Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatially-dense 3D facial asymmetry assessment in both typical and disordered growth

Mild facial asymmetries are common in typical growth patterns. Therefore, detection of disordered facial growth patterns in individuals characterized by asymmetries is preferably accomplished by reference to the typical variation found in the general population rather than to some ideal of perfect symmetry, which rarely exists. This presents a challenge in developing an asymmetry assessment tool that is applicable, without modification, to detect both mild and severe facial asymmetries. In this paper we use concepts from geometric morphometrics to obtain robust and spatially‐dense asymmetry assessments using a superimposition protocol for comparison of a face with its mirror image. Spatially‐dense localization of asymmetries was achieved using an anthropometric mask consisting of uniformly sampled quasi‐landmarks that were automatically indicated on 3D facial images. Robustness, in the sense of an unbiased analysis under increasing asymmetry, was ensured by an adaptive, robust, least‐squares superimposition. The degree of overall asymmetry in an individual was scored using a root‐mean‐squared‐error, and the proportion was scored using a novel relative significant asymmetry percentage. This protocol was applied to a database of 3D facial images from 359 young healthy individuals and three individuals with disordered facial growth. Typical asymmetry statistics were derived and were mainly located on, but not limited to, the lower two‐thirds of the face in males and females. The asymmetry in males was more extensive and of a greater magnitude than in females. This protocol and proposed scoring of asymmetry with accompanying reference statistics will be useful for the detection and quantification of facial asymmetry in future studies.
Tracking Bubbles for Outdoor Flow Characterization

Research into Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) and other small, dynamic robots often involves quantification of the dynamic behavior of these vehicles. While the most interesting behavior occurs in unconstrained environments, the behavior which is easiest to analyze occurs in constrained, laboratory environments. In either case, video analysis is common for many of the same reasons it is commonly used in biological research applications low disturbance to the system, potentially high spatial resolution, and easily adaptable to laboratory scales [1]. Tools like those developed by [1] are often used for image analysis, but these tools have some limitations and are designed for more general objectives. For any given analysis, a great deal of time is often spent with a human operator manually identifying points in each frame of interest. Figure 1 shows typical trajectory and velocity information extracted using this manual method. While crucial to the underlying research in terms of both final results and iterative feedback during development, the high time commitment creates a barrier to its use.
An Efficient Switched Detection Technique for DS-CDMA systems

A dual-mode multiuser detector that dynamically switches its detection mode between matched filter and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) detector operations based on channel characteristics is proposed. The main criterion of taking MMSE detector is that it has minimum Bit Error Rate (BER) among all linear multiuser detectors. This detector reduces overall computational complexity while maintaining the performance at tht same level as that of MMSE detector. The switching mechanism is exploited by the performance-complexity tradeoff, between matched filter and MMSE detector.
A Web-based unsupervised algorithm for learning transliteration model to improve translation of low-frequency proper names

In machine translation, cross-language information retrieval, and cross-language question answering, the problems of unknown term translation are difficult to be solved. Although we have proposed several effective Web-based term translation extraction methods exploring Web resources to deal with translation of frequent Web query terms. However, many low-frequency unknown terms are still difficult to be translated by using our previous Web-based term translation extraction methods. Therefore, in this paper we propose a two-stage hybrid translation extraction method, which is composed of our pervious Web-based term translation extraction method and a new Web-based transliteration method to improve translation of low-frequency unknown proper names. Additionally, to construct a good quality transliteration model, we also present a Web-based unsupervised learning algorithm to automatically collect diverse English-Chinese transliteration pairs from the Web. Experimental results showed that our new method can make great improvements for translation of unknown proper names.
A hybrid adaptive time-delay neural network model for multi-step-ahead prediction of sunspot activity

The availability of accurate empirical models for multi-step-ahead (MS) prediction is desirable in many areas. Some ANN technologies, such as multiple-neural network, time-delay neural network (TDNN), and adaptive time-delay neural network (ATNN), have proven successful in addressing various complicated problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of neural network MS predictive models. Motivated by the above-mentioned technologies, we proposed a hybrid neural network model, which integrated characteristics decomposition units, and a dynamic spline interpolation unit into the multiple ATNNs. Inside the net, the regular and certain information were extracted to ATNN, while both time delays and weights were dynamically adapted. The yearly average of the sunspots, which has been considered by geophysicists, environment scientists, and climatologists as a complicated non-linear system, was selected to test the hybrid model. Comparative results were presented between a traditional MS predictive model based on TDNN and the proposed model. Validation studies indicated that the proposed model is quite effective in MS prediction, especially for single-factor time series.
“Scumbag Millionaires”: the rhetorical construction and resistance of stigma during the financial crisis

The financial crisis was accompanied by widespread media stigmatisation of investment bankers. This research integrates literature on occupational stigma, subject positioning and rhetoric to examine the development of tainted subject positions in media coverage and individual bankers' responses to such positioning. It draws on two influential media sources - opinion columns from The Sun and BBC correspondent Robert Peston's blog - and interviews with nine investment bankers at three time points. The empirical material covers the development of the crisis between April 2008 and October 2009. The analysis identifies two specific sites of contest: the morality of bankers’ pay and responsibility for the financial crisis. The media construct vividly stigmatising subject positions for all bankers which become increasingly physically tainted as the crisis develops. Interviewees resist these, differentiating between themselves and the occupational group. They concede the accuracy of taint regarding pay for some bankers but not for themselves, claiming instead self-positioning as normal, hard workers. The media stigmatisation regarding responsibility appears less compelling and interviewees focus on the contributory roles of other players rather than discussing personal or occupational culpability. In claiming credibility of voice, the media either emphasise similarity and identification with readers (The Sun) or superior knowledge (Peston). Interviewees accuse the media of over-simplification and scaremongering and position themselves as informed insiders and voices of reason. The analysis highlights that stigmatisation is a contest over the validity of what and who are tainted and the authority to make such pronouncements. It reinforces existing findings on the link between taint and dirt in constructing stigma. It also suggests the weakness of occupational identity as a resource for investment bankers. The findings could suggest that while construction of a simple, tainted identity for bankers was effective, using this to establish blame was more complex.
Nominal Rigidity , Monetary Policy and Expectation Driven Business Cycles

Abstract In this paper, I explore the effects nominal rigidities and monetary policies have on the generation of Pigou cycles, that is, business cycles driven by agents’ expectations of future technology. The optimal response of the central bank is analyzed under circumstances when agents receive a signal indicating the technology change in the future. To achieve these objectives, I introduce nominal rigidities and monetary policy into a standard two-sector model with non-durable and durable goods. The optimal reaction of the central bank is found by solving the Ramsey optimization problem. Furthermore, the Ramsey optimal policy can be approximated by simple operational policy rules. I find that nominal rigidities tend to amplify the responses to the expectation and monetary policies affect the expectation driven business cycles by affecting the real interest rate and user cost of durable goods. Another interesting result is that a simple policy rule reacting to the inflation rates in both non-durable and durable sector with appropriate weights can closely mimic the performance of the Ramsey policy.
On the chimeric nature, thermophilic origin, and phylogenetic placement of the Thermotogales

Since publication of the first Thermotogales genome, Thermotoga maritima strain MSB8, single- and multi-gene analyses have disagreed on the phylogenetic position of this order of Bacteria. Here we present the genome sequences of 4 additional members of the Thermotogales (Tt. petrophila, Tt. lettingae, Thermosipho melanesiensis, and Fervidobacterium nodosum) and a comprehensive comparative analysis including the original T. maritima genome. While ribosomal protein genes strongly place Thermotogales as a sister group to Aquificales, the majority of genes with sufficient phylogenetic signal show affinities to Archaea and Firmicutes, especially Clostridia. Indeed, on the basis of the majority of genes in their genomes (including genes that are also found in Aquificales), Thermotogales should be considered members of the Firmicutes. This result highlights the conflict between the taxonomic goal of assigning every species to a unique position in an inclusive Linnaean hierarchy and the evolutionary goal of understanding phylogenesis in the presence of pervasive horizontal gene transfer (HGT) within prokaryotes. Amino acid compositions of reconstructed ancestral sequences from 423 gene families suggest an origin of this gene pool even more thermophilic than extant members of this order, followed by adaptation to lower growth temperatures within the Thermotogales.
THE EFFECT OF VMI ON SUPPLIER'S PROFIT WITH MULTIPLE-RETAILERS

VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) system is known as an effective mechanism to reduce the bullwhip effect between suppliers and buyers, by switching the responsibility of inventory management from buyers to suppliers. Although most attempts of VMI implementation have been successful, there were some failure cases such as in South Korea. VMI system was beneficial only to the buyer and hurt the long-run relationship in the supply chain. This paper discusses the possible factors to result in the unsatisfactory VMI implementation.
Openness and Growth Volatility

Macroeconomic volatility is the outcome of countries’ exposure to shocks (the magnitude and frequency of shocks that hit their economies) and their vulnerability (the ability to respond to these shocks). This paper conjectures that countries with higher degrees of trade and financial integration are better prepared to withstand shocks to output growth. Theoretically, the impact of trade and financial openness is ambiguous. Hence, our problem becomes an empirical one. Using a sample of 82 countries for the period 1975-2005, we find that the response of growth volatility to rising trade and financial openness depends upon some country characteristics. We find that: (a) trade openness stabilizes output fluctuations in countries with well-diversified economic structures, (b) financial openness mitigates growth volatility in countries with low debt-equity ratios, (c) domestic financial depth helps smoothing out the destabilizing effect of financial openness on growth volatility, (d) countries with higher trade openness are less prone to output drops, and (e) countries with higher financial openness are more likely to experience sharp drops in real output only if their external liabilities are more biased towards debt than equity.
An Heuristics-Based, Weakly-Supervised Approach for Classification of Stance in Tweets

Stance detection is the task of automatically identifying if the text author is in favor or against a subject or target. This paper presents a weakly supervised approach for stance detection in tweets based solely on their contents. The approach relies on a set of heuristics used to automatically label tweets with regard to stance, which has a twofold purpose: a) automatic creation of a training corpus to develop a predictive model using a supervised learning algorithm, and b) to complement the predictive model when determining the stance of tweets. The paper analyzes the performance of the approach considering six distinct stance targets. We achieved promising results, with weighted F-measure varying from 52% to 67%.
Region-Based Collision Avoidance Beaconless Geographic Routing Protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks

Due to the lack of dependency on beacon messages for location exchange, the beaconless geographic routing protocol has attracted considerable attention from the research community. However, existing beaconless geographic routing protocols are likely to generate duplicated data packets when multiple winners in the greedy area are selected. Furthermore, these protocols are designed for a uniform sensor field, so they cannot be directly applied to practical irregular sensor fields with partial voids. To prevent the failure of finding a forwarding node and to remove unnecessary duplication, in this paper, we propose a region-based collision avoidance beaconless geographic routing protocol to increase forwarding opportunities for randomly-deployed sensor networks. By employing different contention priorities into the mutually-communicable nodes and the rest of the nodes in the greedy area, every neighbor node in the greedy area can be used for data forwarding without any packet duplication. Moreover, simulation results are given to demonstrate the increased packet delivery ratio and shorten end-to-end delay, rather than well-referred comparative protocols.
A Toolkit for Streaming Process Data Analysis

This paper presents a software toolkit that can be used to analyze event data streams in real-time. It has a specific focus on stochastic analysis of business processes, based on event data that is produced during the execution of those processes. The toolkit provides a software environment that facilitates easy connection to event data streams and quick development and testing of analysis and visualization techniques. It is developed by classifying existing techniques for streaming process data analysis, which are identified in the current literature, and by extracting and formalizing the core mechanisms that these techniques are based on. These core mechanisms serve as the basis for the toolkit. The toolkit is implemented and made available as open source. In this way it can facilitate quick prototyping of streaming process data analysis techniques.
NONRIGID POINT CORRESPONDENCE RECOVERY FOR PLANAR CURVES U SING FOURIER DECOMPOSITION

A novel method of point correspondence recovery between planar curves is presented in this paper where motion be-tween the curves is nonrigid. Fourier transformation is used to decompose planar curves into a set of ellipses, each at a different frequency level. The point correspondences be-tween two planar curves is based on the correspondences between two ellipses in the same frequency level. At each level, a simple method is implemented to get the correspondences between the two ellipses through their shape information. This way, nonrigid point correspondence problem between two planar curves is decomposed to a set of simple subproblems – the correspondence between ellipses. We have conducted comprehensive experiments on synthetic and real data sets and found that the algorithm is quite effective and efﬁcient.
Exceptional longevity does not result in excessive levels of disability

Late-life loss of independence in daily living is a central concern for the aging individual and for society. The implications of increased survival to advanced age may be different at the population level than at the individual level. Here we used a longitudinal multi-assessment survey of the entire Danish 1905 cohort from 1998 to 2005 to assess the loss of physical and cognitive independence in the age range of 92 to 100 years. Multiple functional outcomes were studied, including independence, which was defined as being able to perform basic activities of daily living without assistance from other persons and having a MiniMental State Examination (MMSE) score of 23 or higher. In the aggregate, the 1905 cohort had only a modest decline in the proportion of independent individuals at the 4 assessments between age 92 and 100 years: 39%, 36%, 32%, and 33%, with a difference between first and last assessment of 6% [95% confidence interval (CI), −1–14%]. For participants who survived until 2005, however, the prevalence of independence was reduced by more than a factor of 2, from 70% in 1998 to 33% in 2005 (difference, 37%; 95% CI, 28–46%). Similar results were obtained for the other functional outcomes. Analyses of missing data resulting from nonresponse and death suggest that the discrepancy between the population trajectory and the individual trajectory is caused by increased mortality among dependent individuals. For the individual, long life brings an increasing risk of loss of independence. For society, mortality reductions are not expected to result in exceptional levels of disability in cohorts of the very old.
Some Gregarious Cycle Decompositions of Complete Equipartite Graphs

A $k$-cycle decomposition of a multipartite graph $G$ is said to be gregarious if each $k$-cycle in the decomposition intersects $k$ distinct partite sets of $G$. In this paper we prove necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of such a decomposition in the case where $G$ is the complete equipartite graph, having $n$ parts of size $m$, and either $n\equiv 0,1\pmod{k}$, or $k$ is odd and $m\equiv 0\pmod{k}$. As a consequence, we prove necessary and sufficient conditions for decomposing complete equipartite graphs into gregarious cycles of prime length.
Uplink femto-macro ICIC with semi-centralized power control

Inter-cell interference is a major issue in current wireless cellular systems, in particular with the development of femto-cells. We propose a semi-centralized uplink femto-macro ICIC approach with low network signalling in which a coordinator defines a power control function for all femto base stations in a given area based on long-term statistics they build. The power control function takes path gains as arguments and the transmit power of each femto mobile terminal is set according to the short-term path gains it reports. The proposed power control function achieves good results in terms of femto-macro performance trade-off and mobile terminal transmit power.
Inference in Vector Autoregressive Models with an Informative Prior on the Steady State

Vector autoregressions have steadily gained in popularity since their introduction in econometrics 25 years ago. A drawback of the otherwise fairly well developed methodology is the inability to incorporate prior beliefs regarding the system's steady state in a satisfactory way. Such prior information are typically readily available and may be crucial for forecasts at long horizons. This paper develops easily implemented numerical simulation algorithms for analyzing stationary and cointegrated VARs in a parametrization where prior beliefs on the steady state may be adequately incorporated. The analysis is illustrated on macroeconomic data for the Euro area.
THE EUROPEAN UNION'S ACCOUNTABILITY DEFICIT

The literature often addresses the European Union's "democratic deficit". This paper addresses a problem that could be called the "accountability deficit". The European Court of Auditors has never issued an unqualified positive opinion on the legality and regularity of the EU budget execution. The European Commission has developed several instruments to further the member states accountability of EU funds. This paper argues that one of these instruments, the member state declaration, seems promising and describes the Dutch experience.
Fish, Fish-Derived n-3 Fatty Acids, and Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Background Results of observational and experimental studies investigating the association between intake of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) have been inconsistent. Methods We studied the association of fish and the fish-derived n-3 PUFAs eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with the risk of incident AF in individuals aged 45–64 from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort (n = 14,222, 27% African Americans). Intake of fish and of DHA and EPA were measured via food frequency questionnaire. Plasma levels of DHA and EPA were measured in phospholipids in a subset of participants (n = 3,757). Incident AF was identified through the end of 2008 using ECGs, hospital discharge codes and death certificates. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios of AF by quartiles of n-3 PUFAs or by fish intake. Results During the average follow-up of 17.6 years, 1,604 AF events were identified. In multivariable analyses, total fish intake and dietary DHA and EPA were not associated with AF risk. Higher intake of oily fish and canned tuna was associated with a nonsignificant lower risk of AF (p for trend = 0.09). Phospholipid levels of DHA+EPA were not related to incident AF. However, DHA and EPA showed differential associations with AF risk when analyzed separately, with lower risk of AF in those with higher levels of DHA but no association between EPA levels and AF risk. Conclusions In this racially diverse sample, dietary intake of fish and fish-derived n-3 fatty acids, as well as plasma biomarkers of fish intake, were not associated with AF risk.