Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Uncertainty about Relative Ability in the Search Process

Standard search theory assumes that individuals know, with certainty, how they compare to competing searchers in terms of ability. In contrast, we hypothesize that searchers are uncertain about relative ability, with important implications for search behavior. We test our hypotheses in a laboratory experiment. The first main finding is that people are substantially uncertain about whether they are a type with a high or low probability of success, determined by being above or below the median in terms of ability. Self-confidence, defined as an individual’s self-assessed probability of being a high type, is too high (above zero) for many low types, and too low (below 1) for many high types. Second, people update beliefs based on search outcomes. Self-confidence increases or decreases in the right direction, but is less sensitive to new information than predicted by Bayes’ rule. Third, updating affects future search decisions: people are less likely to search as confidence about being a high type falls. Fourth, some search too little, and others search too much, due to wrong beliefs. Fifth, at the end of the experiment a substantial fraction turn down the chance to learn their exact rank. These are overwhelmingly those with low ability, suggesting an aversion to learning that one is one of the worst performers. Given that people are uncertain even in the simple setting of our experiment, our evidence strongly suggests that uncertainty about ability is relevant in more-complex, real-world search settings, including search for a job, search for a mate, or search for a journal that will publish one’s paper. Focusing on the case of job search, we discuss how our findings can provide a new explanation for various important stylized facts from field evidence. JEL-Classification: J64, D01, D83
A study on state and perturbation observers of the controller of surgical robot instrument

In spite of the nonlinear characteristic of cable pulley mechanism, surgical robot instrument has adopted it for safety. To operate the instrument properly, it needs robust control algorithm to overcome the nonlinear and uncertainty of the system. In the previous study, the sliding mode control with sliding perturbation observer has been applied to surgical robot instrument. Especially, the research result showed that perturbation observer followed up the operating force on the end effect of the instrument. The result motivated this paper to study the perturbation observer ability to estimate the operating force of surgical robot instrument which is still unable to measure. In this study, Luenberger Observer and sliding Observer are applied and compared in surgical robot instrument control. Also, both two observers are used to build perturbation observer. Those observers are evaluated by simulation test on the dynamic model of cable pulley structure used in surgical robot instrument. And experimental test is performed in same time.
PlanetSim: an extensible framework for overlay network and services simulations

Research community on distributed systems, and in particular on peer-to-peer systems, needs tools for evaluating their own protocols and services, as well as against other protocols with the same precondictions. Since a (TCP/IP) experimental evaluation is not always feasible, simulation tools appeared. Nevertheless, the vast majority of them are ad-hoc customized simulators [3] and they are not for general overlay evaluation purposes, poorly documented or not extensible to other protocols and settings. Thus, in this paper we are mainly interested in extensible, scalable, high-level overlay and services simulation frameworks. In particular, we focus on structured (e.g. Chord, Pastry) and unstructured (e.g. Gnutella) peer-to-peer systems and services simulation onto our simulator PlanetSim.
Psychosocial modulation of antibody to Epstein‐Barr viral capsid antigen and human herpesvirus type‐6 in HIV‐1‐infected and at‐risk gay men.

&NA; We investigated the effects of two behavioral interventions—aerobic exercise and cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM)—on Epstein‐Barr virus viral capsid antigen (EBV‐VCA) and human herpesvirus type‐6 (HHV‐6) antibody modulation in 65 asymptomatic gay men measured at several time points in the 5 weeks preceding and following notification of their human immunodeficiency virus‐type 1 (HIV‐1) serostatus. After accounting for potential immunomodulatory confounds, we found that HIV‐1 seropositive men had higher EBV‐VCA antibody titers than those diagnosed as seronegative at every time point during the study; however, no significant differences were found with respect to HHV‐6. Among HIV‐1 seropositive and seronegative subjects, respectively, those randomized to either behavioral intervention had significant decreases in both EBV‐VCA and HHV‐6 antibody titers over the course of the intervention as compared with assessment‐only controls (of HIV‐1 seropositive and seronegative status) whose antibody titers did not significantly change and which remained consistently higher than either serostatus‐matched intervention group over subsequent time points, independent of total immunoglobulin G levels and degree of polyclonal B cell activation. In attempting to explain serostatus differences in EBV and HHV‐6 values, it was found that HIV‐1 seropositive men had significantly lower CD4 cells, CD4:CD8 ratio, and blastogenic response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), as well as significantly higher CD8 cells at baseline. No significant differences were found between the HIV‐1 seropositive and seronegative men with respect to anxiety and depression at baseline. Since the greatest changes in EBV and HHV‐6 occurred between baseline and week 10, we correlated changes in immune (CD4, CD8, CD4:CD8 ratio, PHA stimulation) and distress‐related markers (state depression and anxiety) with EBV and HHV‐6 change scores over this time period. No significant correlations were found between any of these immune‐ or distress‐related variable and the antibody change scores suggesting that the mechanisms by which EBV and HHV‐6 antibodies are being modulated by these interventions possibly involve other, yet to be determined, immune, neuroendocrine, and/or psychologic variables.
Automatic recognition of built-up areas in China using CBERS-2B HR data

The study presented here evaluates the possibility to map the human settlement patterns in China using CBERS-2B 2.36m-resolution single-band panchromatic images as input. The automatic image information extraction workflow designed by the Joint Research Center, European Commission (JRC) is used for the global human settlement layer (GHSL) production. The classification methodology relies on textural and multi-scale morphological image feature retrieval and automatic learning and classification from low resolution globally-available reference layers. According to the experimental results, the most promising learning and classification option is the one using per-scene area-matching techniques with MODIS 500 “urban areas” as training layer. This option provides an average accuracy of 98.13% with 5.66% of standard deviation. More refined analysis is necessary using detailed reference datasets in order to understand the value added to the propose methodology.
Support Vector Machine Concept-Dependent Active Learning for Image Retrieval

Relevance feedback is a critical component when designing image databases. With these databases it is difficult to specify queries directly and explicitly. Relevance feedback interactively learns a user’s desired output or query concept by asking the user whether certain proposed images are relevant or not. For a learning algorithm to be effective, it must learn a user’s query concept accurately and quickly, while also asking the user to label only a small number of images. In addition, the concept-learning algorithm should consider the complexity a concept in determining its learning strategies. In this paper, we present the use of support vector machines active learning in a concept-dependent way (SVM Active) for conducting relevance feedback. We characterize a concept’s complexity using three measures: hit-rate, isolation and diversity. To reduce concept complexity so as to improve concept learnability, we propose a multimodal learning approach that uses images’ semantic labels to intelligently adjust the sampling strategy and the sampling pool of SVM Active . Our empirical study on several datasets shows that active learning outperforms traditional passive learning, and concept-dependent learning is superior to the traditional conceptindependent relevance-feedback schemes.
Optimization of die-bonding process using orthogonal array experiments

Due to the functional requirements of heat dissipation, electrical conduction and mechanical strength (the ability to absorb stresses due to thermal expansion mismatch), soldering is usually used on the power devices such as power MOSFETs. Among the soft solders tin-lead (Sn-Pb) alloys are the most popular. While the solder melts in the bonding process, the oxide layer will be formed on the solder surface. To eliminate the oxide film, it is common to apply the scrubbing motion together with the reducing atmosphere in the bonding process. In spite of the mentioned effort, the formation of solder voids is a troublesome problem, which reduces the localized thermal/electrical conductivity and mechnical strength, therefore lowers the reliability of power devices at service. Figure 1 shows some types of solder voids. The effects of solder voids, the packaging and assembly factors as well as the manufacturing variability affecting the die bonds have been studied by using numerical model, e.g. [Zhu 1999] or through experimental investigation, e.g. [Viduya 1996] [Evans 1998] [Radeck 2000]. The findings are instructive, but for many working forces in the production field, to shoot the on-line quality issues it seems they would choose other tools rather than the simulation based on the advanced mathematics or mechanics. In this study, to reduce the voids in the bonding layer of power transistor, a small number of experiments using orthogonal arrays are conducted systematically, which give the optimum combination of process parameters under a specified range of die-bonding machine, above all, without resort to any advanced numerical simulation tools.
The participation of children and adolescents in family counselling: The German experience

This paper reflects the experiences of young people in child guidance and family counselling. For this purpose, first the institutional background of these counselling services in Germany is outlined. The fact that the adolescents concerned feel partly excluded and insufficiently integrated into the counselling process is illustrated through qualitative analysis of the experiences 17 young people had during their counselling process. These empirical findings are critically discussed in terms of the institutional conditions and methodical approaches which counteract the involvement of the actual addressees of the counselling service. The paper concludes that professionals need to attend more to facilitating the participation of young people.
Strand-Specific RNA-Seq Reveals Ordered Patterns of Sense and Antisense Transcription in Bacillus anthracis

Background Although genome-wide transcriptional analysis has been used for many years to study bacterial gene expression, many aspects of the bacterial transcriptome remain undefined. One example is antisense transcription, which has been observed in a number of bacteria, though the function of antisense transcripts, and their distribution across the bacterial genome, is still unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings Single-stranded RNA-seq results revealed a widespread and non-random pattern of antisense transcription covering more than two thirds of the B. anthracis genome. Our analysis revealed a variety of antisense structural patterns, suggesting multiple mechanisms of antisense transcription. The data revealed several instances of sense and antisense expression changes in different growth conditions, suggesting that antisense transcription may play a role in the ways in which B. anthracis responds to its environment. Significantly, genome-wide antisense expression occurred at consistently higher levels on the lagging strand, while the leading strand showed very little antisense activity. Intrasample gene expression comparisons revealed a gene dosage effect in all growth conditions, where genes farthest from the origin showed the lowest overall range of expression for both sense and antisense directed transcription. Additionally, transcription from both strands was verified using a novel strand-specific assay. The variety of structural patterns we observed in antisense transcription suggests multiple mechanisms for this phenomenon, suggesting that some antisense transcription may play a role in regulating the expression of key genes, while some may be due to chromosome replication dynamics and transcriptional noise. Conclusions/Significance Although the variety of structural patterns we observed in antisense transcription suggest multiple mechanisms for antisense expression, our data also clearly indicate that antisense transcription may play a genome-wide role in regulating the expression of key genes in Bacillus species. This study illustrates the surprising complexity of prokaryotic RNA abundance for both strands of a bacterial chromosome.
An Initial Investigation of a Multi-layered Approach for Optimizing and Parallelizing Real-Time Media and Audio Applications

The advent of multi-core processors revamped the research on parallel computing, among others in the area of real-time media and audio processing. Indeed, the added calculating power offers application developers new opportunities for high-performance computing, but demands for new approaches in application design. In this paper we perform an initial investigation of a systematic parallelization and optimization method, based on a layered application model. This approach will aid in the identification of potential candidates for parallelism and finding an optimal solution in a potentially very large and complex design space.
Formal requirements for virtualizable third generation architectures

Virtual machine systems have been implemented on a limited number of third generation computer systems, for example CP-67 on the IBM 360/67. The value of virtual machine techniques to ease the development of operating systems, to aid in program transferability, and to allow the concurrent running of disparate operating systems, test and diagnostic programs has been well recognized. However, from previous empirical studies, it is known that many third generation computer systems, e.g. the DEC PDP-10, cannot support a virtual machine system. In this paper, the hardware architectural requirements for virtual machine systems are discussed. First, a fairly specific definition of a virtual machine is presented which includes the aspects of efficiency, isolation, and identical behavior. A model of third generation-like computer systems is then developed. The model includes a processor with supervisor and user modes, memory that has a simple protection mechanism, and a trap facility. In this context, instruction behavior is then carefully characterized.
Children's Images of the Supreme Court: A Preliminary Mapping

Social scientists have offered numerous explanations for the support the public accords to the United States Supreme Court. Easton and Dennis have advanced the contention that such support is at least in part the product of youthful idealization of the Court, and this hypothesis has gained widespread, if tacit, acceptance. This paper argues that their conclusion is largely the consequence of a methodological artifact (the use of fixed-response survey instruments), and offers evidence that most children are not only unaware of the Supreme Court and its functions but demonstrate little or no positive affect toward that institution. If this is so, then why has the Easton-Dennis explanation persisted, despite its implausibility and lack of empirical grounding? One possibility is that the notion of a reservoir of trust in the Supreme Court is a useful rhetorical weapon for both judicial activists and those who advocate judicial restraint. But if public perceptions and evaluations of the Court are not strongly held, we must face the danger that those views will be susceptible to manipulation by people who do know and care about it-political, social, and economic elites.
Secretion of streptavidin from Bacillus subtilis

Streptavidin is an extracellular tetrameric protein produced by Streptomyces avidinii. A series of hybrid gene fusions consisting of Bacillus signal peptide coding regions fused to the mature streptavidin sequence were constructed. B. subtilis strains harboring these plasmids accumulate a tetrameric streptavidin in the growth medium. The properties of the streptavidin produced by B. subtilis are similar to those of the streptavidin produced by S. avidinii. B. subtilis strains carrying the various fusions can be grown to a high cell density in a biotin-free medium. Thus, B. subtilis represents an alternate host system for the production of streptavidin.
Delay in cooperative communications: Higher multiplexing gain in Gaussian interference channels with full-duplex transmitters

Delay, guaranteeing causality, is inevitable in cooperative communication systems. Traditionally, delay granularity has been limited to one symbol; however, channel delay is in fact governed by channel memory and can be shorter. For example, the delay requirement in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), captured in the cyclic prefix, is typically much shorter than the OFDM symbol itself. This perspective is used to study the two-user Gaussian interference channel with full-duplex transmitters. By superimposing the signal from the other node on its own signal, each transmitter cancels the interference at its receiver. Among other results, it is shown that under a mild condition, the maximum multiplexing gain of this channel is in fact two, rather than the limit of one, previously proved under the traditional constraint of causal delay [1]. Further, the optimal power allocation among orthogonal sub-carriers, which maximizes the achievable sum-rate, is shown to be a generalization of the well-known water filling.
Effect of cold exposure on profiles of metabolic and endocrine responses and on responses to feeding and arginine injection in sheep.

The effect of cold exposure (0 degrees C) on profiles of total heat production (HP), energy metabolism, and blood metabolite and hormone concentrations were measured in nine shorn Suffolk rams. Blood metabolite and hormone responses to feeding and to i.v. arginine injection (.625 mmol/kg BW) and postprandial changes in HP were also measured. Heat production was greater (P < .05) during cold exposure than in the thermoneutral environment due to enhanced (P < .05) nonprotein oxidation. Protein oxidation and nitrogen balance remained unchanged during cold exposure. Plasma glucagon concentrations increased (P < .05) during the initial period of cold exposure. Heat production increased (P < .01) after the initiation of feeding in both environments. Heat production returned gradually to prefeeding values in the thermoneutral environment, but it remained close to the higher levels during cold exposure. Plasma insulin and glucagon concentrations increased (P < .05), and plasma growth hormone concentrations decreased (P < .10) after the initiation of feeding in both environments. Plasma glucagon responses to feeding (P < .05) and plasma insulin responses to arginine injection (P < .01) were reduced by cold exposure. We suggest that 1) enhanced HP in sheep exposed to cold is maintained by enhanced nonprotein oxidation and 2) endocrine responses to stimulants are influenced by cold exposure, even though profiles after cold exposure change little.
Introduction: Special Issue on Accounting Ethics

This special issue of Business Ethics Quarterly was organized for two reasons. First, the academic fields of business ethics and accounting ethics have developed without close theoretical or empirical connections. This is the case even though the profession of accounting is an important component of the organizational world. For this reason, it is important to foster attempts to build a bridge between the two fields, so that research in accounting ethics is more closely related to business ethics. Second, the recent deluge of business scandals (primarily, but not only, in the United States) in which financial reporting and auditing were central elements suggests that a special issue on accounting ethics is timely. The original hope was that the special issue would contain a balance of papers from researchers in “accounting ethics” and those in “business ethics. ” In line with the hope that the papers would be responsive to both fields, almost every paper submitted was reviewed by one person who is identified with business ethics and one person who is identified with accounting ethics. As it turns out, most of the papers in this issue were written by people whose academic home is the accounting department. The mix of papers reflects the emphasis in the accounting literature on empirical research on ethical behavior.
Towards an Alternative Model of Social Groupwork

SUMMARY This paper arose from our disagreement with some of the suggestions in an earlier article in this journal (Brown et al., 1982). Before and since, we have both worked in and studied numerous examples of groups of a type which, according to Brown and his coauthors, scarcely exists in British social work practice. This paper explains what we believe to be the actual significance of the type of group work we refer to as 'self-directed', together with our view of its place within wider social work, community work, and groupwork practice. We also give examples of such groups and conclude that their proliferation would enable workers to go beyond the alleviation of individual distress into the achievement of external change. We have recently undertaken a study of certain aspects of groupwork. One of our main goals has been to analyze the methodology of social action groupwork with young people in care and in trouble. We have been closely involved in developing this approach in and around Nottingham, as well as in national extensions of this work (Ward, 1982; Mullender, 1983). We also wanted to discover whether this type of group with young people was an isolated phenomenon. We strongly suspected that practitioners working with other client groups were making similar moves towards the use of groupwork primarily to achieve external change, as opposed to concentrat ing on changing the attitudes or behaviour of group members themselves.
Illumination-Reflectance Based Image Enhancement Method for Character Recognition

In order to improve the robustness of the existing character recognition systems and increase their recognition ratio under various bad illumination conditions, we proposed a fast image enhancement algorithm based on illumination-reflectance model, by using an approximate edge-preserved filter. Experimental results showed that our algorithm can greatly help increase the character recognition ratio. In addition, our algorithm can be expected to achieve real-time processing.