Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radiation-driven winds of hot luminous stars - XIII. A description of NLTE line blocking and blanketing towards realistic models for expanding atmospheres

Spectral analysis of hot luminous stars requires adequate model atmospheres which take into account the effects of NLTE and radiation driven winds properly. Here we present significant improvements of our approach in constructing detailed atmospheric models and synthetic spectra for hot luminous stars. Moreover, as we regard our solution method in its present stage already as a standard procedure, we make our program package WM- basic available to the community (download is possible from the URL given below). The most important model improvements towards a realistic description of stationary wind models concern: (i) A sophisticated and consistent description of line blocking and blanketing. Our solution concept to this problem renders the line blocking influence on the ionizing fluxes emerging from the atmospheres of hot stars - mainly the spectral ranges of the EUV and the UV are affected - in identical quality as the synthetic high resolution spectra representing the observable region. In addition, the line blanketing effect is properly accounted for in the energy balance. (ii) The atomic data archive which has been improved and enhanced considerably, providing the basis for a detailed multilevel NLTE treatment of the metal ions (from C to Zn) and an adequate representation of line blocking and the radiative line acceleration. (iii) A revised inclusion of EUV and X-ray radiation produced by cooling zones which originate from the simu- lation of shock heated matter. This new tool not only provides an easy-to-use method for O-star diagnostics, whereby physical constraints on the properties of stellar winds, stellar parameters, and abundances can be obtained via a comparison of observed and synthetic spectra, but also allows the astrophysically important information about the ionizing fluxes of hot stars to be determined automatically. Results illustrating this are discussed by means of a basic model grid calculated for O-stars with solar metallicity. To further demonstrate the astrophysical potential of our new method, we first provide a detailed spectral diagnostic determination of the stellar parameters, the wind parameters, and the abundances by an exemplary application to one of our grid-stars, the O9.5Ia O-supergiant α Cam. Our abundance determinations of the light elements indicate that these deviate considerably from the solar values.
On the use of filter-bank energies as features for robust speech recognition

Though mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) have been very successful in speech recognition, they have the following two problems: (1) they do not have any physical interpretation, and (2) liftering of cepstral coefficients, found to be highly useful in the earlier dynamic warping-based speech recognition systems, has no effect in the recognition process when used with continuous observation Gaussian density hidden Markov models. We propose to use the filter-bank energies (FBEs) as features. The FBEs are physically meaningful quantities and amenable for applying human auditory processing such as masking. We describe procedures to decorrelate and lifter the FBEs and show that the FBEs perform at least as good as (and sometimes even better than) the MFCCs for robust speech recognition.
Synthesis and Photophysical Properties of Polycarbo-Substituted Quinazolines Derived from the 2-Aryl-4-chloro-6-iodoquinazolines

The reactivity of the 2-aryl-4-chloro-6-iodoquinazolines towards palladium catalyzed sequential (Sonogashira/Suzuki-Miyaura) and one-pot two-step cross-coupling (bis-Sonogashira, and successive Sonogashira/Stille) reactions to afford novel unsymmetrical polycarbo-substituted quinazolines has been evaluated. In contrast to the chloro-bromo substituted quinazolines in which selectivity has been previously found to generally favor substitution at the more activated C(4)-Cl bond over the weaker Csp2-Br bond, substitution in the case of the chloro-iodo derivatives favors cross-coupling through the intrinsically more reactive Csp2-I bond. The electronic absorption and emission properties of the prepared 2,3-diaryl-6-(phenylethynyl)quinazolines were studied in solvents of different polarity (dichloromethane, toluene, DMF, methanol) and CH2Cl2-TFA mixture using UV-Vis and emission spectroscopic techniques complemented with density functional theory method to establish the effect of substituents on intramolecular charge transfer properties.
On the SIC Detection with Adaptive MMSE Equalization for MIMO-OFDM Transmissions

The combination of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) signal processing with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) using Cyclic Prefix (CP) is regarded as a highly promising solution to achieving the data rates of next-generation wireless communication systems operating in frequency selective fading environments. In this paper, we propose a novel detection scheme for MIMO based transmission that combines the adaptive MMSE detection scheme with a priori information and the serial interference cancelation (SIC) in the spatial domain. Principle is to include adaptive MMSE detection in each SIC iteration. With the proposed method, both complexity and performance can be balanced with the iterative scheme. Simulation results show interesting gain in term of performance for QPSK modulation. KeywordsOFDM, MIMO, Lagrangian method, global BER optimization.
Towards Tag-based Cooperation for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Cooperation between nodes in packet forwarding is crucial to enable multi-hop communication in mobile ad hoc networks. However, in self-organizing mobile ad hoc networks where each node acts as its own authority, nodes are self-interested and tempted to drop each other's packets in order to conserve their limited resources. This selfish behavior can make it impossible to achieve multi-hop communication and high delivery success. A large number of studies have proposed different cooperation enforcement mechanisms for mobile ad hoc networks, however, most of them require each node to maintain memory of past interactions. This requirement can be a significant problem in open and large mobile ad hoc networks. In response, we propose a tag-based cooperation enforcement mechanism which enables cooperation to be enforced in mobile ad hoc networks without the need to maintain such memory.
Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction in Nigerian International Oil Companies

Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction in Nigerian International Oil Companies by Kingsley Chukwuemeka Onyebuenyi MS, University of London, 2007 BS, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, 1995 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration
Organizational Choice and Environmental Change c

We explain the choice between franchising and vertical integration by estimating a structural model of relative performance in a sample of 250 Spanish car distributors. This makes it possible to control for self-selection and to test more hypotheses than reduced-form models, including environmental changes. It also allows estimation of counterfactuals. In our case, organizational choice seemingly aims to contain moral hazard for both distributors and manufacturers. It is subject, however, to start-up constraints and switching costs. While the market for franchises remained underdeveloped, information asymmetries led to the opening of integrated outlets. Their subsequent segregation probably involved prohibitive transaction costs. Consequently, they performed worse than would have been expected had they been independent, as confirmed by the systematic improvement observed when they are segregated. The timing of such segregations suggests that switching costs were prohibitive until firms developed a substantial cushion of temporary contracts, previously forbidden by regulation.
Outsourcing Internet Security : The Effect of Transaction Costs on Managed Service Providers

Transaction costs are a significant factor in outsourcing decisions. In the case of Internet security, outsourcing has higher transaction costs for two major reasons: (1) the outsourcing process is not yet standardized and (2) there is uncertainty about the frequency and impact of cyber attacks creating large variations in coordination costs. In this paper we study the effects of transaction costs on provider pricing strategies aiming toward guidelines that are beneficial for both buyers and providers. We structure a game-theoretic model that incorporates the two special features of transaction costs for security outsourcing. When transaction costs are high, Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) have to charge a lower overall price for their services to balance these costs. The same result holds when the uncertainty associated with transaction cost increases. Our conclusion is that while performance-based contracts have to be employed to create an efficient risk-sharing mechanism, market competition provides incentives for MSSPs to share transaction costs with buyers.
Stimulating diffusion of green products Co-evolution between firms and consumers

This paper presents a model-based analysis of the introduction of green products, which are products with low environmental impacts. Both consumers and firms are simulated as populations of agents who differ in their behavioural characteristics. Model experiments illustrate the influence of behavioural characteristics on the success of switching to green consumption. Themodel reproduces empirical observed stylised facts and shows the importance of social processing and status seeking in diffusion processes. The flexibility of firms to adapt to new technology is found to have an important influence on the type of consumers who change their consumption to green products in the early phase of the diffusion process.
Inhibitory Control in Bilinguals and Musicians: Event Related Potential (ERP) Evidence for Experience-Specific Effects

Bilinguals and musicians exhibit behavioral advantages on tasks with high demands on executive functioning, particularly inhibitory control, but the brain mechanisms supporting these differences are unclear. Of key interest is whether these forms of experience influence cognition through similar or distinct information processing mechanisms. Here, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in three groups – bilinguals, musicians, and controls – who completed a visual go-nogo task that involved the withholding of key presses to rare targets. Participants in each group achieved similar accuracy rates and responses times but the analysis of cortical responses revealed significant differences in ERP waveforms. Success in withholding a prepotent response was associated with enhanced stimulus-locked N2 and P3 wave amplitude relative to go trials. For nogo trials, there were altered timing-specific ERP differences and graded amplitude differences observed in the neural responses across groups. Specifically, musicians showed an enhanced early P2 response accompanied by reduced N2 amplitude whereas bilinguals showed increased N2 amplitude coupled with an increased late positivity wave relative to controls. These findings demonstrate that bilingualism and music training have differential effects on the brain networks supporting executive control over behavior.
An evaluation of competency development in accounting trainees

ABSTRACT Studies consistently report that accounting graduates and graduates more generally do not have the generic skills expected by employers. This study considers the perspective of UK graduates and non-graduates training for the Certified Institute of Management Accounting professional accountancy qualification. The study uses questionnaire and interview data to compare trainee perceptions of their level of competency in 16 generic skills and draws on the constructivist theory of learning to examine whether the training opportunities available to them have had an impact on their perception of their own competency. The findings of the study suggest that for the majority of skills, competency deficiencies cannot be attributed solely to deficiencies in training opportunities and in particular to those offered within a degree. The findings suggest that whilst there may be scope to enhance training opportunities for generic skills development, employers should look beyond the perceived deficiencies in higher education if they wish to improve competency.
Comparative Study on Iterative-Optimization-Based Image Registration Algorithms

A detail comparative study is carried out on three representative iterative-optimization-based image registration methods, namely digital Image Correlation Using Newton-Raphson Iteration, Iterative Gray-Gradient Algorithm and Least Square Image Matching , which are originated and developed in the fields of optical experimental mechanics and stereo vision respectively. The mathematical consistency of the three algorithms is first demonstrated. Analysis and comparison of some further conclusions drawn from the three methods are then conducted. As the analysis and comparison show, these further conclusions can explain each other and can be mutually employed among the three methods. However, in view of algorithm implementation and extension, Image Correlation Using Newton-Raphson Iteration is more adaptable and flexible.
StoryFlow: Tracking the Evolution of Stories

Storyline visualizations, which are useful in many applications, aim to illustrate the dynamic relationships between entities in a story. However, the growing complexity and scalability of stories pose great challenges for existing approaches. In this paper, we propose an efficient optimization approach to generating an aesthetically appealing storyline visualization, which effectively handles the hierarchical relationships between entities over time. The approach formulates the storyline layout as a novel hybrid optimization approach that combines discrete and continuous optimization. The discrete method generates an initial layout through the ordering and alignment of entities, and the continuous method optimizes the initial layout to produce the optimal one. The efficient approach makes real-time interactions (e.g., bundling and straightening) possible, thus enabling users to better understand and track how the story evolves. Experiments and case studies are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of the optimization approach.
Document verification using n-grams and histograms of words

In the paper, there are analyzed and compared results of usable methods for a document verification based on n-grams and on local histograms build for its words for English and Arabic language. English and Arabic texts were analyzed from many statistical characteristics point of view. There were discovered some statistical differences between both languages and applied n-gram analysis and local histograms for discovering of text parts dissimilarities. The results for each text can show dissimilarities and call for an attention to the text (or not) if the text parts were written by the same author or not. The attention depends on selected parameters prepared in experiments.
Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 1 Methylates Smurf2

Smurf2, a member of the HECT domain E3 ligase family, is well known for its role as a negative regulator of TGF-β signaling by targeting Smads and TGF-β receptor. However, the regulatory mechanism of Smurf2 has not been elucidated. Arginine methylation is a type of post-translational modification that produces monomethylated or dimethylated arginine residues. In this report, we demonstrated methylation of Smurf2 by PRMT1. In vitro methylation assay showed that Smurf2, not Smurf1, was methylated by PRMT1. Among the type I PRMT family, only PRMT1 showed activity for Smurf2. Transiently expressed Smurf2 was methylated by PRMT1, indicating Smurf2 is a novel substrate of PRMT1. Using deletion constructs, methylation sites were shown to be located within amino acid region 224–298 of Smurf2. In vitro methylation assay following point mutation of putative methylation sites confirmed the presence of Arg232, Arg234, Arg237, and Arg239. Knockdown of PRMT1 resulted in increased Smurf2 expression as well as inhibition of TGF-β-mediated reporter activity. Although it is unclear whether or not increased Smurf2 expression can be directly attributed to lack of methylation of arginine residues, our results suggest that methylation by PRMT1 may regulate Smurf2 stability and control TGF-β signaling.
Using Fuzzy DEA for Green Suppliers Selection Considering Carbon Footprints

Due to increasing global environmental awareness, supply chains that consider environmental protection tend to be favored by green-minded customers. In addition to adapting to the technology required for green supply chains and developing contingency plans, organizations must consider reducing their carbon footprint to meet corporate objectives and reducing their carbon footprint. To address this issue, this paper aims at establishing a decision-making process for buyers with sustainability in mind. A fuzzy data envelopment analysis (FDEA) model was developed to select the most suitable supplier. Production costs, lead time, and supply chain carbon footprints were used as the input criteria, and quality and demand quantity were used as the output criteria. Buyer-seller supply chains and non-cooperative and cooperative models were employed separately to calculate associative efficiency. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to understand the effects carbon footprints have on efficiency. This study found that suppliers with low carbon footprints exhibited poor efficiency, which may be attributed to the additional effort required to select raw materials. Additionally, suppliers with different supply chain operation models exhibited differing efficiencies. Therefore, suppliers must consider the balance between carbon footprint reduction and costs, and buyers must consider environmental criteria when selecting green suppliers.
International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research Evaluating Factors Affecting Broadband Adoption in Kenya

Recent research points to the appalling broadband penetration rates in developing countries, more so in Africa where individual broadband penetration rates are below two per cent. An understanding of the factors affecting broadband adoption in these countries is key to any strategy to improve broadband penetration figures. The deployment and adoption of broadband in Kenya is still in embryonic stage. For example, in it's fourth quarter 2011-12 sector statistics report, the ICT regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya estimates that out of a total of about 7.7 million internet subscriptions, only about 10 per cent were broadband, even with the definition of broadband in Kenya still pegged at a transmission speed of at least 256 Kbps in either direction. This research provides an empirical support for understanding the drivers of consumer adoption of broadband from a developing nation's perspective. The study 3 examines the various attitudinal, normative and control factors affecting the adoption of broadband internet in Kenya. The data on these variables was collected using a self-administered questionnaire approach. Regression analysis was conducted to test the role of numerous variables on consumers' behavioral intentions to adopt broadband. The findings of this study suggest that self efficacy, relative advantage, facilitating conditions and perceived knowledge about broadband are very significant in explaining consumers' behavioural intentions to adopt broadband in Kenya. Hedonic outcomes, perceived declining costs of broadband services, and perceived ease of use had moderate impact on the variation of broadband intentions while utilitarian outcomes, referents influence, and social outcomes predictors were found to be less significant. The paper proceeds to outline the research methodology, findings and recommendations to stakeholders in the broadband ecosystem. 3 This study is a product of ongoing Ph. D research work entitled " A framework for broadband metrics for developing countries " , funded by the
ClickRank: Learning Session-Context Models to Enrich Web Search Ranking

User browsing information, particularly non-search-related activity, reveals important contextual information on the preferences and intents of Web users. In this article, we demonstrate the importance of mining general Web user behavior data to improve ranking and other Web-search experience, with an emphasis on analyzing individual user sessions for creating aggregate models. In this context, we introduce ClickRank, an efficient, scalable algorithm for estimating Webpage and Website importance from general Web user-behavior data. We lay out the theoretical foundation of ClickRank based on an intentional surfer model and discuss its properties. We quantitatively evaluate its effectiveness regarding the problem of Web-search ranking, showing that it contributes significantly to retrieval performance as a novel Web-search feature. We demonstrate that the results produced by ClickRank for Web-search ranking are highly competitive with those produced by other approaches, yet achieved at better scalability and substantially lower computational costs. Finally, we discuss novel applications of ClickRank in providing enriched user Web-search experience, highlighting the usefulness of our approach for nonranking tasks.
A high-resolution all-digital phase-locked loop with its application to built-in speed grading for memory

In this paper we present a high-resolution and wide-range all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL), which is suitable to function as a clock generator. The digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) is able to operate from 70 to 725 MHz and achieves 5.2ps resolution. The phase-frequency detector (PFD) is designed using a latch-based sense amplifier, leading to a nearly perfect PFD that is able to resolve a phase difference as minute as only 1ps. In addition, we use this ADPLL as a vehicle to perform built-in speed grading (BISG) for memory. Combining a binary search process with multiple runs of built-in self-test (BIST), the maximum operating speed can thus be tracked down on the chip with a high precision.
Efficiency Evaluation of Processed Photogrammetric Data Captured by GPS Digital Camera

Recent developments in the acquisition and processing of close range images is an aim of primary importance in photogrammetry and computer vision, for digital documentation and reconstruction of objects featuring different characteristics. This demand is increasing in various fields, such as Cultural Heritage, Computer Graphics, Robotic and many other. For this reason, the digital image-based technique has been extensively used to produce high quality 3D models of heritage sites and historical buildings for documentation and preservation purposes. The features of any 3D model are highly dependant on the use of that model and can be very variable in term of accuracy and time for their creation. In the current paper, a certain digital measuring scheme based on a GPS-enabled digital camera (RICOH Capilo 500SE) is thoroughly tested and investigated for its capability in 3D modeling, as a complementary research in the same field. A practical field experiment showed a positional accuracy reported by this system was about 0.42 m in the 3D coordinates of some selected object points on a photographed facade captured by this camera. This accuracy is optimistic since the taken images were processed with only one control point, as a saving tool in time and cost of data acquisition. Moreover, this digital system can be used as a Mobile Mapping System MMS in some applications under certain circumstances and precautions. As an overall evaluation, this combined digital system should be subjected to more researches for the time being and further modifications and enhancements in the future.