Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VOX POPULI: THREE ESSAYS ON THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR VALUE CREATION IN SERVICES

Title of Document: VOX POPULI: THREE ESSAYS ON THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR VALUE CREATION IN SERVICES Jorge Mejia Ph.D. Candidate of Information Systems, 2016 Department of Operations & Information Systems Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland, College Park Directed By: Anandasivam Gopal Associate Professor of Information Systems Department of Operations & Information Systems Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland, College Park Prior research shows that electronic word of mouth (eWOM) wields considerable influence over consumer behavior. However, as the volume and variety of eWOM grows, firms are faced with challenges in analyzing and responding to this information. In this dissertation, I argue that to meet the new challenges and opportunities posed by the expansion of eWOM and to more accurately measure its impacts on firms and consumers, we need to revisit our methodologies for extracting insights from eWOM. This dissertation consists of three essays that further our understanding of the value of social media analytics, especially with respect to eWOM. In the first essay, I use machine learning techniques to extract semantic structure from online reviews. These semantic dimensions describe the experiences of consumers in the service industry more accurately than traditional numerical variables. To demonstrate the value of these dimensions, I show that they can be used to substantially improve the accuracy of econometric models of firm survival. In the second essay, I explore the effects on eWOM of online deals, such as those offered by Groupon, the value of which to both consumers and merchants is controversial. Through a combination of Bayesian econometric models and controlled lab experiments, I examine the conditions under which online deals affect online reviews and provide strategies to mitigate the potential negative eWOM effects resulting from online deals. In the third essay, I focus on how eWOM can be incorporated into efforts to reduce foodborne illness, a major public health concern. I demonstrate how machine learning techniques can be used to monitor hygiene in restaurants through crowd-sourced online reviews. I am able to identify instances of moral hazard within the hygiene inspection scheme used in New York City by leveraging a dictionary specifically crafted for this purpose. To the extent that online reviews provide some visibility into the hygiene practices of restaurants, I show how losses from information asymmetry may be partially mitigated in this context. Taken together, this dissertation contributes by revisiting and refining the use of eWOM in the service sector through a combination of machine learning and econometric methodologies. VOX POPULI: THREE ESSAYS ON THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR VALUE CREATION IN SERVICES
Optimization and Characterization of High-Harmonic Generation for Probing Solid Density Plasmas

The creation of high energy density plasma states produced during laser–solid interaction on a sub-picosecond timescale opens a way to create astrophysical plasmas in the lab to investigate their properties, such as the frequency-dependent refractive index. Available probes to measure absorption and phase-changes given by the complex refractive index of the plasma state are extreme-UV (EUV) and soft X-ray (XUV) ultra-short pulses from high harmonic generation (HHG). For demanding imaging applications such as single-shot measurements of solid density plasmas, the HHG probe has to be optimized in photon number and characterized in intensity and wavefront stability from shot-to-shot. In an experiment, a coherent EUV source based on HHG driven by a compact diode-pumped laser is optimized in photons per pulse for argon and xenon, and the shot-to-shot intensity stability and wavefront changes are characterized. The experimental results are compared to an analytical model estimating the HHG yield, showing good agreement. The obtained values are compared to available data for solid density plasmas to confirm the feasibility of HHG as a probe.
Calibration of Hybrid Vision / Inertial Tracking Systems *

* This work is supported by EU-IST-2001-34401 VAMPIRE. Abstract – Within a hybrid vision / inertial tracking system proper calibration of the sensors and their relative pose is essential. We present a new method for 3-axis inertial sensor calibration based on model fitting and a method to find the rotation between vision and inertial system based on rotation differences. We achieve a coordinate system rotation mismatch of < 1° with respect to mechanical setup and sensor performance.
Overproduction of a Model Sec- and Tat-Dependent Secretory Protein Elicits Different Cellular Responses in Streptomyces lividans

Streptomyces lividans is considered an efficient host for the secretory production of homologous and heterologous proteins. To identify possible bottlenecks in the protein production process, a comparative transcriptomic approach was adopted to study cellular responses during the overproduction of a Sec-dependent model protein (alpha-amylase) and a Tat-dependent model protein (agarase) in Streptomyces lividans. The overproduction of the model secretory proteins via the Sec or the Tat route in S. lividans does elicit a different major cell response in the bacterium. The stringent response is a bacterial response to nutrients’ depletion, which naturally occurs at late times of the bacterial cell growth. While the induction of the stringent response at the exponential phase of growth may limit overall productivity in the case of the Tat route, the induction of that response does not take place in the case of the Sec route, which comparatively is an advantage in secretory protein production processes. Hence, this study identifies a potential major drawback in the secretory protein production process depending on the secretory route, and provides clues to improving S. lividans as a protein production host.
Structured gotos are (Slightly) harmful

We take up the questions of if and how "structured goto" statements impact defect proneness, and of which what concept of size yields a superior metric for defect prediction. We count goto-like unstructured jumps, alongside method size and compressed method size, as software engineering metrics, and examine the evolution of 26 open-source code corpora in relation to those metrics. We employ five different measures of defectiveness and development effort. We measure the statistical quality of our metrics as predictors of our defect measurements. We show that the number of unstructured jumps is a predictor of defects, routine maintenance and two other metrics of software development effort. The correlation between unstructured jumps and development effort is positive, and it remains so even after accounting for the effect of code size. We also show that the number of unstructured jumps is superior to code size, both compressed and uncompressed, in its predictive power of accumulated defects.
FDP: fault detection probability function for analog circuits

In analog integrated circuits, process variations result in physical parameter variations. Simulated performance values must then be considered with their tolerance intervals. Consequently, contrarily to digital circuits where the outputs are either '0' or '1' such that we can decide without ambiguity whether a fault is detectable or not, for analog circuits fault detectability is still a value problem since the fault can either be completely detectable, partially detectable or completely undetectable which makes it very difficult to take a decision. In order to solve this decision problem, we have introduced the fault detection probability (FDP) function which allows to formalize the problem of analog fault detection subjected to parameter variations.
A load balancing scheme for multi-agent systems based on agent state and load condition

In ubiquitous environment intelligent and transparent services are provided to the users anytime and anywhere. Ubiquitous systems can be effectively implemented using the agent technology, while the agent platform supports efficient and stable interaction among the agents. In this paper we propose a load-balancing scheme which considers agent state for fair and efficient resource allocation to the agents. It is achieved by the migration of agents decided according to the condition of message load and resource allocation. Experiment with an actual multi-agent system shows that the mean round trip time is significantly reduced compared to the existing scheme especially when the agents frequently change the state and transmit the messages.
High-order accurate implicit methods for the pricing of barrier options

This paper deals with a high-order accurate implicit finite-difference approach to the pricing of barrier options. In this way various types of barrier options are priced, including barrier options paying rebates, and options on dividend-paying-stocks. Moreover, the barriers may be monitored either continuously or discretely. In addition to the high-order accuracy of the scheme, and the stretching effect of the coordinate transformation, the main feature of this approach lies on a probability-based optimal determination of boundary conditions. This leads to much faster and accurate results when compared with similar pricing approaches. The strength of the present scheme is particularly demonstrated in the valuation of discretely monitored barrier options where it yields values closest to those obtained from the only semi-analytical valuation method available.
Forest stand structure and pattern of old-growth Western Hemlock/Douglas-Fir and mixed-conifer forests

With fire suppression, many western forests are expected to have fewer gaps and higher stem density of shade-tolerant species as light competition becomes a more significant influence on stand pattern and composition. We compared species composition, structure, spatial pattern, and environmental factors such as light and soil moisture between two old-growth forests: Pacific Northwest western hemlock/Douglas-fir at the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility exhibiting gap-phase replacement and southern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer at the Teakettle Experimental Forest after 135 years without a fire. We hypothesized that fire suppression at Teakettle would create a current tree composition and distribution more like Wind River where light is an important influence on stand dynamics. Wind River has nearly continuous canopy cover and a high foliage volume that severely reduces understory light and stratifies the canopy composition by shade tolerance. Large trees are regularly spaced from 0 to 15 m and shade-tolerant and intolerant species are "repelled. " In contrast, Teakettle's canopy cover is discontinuous, foliage volume is one-fifth that of Wind River, and understory light is 15 times higher. Trees at Teakettle are significantly clustered in groups containing a mix of shade-tolerant and -intolerant species, separated by large gaps. Although Teakettle's gaps have higher moisture and a thinner litter layer than tree groups, regeneration in gaps is scarce. Fire suppression has increased stem density at Teakettle but it has not filled in gaps, stratified the canopy by shade tolerance, or produced a composition consistent with patterns at Wind River. Teakettle's distinctly clustered stem distribution may result from a minimum canopy cover threshold needed for tree establish- ment. If high temperatures produced by direct sunlight inhibit stem patterns, traditional stand management that reduces canopy cover to release regeneration should be applied with caution in the southern Sierra Nevada. FOR . S CI. 50(3):299 -311.
Combining Static and Dynamic Analysis for Vulnerability Detection

In this paper, we present a hybrid approach for buffer overflow detection in C code. The approach makes use of static and dynamic analysis of the application under investigation. The static part consists in calculating taint dependency sequences (TDS) between user controlled inputs and vulnerable statements. This process is akin to program slice of interest to calculate tainted data- and control-flow path which exhibits the dependence between tainted program inputs and vulnerable statements in the code. The dynamic part consists of executing the program along TDSs to trigger the vulnerability by generating suitable inputs. We use genetic algorithm to generate inputs. We propose a fitness function that approximates the program behavior (control flow) based on the frequencies of the statements along TDSs. This runtime aspect makes the approach faster and accurate. We provide experimental results on the Verisec benchmark to validate our approach.
Working Memory, Strategy Knowledge, and Strategy Instruction in Children With Reading Disabilities

Two experiments investigated the effects of strategy knowledge and strategy training on the working memory (WM) performance in children (ages 10—11) with and without reading disabilities (RD). Experiment 1 examined the relationship between strategy knowledge (stability of strategy choices) and WM performance as a function of initial, gain (cued), and maintenance conditions. WM performance was significantly improved for both groups under cued conditions; however, the performances of children with RD were inferior to those of children without RD across all memory conditions. Measures of WM capacity rather than strategy stability or processing efficiency best predicted reading comprehension performance. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of strategy training on WM performance by randomly assigning children to strategy instruction or control conditions. Significant improvements in WM performance occurred as a function of training conditions, but the residual WM differences between the reading groups remained. Although the results showed that stable strategy choices, cued performance, and strategy instruction significantly bolstered WM performance in children with RD, their overall WM performance, however, was constrained by capacity limitations.
Simulating Power Consumption of Location Tracking Algorithms to Improve Energy-Efficiency of Smartphones

Background location tracking is the key enabler for future generations of Location-based Services such as Geofencing, where the location of a user needs to be monitored continuously. Previous research has shown, that especially in the area of energy-efficient background tracking algorithms, huge potential still lays untapped. New algorithms can improve the energy- efficiency while retaining the required accuracy. The developed algorithms have to be tested and evaluated under different conditions before they can be used in the field, which is very resource and time consuming. Simulation can help to drastically reduce those efforts by applying a theoretical energy-consumption model to measurements taken in different environments. In this paper we show how WalkTheDroid, a location simulator based on the Android emulator, uses recorded location tracks and device profiles to carry out different virtual test scenarios simultaneously. By inducing the location information on application layer, the simulator can analyze every android application separately. Although only android programs can be used for simulation, the general concepts for energy-efficient background tracking remain valid for all smartphone platforms since they use the same positioning technologies as Android such as GPS, WiFi and Cell-ID positioning. Because the simulator is based on the emulator, it behaves like a real Android device, and hence can be used for location-based testing without changing the code of the test application. Therefore WalkTheDroid provides a versatile and flexible simulator not only for the evaluation of energy- efficiency in different background tracking algorithms but also provides a tool for virtually walking around to test location-based applications.
Determining the Duration of Effects on Behavior and Academic Outcomes From Single and Multiple Bouts of Moderate Physical Activity for Students with ADHD

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on the classroom behavior and academic engagement of early elementary children with ADHD. A key extension of the current study was examination of durability of effects of MVPA and implementation of a “Booster” session to increase effects over time. Results of this study indicate MVPA provided at the beginning of the school day can reduce classroom behaviors associated with ADHD. MVPA was shown to have a modest impact on academic engagement for some participants. These improvements, in both behavior and academic engagement, dissipated over time and were not present 90 minutes after participating in the MVPA intervention. In an effort to address the dissipation of effects of MVPA over time, a “booster” MVPA session was evaluated. Results showed that a 3-5 minute booster session of MVPA performed 90 minutes after the initial 15-minute bout of exercise both maintained benefits for all participants and improved behavioral benefits for some participants.
Abnormal Traffic Events Detection Based on Short-time Constant Velocity Model and Spatio-Temporal Trajectory Analysis

A novel algorithm is presented in this paper to detect anomalous vehicle behaviors such as abnormal stop and vehicle crashing. After objects detection, spatio-temporal trajectory of multiple objects can be obtained to construct the regional short-time constitute velocity model. Then gray model theory is adopted to estimate the motion model parameters. With the definition of abnormal traffic events patterns, individual vehicle movement can be judged as an abnormal or normal vehicle behavior. Experimental results show the proposed method can detect the abnormal traffic events effectively.
RESCOT: Reliable Scheduling of Social Computing Tasks

Scalable processing of Human Computing tasks by large pools of community members is one of the key opportunities of the modern Social Web. However, the self-organizing nature of Web communities does not allow for guarantees of user commitment and output quality. This is a serious drawback, especially for applications with continuously arriving input data (e.g. reviews and assessments in social streams). On the other hand, greedy replication of all tasks results in a high demand for human resources and - in case of monetary models - in rapidly growing costs. This paper aims to exploit the tradeoff between redundancy of task assignments and guarantees of successful task completion in the context of human computing. We introduce the probabilistic predictive model that allows for flexible tuning of induced redundancy of assignments, with respect to the estimated failure rates of invoked users and the desired global quality of service.
Crystal shapes and phase equilibria: A common mathematical basis

Geometrical constructions, such as the tangent construction on the molar free energy for determining whether a particular composition of a solution is stable, are related to similar tangent constructions on the orientation-dependent interfacial energy for determining stable interface orientations and on the orientation dependence of the crystal growth rate which tests whether a particular orientation appears on a growing crystal. Subtle differences in the geometric constructions for the three fields arise from the choice of a metric (unit of measure). Using results from studies of extensive and convex functions, we demonstrate that there is a common mathematical structure for these three disparate topics and use this to find new uses for well-known graphical methods for all three topics. Thus, the use of chemical potentials for solution thermodynamics is very similar to known vector formulations for surface thermodynamics and the method of characteristics which tracks the interfaces of growing crystals; the Gibbs-Duhem equation is analogous to the Cahn-Hoffman equation. The Wulff construction for equilibrium crystal shapes can be modified to construct a “phase shape” from solution free energies that is a potentially useful method of numerical calculations of phase diagrams from known thermodynamical data.
Modified Condition Decision Coverage: A Hardware Verification Perspective

Verification is a critical phase of the development cycle. It confirms the compliance of a design implementation with its functional specification. Coverage measures the progress of the verification plan. Structural coverage determines the code exercised by the functional tests. Modified Condition Decision Coverage (MC/DC) is a structural coverage type. This paper compiles a comprehensive overview of established MC/DC conventions, and develops novel MC/DC insights through conduction of experimental study for MC/DC in hardware verification. It provides a generic MC/DC overview while explaining MC/DC types, and criteria of MC/DC validation in the software domain. It introduces the motivation for adoption of MC/DC as a potential structural coverage type for hardware verification. The paper presents the experimental evaluation conducted over a diverse base of logic combinations. The introduced experimental results inferred distinct MC/DC insights. These insights present novel MC/DC aspects that optimize the minimal MC/DC coverage requirements, defines MC/DC compositionality concepts, and provide RTL design guidelines for MC/DC fulfillment.
INTEGRATED SURVEYS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE DETERIORATION IN THE CRYPT OF THE ABBEY OF MONTECORONA – ITALY

A study of the problem of deterioration in the crypt of the Abbey of Montecorona (Perugia, Northen UmbriaItaly) is proposed, with the aim to achieve a knowledge of the indoor and subsoil conditions. First of all we studied the microbial biodiversity of the crypt, analyzing the presence of microorganisms by microscopic and cultivation methods. Then we investigated the influence of the environment upon colonisation and growth of those micro-organisms, monitoring the microclimate, especially the thermo-hygrometric conditions. Various Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) System surveys were carried out in order to localise archaeological remains and wet buried structures involved in the deterioration process and, by means a velocity analysis, we evaluated the underground water content. Microclimatic, biological and geophysical results were compared, in order to eliminate the ambiguity inherent each method. The results permits us to identify properly the causes of the deterioration in the crypt. INTRODUCTION The crypt of the Abbey of Montecorona (Perugia, Northen Umbria-Italy) is located at Latitude 43°18'23"40 N and Longitude 12°20'15"00 E, on 222-926 m above the sea level in the High Tiber Basin. The abbey is a nice historical monument that contains 13th-century frescos of Umbrian school and an important wooden choir, the crypt is a beautiful 11th-century building with early Romanesque capitals and naïve 18c painted ceilings. The principal construction element of the whole complex is the compact limestone, while the pavement presents bricks in “cotto”; there are also elements of travertine and “pietra serena”, probably mined from local quarries. The crypt has a rectangular plant of 16.5x18. 9m, with an high of about 3m (Fig.1). It communicates with the outside trough the door P1, window W4 on the south side is opened every day, windows W1, W2 and W3 on the north side are rarely opened and the solar rays never penetrate. Despite its small size, it is of great cultural value and attracts many visitors and pilgrims. 1 9th International Conference on NDT of Art, Jerusalem Israel, 25-30 May 2008 For more papers of this publication click: www.ndt. net/search/docs.php3? MainSource=65