Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EZLearn: Exploiting Organic Supervision in Large-Scale Data Annotation

Many real-world applications require automated data annotation, such as identifying tissue origins based on gene expressions and classifying images into semantic categories. Annotation classes are often numerous and subject to changes over time, and annotating examples has become the major bottleneck for supervised learning methods. In science and other high-value domains, large repositories of data samples are often available, together with two sources of organic supervision: a lexicon for the annotation classes, and text descriptions that accompany some data samples. Distant supervision has emerged as a promising paradigm for exploiting such indirect supervision by automatically annotating examples where the text description contains a class mention in the lexicon. However, due to linguistic variations and ambiguities, such training data is inherently noisy, which limits the accuracy of this approach. In this paper, we introduce an auxiliary natural language processing system for the text modality, and incorporate co-training to reduce noise and augment signal in distant supervision. Without using any manually labeled data, our EZLearn system learned to accurately annotate data samples in functional genomics and scientific figure comprehension, substantially outperforming state-of-the-art supervised methods trained on tens of thousands of annotated examples.
Data dissemination strategies in mobile sink Wireless Sensor Networks: A survey

Mobile sink Wireless Sensor Network (MSWSN) has recently received a lot of attention from the research community. Its appealing characteristics of providing longer network lifetimes, delay optimizations and the flexibility to adapt dissemination strategies according to applications' requirements have proved to be more efficient. Numerous mobile sink based data dissemination strategies have been proposed. This work presents state of the art literature review on MSWSN data dissemination strategies. Issues and flexibilities that did not exist with static sink WSN have been discussed. A classification of available data dissemination strategies and their pros and cons has been discussed.
The Effect of Axial Load on the In Vivo Anterior Drawer Test of the Ankle Joint Complex

The anterior drawer test is commonly used in the diagnosis of ankle joint mechanical instability. However, the effect of axial load on the anterior drawer test has not been examined in vivo. The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of axial load on passive anterior instability, and on the diagnostic measurement of the anterior drawer instability of the ankle joint complex. A total of 21 subjects with various degrees of ankle sprains were tested on a device that could continuously record applied anterior force and the resultant displacement of the rear-foot. Anterior drawer flexibility of the ankle joint complex in a neutral dorsi/plantar flexion position was quantified on both feet for all subjects without and with an axial load (385 N). Flexibility of the ankle joint complex in anterior drawer was defined as the slope of a linear load-displacement curve (which fitted test data with high correlation coefficients (r>0.991)). With axial load, anterior drawer flexibility was significantly reduced by 28.8% compared to that without axial load. The difference in anterior drawer flexibility between injured and intact ankles significantly decreased with axial load. An axial load increased the stability of ankle joint complex. However, axial load reduced the sensitivity of anterior drawer test to mechanical instability of the ankle joint complex.
Techno-organizational change and skill formation: evidence from Italian manufacturing firms

This paper emphasizes the role of labour demand as a determinant of working skill formation. In particular, we study the relationship between techno-organizational innovation and skill formation from a labour demand perspective. In this respect, we investigate if activities aimed at increasing the international commitment and the technological and organizational change do have an effect on both the propensity of firms to train and on the intensity of training. On this purpose, by relying on a job-competition-like framework about the operation of the labour market in allocating skills, we first estimate which factors do affect the propensity of firms to invest in work-based training activities, and, secondly, we estimate if the same factors do also play a role in determining the degree of intensity of such a training activity. Relying on a new dataset on Italian manufacturing firms active over the period 2001-2006, we first estimate a probit model on the probability for a firm to train; then we employ a Heckman two-stage selection model on the share of trainees with which we can control for selectivity bias. Our results point to a positive and significant effect of both firmsâ€™ characteristics, like size, specialization and capital intensity, and firms' techno-organisational activities on both training incidence and on training intensity. A particularly significant role, in this respect, is played by the combination of process innovation and the adoption of new organizational practices.
The use of sediment toxicity identification evaluation methods to evaluate clean up targets in an urban estuary

The Ballona Creek Estuary (BCE) in Los Angeles, California, is in a highly urbanized watershed, is contaminated by a variety of chemicals, and has prevalent sediment toxicity. Sediment cleanup targets for BCE have been established for Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, chlordane, DDTs, PCBs, and PAHs, based on sediment quality guidelines. A sediment toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) was conducted to examine how these targets corresponded to toxicity observed with the estuarine amphipod Eohaustorius estuarius. Whole sediment and porewater TIEs were used to identify the cause of toxicity. Passive samplers were deployed to determine the bioavailable fraction of contaminants. Spiked sediment tests were conducted to determine the thresholds of toxicity for selected constituents. Toxicity was found to be widespread but temporally and spatially variable. Whole sediment and porewater TIEs both indicated pyrethroid pesticides were the most likely contaminant group contributing to the toxicity. Concentrations of the chemicals listed for cleanup were found to often exceed target values but were not observed at concentrations likely to cause toxicity. Bioavailable fractions of the target chemicals quantified using passive samplers did not exceed toxicity thresholds. Spiked sediment tests established 10 day LC50s for 4,4′ DDE, 4, 4′ DDT, α‐chlordane, and cyfluthrin at >3050 μg/g, 266 μg/g, >2120 μg/g, and 0.33 μg/g organic carbon (OC), respectively. The cyfluthrin LC50 was within the range of concentrations observed in the estuary sediments, but LC50s for the other 3 chemicals were orders of magnitude greater than observed levels. The combination of TIE, sediment chemistry and the results from spiked sediment exposures indicate pyrethroid pesticides are more likely the cause of the observed toxicity than any of the contaminants targeted for cleanup. The results of this study indicate the importance of using a TIE approach to determine chemicals of concern and dose‐response information to set cleanup targets, rather than using sediment quality guidelines. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2014;10:260–268. © 2013 SETAC
Natural Vegetation as a Source or Sink for Atmospheric Ammonia: A Case Study

Measurements of gaseous ammonia above a montane-subalpine forest in the Colorado mountains show that the role of the forest as a source or sink depends on the atmospheric concentrations. The canopy appeared to be an ammonia source when exposed to air containing low concentrations, but a sink when exposed to air enriched by nearby agricultural sources. The forest-averaged compensation point was 0.8 part per billion by volume at 20�C. The net burden of ammonia and other nitrogen species of anthropogenic origin at this site was much less than at forest sites in the eastern United States and Europe and may provide a valuable resource for this nitrogen-limited ecosystem.
Winding position in power transformers to reduce copper losses: non-sinusoidal currents

The orientation used to wind a transformer is important in power transformers carrying high-frequency currents. Analysis of copper losses due to skin and proximity effects is performed in order to choose the best configuration of the turns inside the winding area when conductors are carrying non-sinusoidal current. Initially results are a direct application of Dowell's formula for the fundamental component and the harmonics of the current flowing through the winding. Later, FEA simulations confirm the relationship between current frequency, insulation thickness, winding window width and winding position.
M&A in Japan: An Analysis of Merger Waves and Hostile Takeovers

textabstractThe number of mergers between large companies has been low and hostile takeover cases have been rare in post-war Japan. Since the 1990s total M&A activity is increasing in number of cases and value, and coinciding with this trend, hostile tender offer attempts are also more frequent. Previous research argues that the low level of merger and hostile takeover activity is caused by three institutional elements within the Japanese society: the main bank system, the horizontal keiretsu, and the specific Japanese culture. Regarding mergers we examine whether the main bank system influences merger activity of companies. With two event studies we show that involvement of a main bank does not create shareholder wealth in mergers. The main bank appears to act in order to protect its own interests as creditor. With reference to hostile takeovers we show that it is important to make a distinction between greenmail and hostile tender offers. We build an institutional model and show that it is necessary to consider each institutional element from a broad and historical perspective. Finally, we indicate that the low number of hostile tender offers might be explained by the vertical keiretsu and trade association.
The Determinants of Bank Profitability: Dynamic Panel Evidence from South Asian Countries

Using the GMM estimator, this paper empirically studies the bank-specific, industry specific and macroeconomics specific determinants of bank profitability of 259 commercial banks in the South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan) in the period of 1997-2012. Empirical results show a low level of profit persistency and a late-hit of the global financial crisis in the banking sector in the region. We found no evidence for the traditional SCP hypothesis in relation to banking profit but financial solvency and managerial excellence have positive affiliation. Cost of fund, liquidity, funding gap, term structure of interest rate and economic growth rate found negative influence while rate of inflation positively affect bank profit. Also to report that South Asian banks are operating with 'inefficient' manpower.
MIG at NTCIR-11: Using Lexical, Syntactic, and Semantic Features for the RITE-VAL Tasks

In this paper, we describe our methods for the English and Chinese RITE-VAL tasks. We extracted relevant sentences from Wikipedia to verify the correctness of the query statements. Computational models that considered various linguistic features were built to select Wikipedia articles that contained these relevant sentences. We adopt Linearly Weighted Functions (LWFs) to balance the importance of every features and judge the answer of each query statement by the outputs of LWFs.
Corporate Governance, Finance, and the Real Sector

Abstract We present a theory of the linkages between corporate governance, corporate finance, and the real sector of an economy. Using a structural model of industry equilibrium with endogenous entry, we show that poor corporate governance leads to low levels of competition, and to firms with high insider ownership and leverage. In contrast, good corporate governance promotes the adoption of more efficient technologies and development of sectors more exposed to moral hazard. We use our model to study equity market liberalization, and we show that liberalizations facilitate entry and adoption of more productive technologies, especially in countries with good corporate governance.
Wide adjustable range LLC resonant converter's maximum switching frequency for realizing the ZVS operation

In this paper, the FHA and a simple TDA approaches have been used to derive the normalized maximum switching frequency of wide adjustable range LLC resonant converter for realizing the ZVS operation even under the worst-case conditions. By accounting the resonant current higher harmonics, more accurate expressions are derived. These analyses demonstrate that the normalized maximum switching frequency depends on the dead-time and the converter inductance ratio. It also depends on the ratio of the converter resonant capacitor and the effective capacitance appeared in parallel with the power MOSFETs drain-sources. The simulated and experimental results are in good agreement with the derived expressions based on these analyses. Soft switching is achieved for all power devices in inductive region, by choosing the dead-time and maximum switching frequency, properly. Developed prototype of the converter has been tested under different loads (0–3 A dc) and input voltages (320–370 V dc) to achieve an output voltage, adjustable in a wide-range (35–165 V dc), for using as an ion implanter Arc power supply.
Development of an Integrated Thermal Energy Storage and Free-Piston Stirling Generator for a Concentrating Solar Power System

Incorporating thermal energy storage (TES) into a concentrating solar power (CSP) system extends the power production hours, eliminating intermittency and reducing the Levelized Cost of the Energy (LCOE). The designed TES system was integrated with a 3 kW free-piston Stirling convertor. A NaF–NaCl eutectic salt was chosen as the phase change material (PCM) with a melting temperature of 680 °C. This eutectic salt has an energy density that is 5 to 10 times that of a typical molten salt PCM. In order to overcome the drawbacks of the material having a low thermal conductivity, heat pipes were embedded into the PCM to enhance the heat transfer rate within the system. Since the dish collector tracks the sun over the course of the day, two operational extremes were tested on the system; horizontal (zero solar elevation at sunrise/sunset) and vertical (solar noon). Although the system’s performance was below the expectations due to improperly sized wicks in the secondary heat pipes, the results indicated that the Stirling engine was able to produce 1.3 kWh of electricity by extracting latent heat energy from the PCM; thus, the concept of the design was validated.
Identifying a candidate population for ovarian conservation in young women with clinical stage IB–IIB cervical cancer

This study seeks to identify risk factors associated with ovarian metastasis and to characterize a population with minimum risk of ovarian metastasis in young women with stage IB–IIB cervical cancer. This was a nation‐wide multicenter retrospective study in Japan examining consecutive cases of surgically‐treated women with clinical stage IB–IIB cervical cancer who had oophorectomy at radical hysterectomy (n = 5,697). Multivariable analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for ovarian metastasis. Ovarian metastasis was seen in 70 (1.2%, 95% confidence interval 0.9–1.5) cases. In the entire cohort, adenocarcinoma, lympho‐vascular space invasion, uterine corpus tumor invasion, and pelvic/para‐aortic nodal metastases remained independent risk factors for ovarian metastasis (all, adjusted‐p < 0.05). In a sensitivity analysis of 3,165 women aged <50 years (ovarian metastasis, 1.0%), adenocarcinoma, parametrial tumor involvement, uterine corpus tumor involvement, and pelvic/para‐aortic nodal metastases remained independent risk factors for ovarian metastasis (all, adjusted‐P < 0.05). In the absence of these five risk factors (representing 46.1% of women aged <50 years), the incidence of ovarian metastasis was 0.14%. With the presence of adenocarcinoma alone (representing 18.9% of women aged <50 years), the incidence of ovarian metastasis was 0.17% and was not associated with increased risk of ovarian metastasis compared to the subgroup without any risk factors (p = 0.87). In conclusion, nearly two thirds of women aged <50 years with clinical stage IB–IIB cervical cancer had no risk factor for ovarian metastasis or had adenocarcinoma alone: these subgroups had ovarian metastasis rates of around 0.1% and may be a candidate population for ovarian conservation at surgical treatment.
Being in Good Standing: The Value of a Corporate, Workplace & Social Reputation to Potential Executive Employees

It has been readily accepted that prospective employees, including MBA students seeking jobs after graduation, put great stock in a potential employer’s reputation – particularly that relating to its social responsibility and workplace practices. However, other than potentially biased results from self-report surveys we have little information as to whether or not job seekers would actually trade-off salary and other utilitarian aspects of a job contract to work at firms with supposed greater reputational standing. In the present study we use a structured experimental approach to determine the extent to which the facets of reputation – corporate, social and workplace – drive job contract choice. We discover that while some aspects of corporate and workplace reputation matter marginally, MBA job seekers appear to put little value on social reputation. Even in the specific cases where we can discern individuals who do value social reputation, this is unrelated to their stated preferences revealed using standard survey methods. The implication is that firms seeking to entice potential executives should focus on utilitarian aspects of the employment contract that may impact their reputation rather than attempting to manipulate that reputation directly.
Social learning study of plantation forestry in the Upper Clarence catchment of north-eastern NSW

i Foreword The purpose of this report is to provide the Upper Clarence community with feedback from a participatory study exploring key issues regarding plantation forestry in the local catchment. These issues were raised at public meetings in March 2009. The report summarises conclusions drawn by a participatory advisory committee (PAC) comprising 12 volunteer members representing a variety of stakeholder groups and a diversity of views. This group of volunteers participated in a social learning process investigating issues over an eight-month A draft copy of this report was given to all PAC members to provide an opportunity to comment and suggest changes. This is the final amended report. Findings and recommendations presented in this report were based on knowledge shared by participants and the facilitating researchers from Southern Cross University, together with expert opinion sought to fill knowledge gaps and further enhance understanding of socio-ecological and economic systems. This study forms part of a broader project evaluating participatory modelling for use in resolving landscape natural resource controversies, and is a subproject of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Forestry (based in Hobart, Tasmania), researching the social dimensions of communities in forested landscapes. In this report we have endeavoured to represent the views of the PAC, which may not necessarily reflect the views of the authors, the CRC for Forestry, or Southern Cross University. Any further enquiries can be made to the principal author Andrea Leys (PhDEnvSc candidate, SCU), BRurSc(Hons)(UNE), GradDipEd(UNE) on mobile 0438 875 935 or Summary 1 Introduction to study on plantation forestry expansion 4
Primary culture of microvascular endothelial cells from human benign prostatic hyperplasia

Prostate growth seems to be influenced by paracrine factors like IL‐6 originating from the microvascular endothelium. Therefore, our efforts were focused on the primary culture and behavior of microvascular endothelial cells (HPEC) derived from tissue of human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Until now, the isolation and culture of HPEC from BPH have not been reported.
Certainty equivalence in nonlinear output regulation with unmeasured error

In this article, we consider a nonlinear output regulation problem in which the controlled output and the measured output are not the same. It is assumed that the controlled plant has a single control input, and that it can be transformed into Gauthier–Kupka's observability canonical form. Then, it is shown that a design based on certainty equivalence is effective for determining a controller that solves the given problem.
Principal component analysis of CSI for the robust wireless detection of passive targets

Recent standards for wireless networks introduced spatial and frequency diversity to improve the quality and the bandwidth of the wireless communications. The arising channel state information has been exploited for the wireless localization of device-free targets. In this work, a principal component analysis has been applied to the channel state information in order to extract a target-dependent feature suitable to enable the robust detection of passive targets in large indoor areas. The experimental validation performed with commercial WiFi access points pointed out a failure rate lower than 3 [%] in a real indoor test field.
Can recent developments in banking explain weak interest rate pass-through during the financial crisis?

The nancial crisis resulted in drastic consequences for the functioning of the monetary trans- mission mechanism. This thesis makes an attempt at uncovering why interest rate pass-through has been weak during the nancial crisis. First, by estimating an error-correction model, I nd that the pass-through from funding rates to retail rates has indeed deteriorated since the onset of the nancial crisis. This thesis then proceeds to show that banks with higher regulatory capital ratios tend to have higher pass-through estimates. In addition, there is weak evidence that when non-performing loans are numerous, pass-through is lower. Furthermore, no signicant eect of the funding gap on pass-through could be reported. Finally, erce competition among banks leads to higher pass-through, in line with previous literature. The results lead me to the policy rec- ommendation that banks should be recapitalized; Stronger regulatory capital ratios are expected to improve pass-through, thereby contributing to the restoration of the monetary transmission mechanism.
Market microstructure in emerging and developed markets : price discovery, information flows, and transaction costs

A comprehensive guide to the dynamic area of finance known as market microstructure Interest in market microstructure has grown dramatically in recent years due largely in part to the rapid transformation of the financial market environment by technology, regulation, and globalization. Looking at market transactions at the most granular level—and taking into account market structure, price discovery, information flows, transaction costs, and the trading process—market microstructure also forms the basis of high-frequency trading strategies that can help professional investors generate profits and/or execute optimal transactions.
Microplate hybridization for Borna disease virus RNA in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

We developed a simple and sensitive microplate hybridization procedure with which to identify Borna disease virus cDNA in amplified products from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The mean values for the positive PCR products were significant compared with those for any of the negative products, indicating that this method can be applied to rapidly diagnose a large number of clinical specimens.