Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beyond Response Rates: The Effect of Prepaid Incentives on Measurement Error

Title of Dissertation: BEYOND RESPONSE RATES: THE EFFECT OF PREPAID INCENTIVES ON MEASUREMENT ERROR Rebecca Medway, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Dissertation directed by: Dr. Roger Tourangeau As response rates continue to decline, survey researchers increasingly offer incentives as a way to motivate sample members to take part in their surveys. Extensive prior research demonstrates that prepaid incentives are an effective tool for doing so. If prepaid incentives influence behavior at the stage of deciding whether or not to participate, they also may alter the way that respondents behave while completing surveys. Nevertheless, most research has focused narrowly on the effect that incentives have on response rates. Survey researchers should have a better empirical basis for assessing the potential tradeoffs associated with the higher responses rates yielded by prepaid incentives. This dissertation describes the results of three studies aimed at expanding our understanding of the impact of prepaid incentives on measurement error. The first study explored the effect that a $5 prepaid cash incentive had on twelve indicators of respondent effort in a national telephone survey. The incentive led to significant reductions in item nonresponse and interview length. However, it had little effect on the other indicators, such as response order effects and responses to open-ended items. The second study evaluated the effect that a $5 prepaid cash incentive had on responses to sensitive questions in a mail survey of registered voters. The incentive resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of highly undesirable attitudes and behaviors to which respondents admitted and had no effect on responses to less sensitive items. While the incentive led to a general pattern of reduced nonresponse bias and increased measurement bias for the three voting items where administrative data was available for the full sample, these effects generally were not significant. The third study tested for measurement invariance in incentive and control group responses to four multi-item scales from three recent surveys that included prepaid incentive experiments. There was no evidence of differential item functioning; however, full metric invariance could not be established for one of the scales. Generally, these results suggest that prepaid incentives had minimal impact on measurement error. Thus, these findings should be reassuring for survey researchers considering the use of prepaid incentives to increase response rates. BEYOND RESPONSE RATES: THE EFFECT OF PREPAID INCENTIVES ON MEASUREMENT ERROR
Priority-aware Gray-box Placement of Virtual Machines in Cloud Platforms

Virtual machine (VM) placement is very important for cloud platforms. While techniques, such as live virtual machine migration, are very useful to balance the load in the data centers, they are expensive operations. In this position paper, we propose to minimize the chance of the load hot spots in the data center by applying the workload patterns of the VMs in the virtual machine placement algorithms - place VMs that require a lot of same type of resource across different physical servers. In this way, the resource competition of VMs on the same physical server is significantly mitigated. Meanwhile, we also consider the priorities of applications and VMs in our virtual machine placement algorithms.
Overview of BioNLP Shared Task 2013

The BioNLP Shared Task 2013 is the third edition of the BioNLP Shared Task series that is a community-wide effort to address fine-grained, structural information extraction from biomedical literature. The BioNLP Shared Task 2013 was held from January to April 2013. Six main tasks were proposed. 38 final submissions were received, from 22 teams. The results show advances in the state of the art and demonstrate that extraction methods can be successfully generalized in various aspects.
Satisfiability of downward XPath with data equality tests

In this work we investigate the satisfiability problem for the logic XPath(↓*, ↓,=), that includes all downward axes as well as equality and inequality tests. We address this problem in the absence of DTDs and the sibling axis. We prove that this fragment is decidable, and we nail down its complexity, showing the problem to be ExpTime-complete. The result also holds when path expressions allow closure under the Kleene star operator. To obtain these results, we introduce a new automaton model over data trees that captures XPath(↓*, ↓,=) and has an ExpTime emptiness problem. Furthermore, we give the exact complexity of several downward-looking fragments.
The Use of VR Exposure in the Treatment of Motor Vehicle PTSD: A Case-report

This paper reports on a case study about a subject who underwent a virtual reality (VR) exposure program designed to reduce posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology that developed after a violent motor vehicle accident. The VR world consisted of a 4-lane highway setup with traffic on both ways that was displayed to the patient through a 295 x 225 cm Translucid Screen. In the 4 sessions, the participant, a 42-year-old female, was driven down the highway by a therapist. The intensity of anxiety cues was raised throughout the sessions. The patient had to overcome events such as traffic intensity variation, tunnels, and crossings. From HADS questionnaire, very high anxiety and depression scores were reported. IES results also indicated a reduction in intrusion and avoidance scores, even though the subject remains within the severe PTSD cohort. Physiological measures such as ECG and GSR pointed out a reduction in psychophysiological activity.
The effects of basic substances and acidic ionophores on the digestion of exogenous and endogenous proteins in mouse peritoneal macrophages

Basic substances and acidic ionophores that increase the lysosomal pH in cultured macrophages (Ohkuma, S., and B. Poole, 1978, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 75:3327-3331; Poole, B., and S. Ohkuma, 1981, J. Cell Biol., 90:665-669) inhibited the digestion of heat-denatured acetylated bovine serum albumin (BSA) taken up by the cells. For several substances, the shift in pH sufficed to explain the inhibition of proteolysis. Additional effects, presumably on enzyme activities, have to be postulated for tributylamine, amantadine, and chloroquine. Sodium fluoride (10 mM) had no significant effect on the breakdown of BSA by macrophages. The breakdown of endogenous macrophage proteins, whether short lived or long lived, was inhibited approximately 40% by 10 mM NaF and 30%, or sometimes less in the case of long-lived proteins, by 100 microM chloroquine. When the cells were supplied with BSA, a mixture of cell proteins, or even inert endocytosible materials, the breakdown of endogenous long-lived proteins and the inhibitory effect of chloroquine on this process were selectively reduced. Inhibition of endocytosis by cytochalasins B or D did not affect the chloroquine-sensitive breakdown of endogenous proteins, indicating that the proteins degraded by this process were truly endogenous and not taken in from the outside by cellular cannibalism. On the other hand, when macrophage proteins were supplied extracellularly, their breakdown occurred at the same rate for short-lived and long-lived proteins, and it was strongly inhibited by chloroquine and not by NaF. It is concluded from these results that the breakdown of endogenous proteins, both short-lived and long-lived, probably takes place partly (approximately 30%) in lysosomes and partly through one or more nonlysosomal mechanism(s) unaffected by chloroquine and presumably susceptible to inhibition by fluoride. A difference must exist between short-lived and long-lived proteins in the manner in which they reach lysosomes or are handled by these organelles; this difference would account for the selective effect of the supply of endocytosible materials on the lysosomal processing of long-lived proteins.
Stochastic Hybrid Systems: A Powerful Framework for Complex, Large Scale Applications

Stochastic hybrid systems allow one to model the interaction between continuous dynamics, discrete dynamics and probabilistic uncertainty. Because of their versatility, stochastic hybrid systems have emerged as a powerful framework for capturing the intricacies of complex systems. Motivated by this, considerable research effort has been devoted to the development of modeling, analysis and control methods for stochastic hybrid systems. In this introductory paper to the special issue, we outline recent progress in this challenging research area and argue that synergies between methods developed by different communities in computer science, control engineering, and stochastic analysis should be exploited to allow progress in real life, large scale applications.
Efficient Processing of Narrow Range Queries in the R-Tree

Multi-dimensional data structures are applied in many real index applications, i.e. data mining, indexing multimedia data, indexing of text documents and so on. Many index structures and algorithms have been proposed. There are two major approaches to multi-dimensional indexing: data structures to indexing metric and vector spaces. R-trees, R*-trees and (B)UB-trees are representatives of the vector data structures. These data structures provide efficient processing of many types of queries, i.e. point queries, range queries and so on. As far as the vector data structures are concerned, the range query retrieves all points in defined hyper box in an n-dimensional space. The narrow range query is an important type of the range query. Its processing is inefficient in vector data structures. Moreover, the efficiency decreases as the dimension of the indexed space increases. We depict an application of the signature for more efficient processing of narrow range queries. The approach puts the signature into the multi-dimensional data structures like R-tree or UB-tree but original functionalities are preserved, i.e. the range query algorithm for general range query. The novel data structure is called the signature data structure, e.g., Signature R-tree or Signature UB-tree.
Dance motion analysis by correlation matrix between pose sequences

Since a dance motion is represented as a temporal sequence of poses, comparison of motion data is reduced to the comparison of individual poses. In the present paper, the pose comparison problem is basically solved by 2D correlation assuming that human motion is bound by gravity. Therefore, dance motion analysis is discussed based on correlation matrices that are calculated between two motion sequences captured by a motion capture system. A correlation matrix, in which each component represents a pose similarity between two poses, is defined between two motion sequences. A symmetric correlation matrix is also defined from symmetric similarities between two motion sequences. These correlation matrices are used for extraction of motion sequences that are similar or symmetric to a given dance motion, respectively. They are also used for motion difference analysis between two dancers performing a particular dance. In motion difference analysis, the correlation matrix is also considered between a motion sequence and a motion eigenspace. Some subtle motion errors can be extracted with the correlation matrix when a motion eigenspace is constructed over standard motion data.
Resequencing and comparison of whole mitochondrial genome to gain insight into the evolutionary status of the Shennongjia golden snub‐nosed monkey (SNJ R. roxellana)

Abstract Shennongjia Rhinopithecus roxellana (SNJ R. roxellana) is the smallest geographical population of R. roxellana. The phylogenetic relationships among its genera and species and the biogeographic processes leading to their current distribution are largely unclear. To address these issues, we resequenced and obtained a new, complete mitochondrial genome of SNJ R. roxellana by next‐generation sequencing and standard Sanger sequencing. We analyzed the gene composition, constructed a phylogenetic tree, inferred the divergence ages based on complete mitochondrial genome sequences, and analyzed the genetic divergence of 13 functional mtDNA genes. The phylogenetic tree and divergence ages showed that R. avunculus (the Tonkin snub‐nosed monkey) was the first to diverge from the Rhinopithecus genus ca. 2.47 million years ago (Ma). Rhinopithecus bieti and Rhinopithecus strykeri formed sister groups, and the second divergence from the Rhinopithecus genus occurred ca. 1.90 Ma. R. roxellana and R. brelichi diverged from the Rhinopithecus genus third, ca. 1.57 Ma. SNJ R. roxellana was the last to diverge within R. roxellana species in 0.08 Ma, and the most recent common ancestor of R. roxellana is 0.10 Ma. The analyses on gene composition showed SNJ R. roxellana was the newest geographic population of R. roxellana. The work will help to develop a more accurate protection policy for SNJ R. roxellana and facilitate further research on selection and adaptation of R. roxellana.
Automated network selection in a heterogeneous wireless network environment

Service delivery in a heterogeneous all-IP wireless network environment requires the selection of an optimal access network. Selection of a non-optimal network can result in undesirable effects such as higher costs or poor service experience. Network selection in such an environment is influenced by several factors, and currently a complete solution is not available to solve this problem. This article describes a comprehensive decision making process to rank candidate networks for service delivery to the terminal. The proposed mechanism is based on a unique decision process that uses compensatory and non-compensatory multi-attribute decision making algorithms jointly to assist the terminal in selecting the top candidate network
A new approach for publishing workflows: abstractions, standards, and linked data

In recent years, a variety of systems have been developed that export the workflows used to analyze data and make them part of published articles. We argue that the workflows that are published in current approaches are dependent on the specific codes used for execution, the specific workflow system used, and the specific workflow catalogs where they are published. In this paper, we describe a new approach that addresses these shortcomings and makes workflows more reusable through: 1) the use of abstract workflows to complement executable workflows to make them reusable when the execution environment is different, 2) the publication of both abstract and executable workflows using standards such as the Open Provenance Model that can be imported by other workflow systems, 3) the publication of workflows as Linked Data that results in open web accessible workflow repositories. We illustrate this approach using a complex workflow that we re-created from an influential publication that describes the generation of 'drugomes'.
A de novo cryptic 5p deletion and 9p duplication detected by subtelomeric MLPA in a boy with cri du chat syndrome

A De Novo Cryptic 5p Deletion and 9p Duplication Detected by Subtelomeric MLPA in a Boy With Cri du Chat Syndrome Carolina R. Lincoln-de-Carvalho, Fab ıola M.P. Vicente, T arsis A.P. Vieira, Maricilda P. de Mello, and Antonia P. Marques-de-Faria* Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil Center of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil
Degrees of freedom of MIMO Y channel with multiple relays

We study the degrees of freedom (DoF) of a symmetric multi-relay multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Y channel, where three users, each equipped with M antennas, exchange messages via multiple geographically separated relay nodes, each with N antennas. We formulate a general DoF achievability problem assuming the use of linear precoding and post-processing. To solve this problem, we present a new uplink-downlink asymmetric strategy where the user precoders are designed for signal alignment and the user post-processors are used for interference neutralization. Based on that, we derive an achievable DoF of the considered model for an arbitrary antenna setup. The optimality of the derived DoF is established under certain antenna configurations. Also, we show that our design considerably outperforms the conventional uplink-downlink symmetric design.
Error correction in pipelined ADCs using arbitrary radix calibration

This paper presents an ADC architecture which enhances accuracy of pipelined conversion using digital calibration. The popular 1.5 bit/stage pipeline architecture is adapted to an arbitrary radix structure. Calibration algorithms that estimate gain errors for two comparators in each pipeline stage are developed using this architecture. A low-noise queueing technique which enables calibration to be performed in background without interrupting the ADC input sample stream is presented. A 12-stage pipeline ADC model is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of calibration algorithms. With 10% error in the interstage gain, calibration improves the accuracy from 5 to 11 bits. Effects of implementation issues such as gain parameter settling, intradie gain variation, and finite word length computation are studied.
Adult learning through case simulation.

This article was accepted for publica/ion April 11, 1994 The body of knowledge in health care and its environmen( is rapidly changing, To remain viable as professionals, health care practitioners must stay curren( with practice changes, legislation trends, and technological advances, Information can be obtained through various avenues, such as in-services within the faCility, peer audit review, enrollmenr in a postgraduate curriculum, local and national special inrerest sections, networks, professional journals and publications, state and national conference workshops and lecrures, telecommunication conferences, and self-study programs, Many of these avenues are provided by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) nor only (0 meet practice needs but also ro satiSfy state regulation requirements for continuing education, According to demographics generated by AOTA, there are currenrly 46,000 occupational therapists practicing in the United States, Over the last 5 years, more than 15% have participated in one of the self-study series sponsored by AOTA. In addition, more than 1,000 therapists participate in the AOTA-sponsored workshops presented yearly. Conrinuing education needs also morivate more than 5,000 therapists on a yearly basis to attend the AOTA annual conferences O. Brady, personal communication, 1993). Whether guided by external constraints or internal need of professional growth, most occupational therapists participate in some form of yearly continuing education experience. Abreu and Blount (1993), comparing academically based education with continuing education, argued that postprofessional graduate education is the best format for allOWing practicing therapists the opporrunity (0 refine clinical reasoning skills, develop a menror relarionship wirh a clinical educator, and get feedback on skill acquisition via lecture and laboratory assignments. They criticized conrinuing educarion settings as rime limited, rigid learning environmenrs rhar are nonconducive to mentor development. They claimed rhat an "unconscious indoctrination" process may occur because a single belief process is conveyed to a passive audience (p. 84). As counterpoint, Strickland (1993) maintained rhar the academic setting is only one of several options that therapists can use to enhance postgraduate educarion. Because not every rherapist lives close (0 an academic program, conrinuing education programs need to go where rherapists practice. Srrickland argued rhar continuing professional educarion programs held close (0 rhe practice community enhance collaboration, communicarion. nerworking, and mentorship. In thiS article, we describe an innovarive conrinuing educarion program initiared at rhe 1993 AOTA Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington, and discuss future trends in the area of continuing education programming. Literature Review I
Opportunistic Semantic Tagging

Building semantically annotated corpora from scratch is a time consuming activity requiring very specialized resources. In this paper we present a pilot study carried out to test a methodology that can be used to create a semantically annotated corpus by exploiting information contained in an already annotated corpus. The main hypothesis underlying the proposed methodology is that, given a text and its translation into another language, the translation preserves to a large extent the meaning of the source language text. This means that if one of the two texts is already semantically tagged, and if we can align at the appropriate level the parallel texts, it should be possible to transfer the semantic annotation from the tagged text to its translation. More specifically, in our experiment we considered word level semantic annotation. The pilot study has been carried out on six texts taken from the SemCor corpus and their Italian translations. To test the methodology we implemented an annotation transfer system based on an English/Italian word aligner, developed at ITC-irst, which relies mostly on information contained in bilingual dictionaries.
Publishing Patterns in BRIC Countries: A Network Analysis

How similar are the publishing patterns of among Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC countries) in comparison with other countries? This is a question that we addressed by using networks as a tool to analyze the structure of similarities and disparities between countries. We analyzed the number of publications from 2006 to 2015 that are reported by SCImago Journal and Country Rank. With this information, we created a network in order to find the closest countries to BRIC ones, and also to find communities of similar countries favoring data analysis. We found that Brazil, China and Russia are not that close to the core cluster of countries that are more diversified. In opposition, India is closer to a community of countries that are more diverse in terms of publishing patterns. Furthermore, we found that, for different network topologies, Brazil acts as a bridge to connect developing countries and that Russia practices patterns that tend to isolate it from most of the countries.
The Development and Validation of the Multi‐Dimensional Identification Scale (MDIS)

Based on recent identity research, we developed the Multi-Dimensional Identity Scale (MDIS), and the psychometric properties of the MDIS are examined. We report the results of 3 studies used for item generation and analyses and exploratory factor structure analysis (Study 1), confirmatory factor structure analyses (Studies 1, 2, and 3), and construct validity (Study 3). Collectively, these studies illustrate the psychometric properties of a new measure of identity that is multidimensional and adaptable to various identity bases (i.e., organizational, family, social). Based on exploratory and confirmatory studies, our measure demonstrates the same factor structure for organization-based identity and social-based identity and a similar factor structure for family-based identity. Convergent and discriminant validity are demonstrated. jasp_770 1632.1658