direção para novas pesquisas a investigação de diferença de preços-alvo em empresas com pouca cobertura de analistas, menor valor de mercado e menor volume de negociação.
ACCOUNTING FOR TRASH MANAGEMENT AT UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA TERENGGANU

This paper provides preliminary evidence of the need for accounting for trash management in public organizations, in particular, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). It has two objectives: to solicit opinions from students regarding their behaviors and perceptions towards recycling habits, and to provide data on the extent of accounting for trash management at UMT. A survey among 155 UMT students indicated that they recycled the trash and were aware of environmental issues caused by the waste. However, they were not informed about the benefits of environmental management accounting practice particularly regarding trash management. Interviews with UMT management also revealed that while UMT supported recycling activities by funding the projects and providing facilities, the data on the opportunity cost involved in the current practice was never integrated into UMT accounting system. As a result, the management had no idea of how much was lost (or gained) during the process. Based on the findings, this study calls for the implementation of accounting for trash management in a public university.
Bridge Rail and Approach Railing for Low-Volume Roads in Iowa

Bridge rail and approach guardrails provide safety to drivers by shielding more-hazardous objects and redirecting vehicles to the roadway. However, guardrails increase both the initial and maintenance costs of a bridge while adding another object that vehicles may strike. According to current reports, most existing bridges for low-volume roads (LVRs) in the state of Iowa do not have bridge rails that meet current standards. The primary objective of this research was to provide information about bridge rail and approach guardrail on LVRs in Iowa. In support of this objective, statewide descriptive, statistical, and economic crash analyses were performed. The statewide crash analysis found that the overall number of crashes at or on the more than 17,000 inventoried and other noninventoried LVR bridges in Iowa during an 8-year period was fewer than 350, a number that represents less than 0.1% of the statewide reportable crashes. Statistical analysis showed that the frequency of vehicle crashes was higher on bridges with a smaller width in relation to the roadway width. The frequency of crashes appeared to be overrepresented at night or in dark conditions. Systemwide, benefit–cost analyses yielded extremely low benefit–cost ratios for statewide bridge rail improvements. However, specific sites where safety concerns exist should be addressed. Overall, each bridge and its crash history should be evaluated independently to determine beneficial safety impacts.
SeCoST: Sequential Co-Supervision for Weakly Labeled Audio Event Detection

Weakly supervised learning algorithms are critical for scaling audio event detection to several hundreds of sound categories. Such learning models should not only disambiguate sound events efficiently with minimal class-specific annotation but also be robust to label noise, which is more apparent with weak labels instead of strong annotations. In this work, we propose a new framework for designing learning models with weak supervision by bridging ideas from sequential learning and knowledge distillation. We refer to the proposed methodology as SeCoST (pronounced Sequest) --- Sequential Co-supervision for training generations of Students. SeCoST incrementally builds a cascade of student-teacher pairs via a novel knowledge transfer method. Our evaluations on Audioset (the largest weakly labeled dataset available) show that SeCoST achieves a mean average precision of 0.383 while outperforming prior state of the art by a considerable margin.
Plasma Malondialdehyde Level is a Good Predictor of Portal Hypertension in Egyptian Cirrhotic Patients

Background and aim: Malondialdehyde (MDA) results from lipid peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and it is a marker for oxidative stress. Its level is higher in cirrhotic patients with viral etiology than in matched healthy controls. So, it may strongly correlate with Portal Hypertension (PH) in cirrhotic patients. This work aims at evaluation of the relevance between plasma MDA level and portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients.
WILL THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM BENEFIT SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES

The increased levels of competition experienced in recent times in the construction sector due to globalisation and the economic downturn highlighted the need for South African construction companies to be more competitive. This paper investigates the reasons for poor quality in the South African construction industry and whether the implementation of a Total Quality Management system in this industry will improve the situation. OPSOMMING Die hoer vlakke van kompetisie wat gedurende die afgelope tydperk in die konstruksiebedryf ervaar is as gevolg van globalisering en die afswaai in die ekonomie, het die behoefte laat ontstaan dat Suid-Afrikaanse konstruksiemaatskappye meer mededingend moes raak. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die redes vir swak kwaliteit in die Suid-Afrikaanse konstruksiebedryf en of die implementering van ‘n Totale Kwaliteitsbestuurstelsel sal bydra om die situasie te verbeter.
Managing Performance in the Public Sector

Part 1 Chapter 1 An Introduction to Performance Measurements the beneficial effect of Performance Measurement Chapter 2 The Perverse effects of Performance Measurement Chapter 3 The Resistance of Perverted Performance Measurement Part 2 Chapter 4 Design Principles for Performance Measurement Chapter 5 Trust and Interaction Chapter 6 Content and Variety Chapter 7 Dynamic - Towards lively Performance Management Chapter 8 The Paradoxes of Performance Management
Thermal-Energy Performance of High-Albedo Roof Tiles and Bulk Rafter Insulation in Residential Roof in the Tropical Climate

Residential roof assemblies in tropical countries, such as Malaysia, are exposed to intense solar radiation throughout the day all-year round due to the high altitude of the sun path as well as the horizontal orientation and high position of the roof in relation to other components of the building envelope. Residential buildings typically employ a lightweight pitched roof with roof tiles and an attic space above a ceiling board. Diurnal heat transfer into the building through the roof assembly can be minimized by reflecting heat at the roof surface via the application of white paint on high-albedo roof tiles as well as resisting heat via installation of bulk rafter insulation within the roof assembly. However, their adoption will have an influence on the nocturnal heat transfer and, accordingly, the resultant thermal-energy performance. Hence, thermal-energy performances of high-albedo roof tiles and bulk rafter insulation were compared to develop an energy-efficient pitched residential roof assembly that is capable of minimizing diurnal heat transfer into the building with less obstruction of the nocturnal heat transfer in the opposite direction. Evaluation of thermal-energy performance was performed on a Building Information Model, which either adopts, solely, the application of white paint on high-albedo roof tiles, or, in amalgamation with, the installation of bulk rafter insulation within the roof assembly. The simulation projected that the application of white paint on high-albedo roof tiles can generate annual energy savings of 13.14 % and, when adopted in amalgamation with the installation of bulk rafter insulation within the roof assembly, 13.91 %.
Efecto del ácido salicílico sobre biomasa, actividad fotosintética, contenido nutricional y productividad del chile jalapeño

The use of bioregulators is a common horticultural practice to improve crop yield and quality. Currently, salicylic acid (SA) is considered a plant growth bioregulator. The objective of the present work was to study the effect of different dosages of SA on biomass accumulation, pigment concentration, photosynthetic activity, nutrient content and productivity of jalapeno pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Chichimeca). Salicylic acid was applied to the nutrient solution at incremental dosages: 0.025 mM, 0.05 mM, 0.1 mM, 0.2 mM, 0.4 mM and 0.8 mM, plus a control without SA. Our results indicate that SA applied to jalapeno pepper plants significantly augmented the production of leaf, root and total biomass, mainly at dosages of 0.1 and 0.2 mM. Treatments with 0.1 and 0.2 mM of SA also increased jalapeno pepper fruit yield per plant. In addition, photosynthetic activity exhibited a trend similar to that of biomass accumulation and yield per plant; plants treated with 0.1 and 0.2 mM of SA showed maximum photosynthetic activity. With regard to nutrient content, it was observed that at higher biomass ac- cumulation and yield per plant there was a smaller nutrient accumulation, due perhaps to the dilution effect. We conclude that treatments with 0,1 and 0,2 mM of SA play a role of biorregulador of the growth in jalapeno pepper.
Numerical analysis of kinematic response of single piles

Recent destructive earthquakes have highlighted the need for increased research into the revamping of design codes and building regulations to prevent further catastrophic losses in terms of human life and economic assets. The present study investigated the response of single piles to kinematic seismic loading using the three-dimensional finite element program ANSYS. The objectives of this study were (i) to develop a finite element model that can accurately model the kinematic soilstructure interaction of piles, accounting for the nonlinear behaviour of the soil, discontinuity conditions at the pilesoil interface, energy dissipation, and wave propagation; and (ii) to use the developed model to evaluate the kinematic interaction effects on the pile response with respect to the input ground motion. The static performance of the model was verified against exact available solutions for benchmark problems including piles in elastic and elastoplastic soils. The geostatic stresses were accounted for and radiat.
Complex Bogie Modeling Incorporating Advanced Friction Wedge Components

The design of the freight train truck has gone relatively unchanged over the past 150 years. There has been relatively little change to the fundamental railway truck design because of the challenges of implementing a cost effective and reliable modification to designs that have proven effective in decades of operation. A common U. S. railway truck consists of two sideframes, a bolster, two spring nests, and four friction wedges. The two sideframes sit on the axels. The bolster rides on springs on top of the sideframes. The friction wedges also ride on springs on top of the sideframe, and are positioned between the bolster and sideframe, acting as a damping mechanism. Better understanding the dynamic behavior and forces on the bodies are critical in reducing unnecessary wear on the components, along with potential negative behavior such as loss of productivity and increase in operating costs. This thesis will investigate the dynamic behavior of the truck under warping conditions using a stand-alone model created in Virtual.Lab. This research covers two main areas. First, the full-truck model will be developed and its simulation results will be compared to test data from the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI). Data was provided from warp testing performed at the TTCI facilities in the spring of 2008. Once validated, the model will be used to gain a better understanding of the forces and moments that are propagated through the system, and of the dynamics of all bodies. Due to costs and physical constraints, not every bogie component can be instrumented during test, so the computer model will be able to provide valuable information not easily obtained otherwise.
Evaluation of the tensile stress-strain properties in the thickness direction of paper materials

The relationship between the behavior of paper during converting operations and the mechanical properties of paper are a fundamental issue for both paper producers and converters. In the attempt to establish these relationships and thus be able to judge the performance of paper, several testing methods have been developed. The major obstacle to achieve this goal is the fact that the stress conditions acting on paper are not always clearly defined neither in converting operations nor during testing. The first step to achieve a better understanding of the problem is to determine the fundamental mechanical properties of paper.Secondly, the stress condition occurring during converting must be investigated. In this respect, the modeling of paperboard represents a fundamental tool, allowing for the definition of the stress acting on paper during virtually every stage of the converting process or testing. These two steps lead to a better choice of the testing methods that are more relevant for each specific converting operation. The studies presented in this thesis investigate the different aspect of out of plane resistance in paper materials, with particular attention to the problem of delamination during offset printing.
Impacts of Artificial Insemination on Holstein Cattle Population in Turkey

The use of artificial insemination (AI) is common practice in most countries all around the world, in dairy cattle. AI, which started to be implemented in Turkey in 1930, became more widespread in 1987 in order to rapidly improve the native breed. According to data from 2020, 37% of the cattle population is a crossbred and about 15% of this is Holstein cattle. In the last 5 years, approximately 26.5 million doses of sperm have been imported, in other words, an average of 0.70 doses per milked cow. In this study, the pedigree file records of 5 673 405 Holsteins born from 1975 to 2012, and all sires were known individually were selected for this study. It was determined that 5 673 405 individuals had a total of 11 883 sires. The 10 most used sires are parents of 10.61% of progeny in the population. For today, almost 37% of the cattle population is converted to exotic breeds and their crossbreeds. Approximately 15% of this is Holstein. In the last 5 years, approximately 26.5 million doses of semen have been imported, in other words, an average of 0.70 doses of semen per milked cow. Although frequent use of some sires leads to increased inbreeding in some herds, the consanguinity coefficient in the population was found to be 0.0145. Apart from various problems in insemination practices in Turkey, it can be suggested that an effective way is followed in semen selection and importation.
Comparison of spreadsheet-based optimization tools applied to construction site layout problem

This paper compares different spreadsheet-based optimization tools applied to a practical example of a construction site layout problem. The objective of the optimization is to minimize the total time of material transportation by optimal positioning of tower crane and work facilities on the construction site with repetitive operations. Computer programs, such as MS Excel, LibreOffice Calc, and Google Sheets can be applied as modeling tools for a variety of construction optimization problems in addition to their usual functionalities. In this study, LibreOffice Calc Solver, MS Excel Solver, along with other MS Excel add-ins, i.e., OpenSolver, Evolver, and What’sBest, are analyzed. The capabilities of optimization tools mentioned above are examined on the problem of optimal positioning of tower crane and work facilities on the construction site. The results obtained by optimization tools are noted and discussed. The paper ends with conclusions and recommendations for further research.