Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
University of Huddersfield Repository High-resolution mtDNA evidence for the late-glacial resettlement of Europe from an Iberian refugium

The advent of complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data has ushered in a new phase of human evolutionary studies. Even quite limited volumes of complete mtDNA sequence data can now be used to identify the critical polymorphisms that define sub-clades within an mtDNA haplogroup, providing a springboard for large-scale high-resolution screening of human mtDNAs. This strategy has in the past been applied to mtDNA haplogroup V, which represents <5% of European mtDNAs. Here we adopted a similar approach to haplogroup H, by far the most common European haplogroup, which at lower resolution displayed a rather uninformative frequency
Democracy in Permanently Divided Systems

In studying the history of the International Typographical Union (ITU), Seymour Martin Lipset discovered a structural change in the ITU. The union, which at that time (1949) was composed only of compositors and mailers, had not always been so. Around the end of the 19th century, the union was composed of a number of printing trades, including printing pressmen, bookbinders, photoengravers, stereotypers, electrotypers, type founders and mailers, along with the compositors, who were in the majority. One by one, these minority crafts seceded from the ITU. Only the mailers, who were much lower paid, and whose union if alone would have been quite weak, remained within the ITU.
Characteristics of Pupil Diameter Variation during Paying Attention to a Specific Image

The severely disabled people have difficulties in communication with other people because they can hardly move their body. To understand the intention of disabled people, communication devices using eye movement have been developed. In these systems, the user can click by keeping the stationary gaze during the predetermined time. However, the gaze stationarily induced by discursive looking may cause the unintended clicking. To solve this problem, we focused on the pupil diameter variation caused by attention. The pupil diameter variation has possibility of judging whether the user pays attention or not. In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of the pupil diameter variation during paying attention by using the visual stimuli. In the experiment, four images were randomly presented to subjects. The subjects counted the frequency of a specific image which subjects previously selected among four images. As a result, the pupil diameter during the presentation of the specific image is significantly larger than that of other 3 images from 1 to 2 s after visual stimulus presentation.
Word-Sense Disambiguation using maximum entropy model

Natural Languages are typically replete with homographs, words which have more than one meaning. Consequently, machine understanding of natural language sentences sometimes suffers from certain ambiguities in getting the correct sense of a word in a given sentence. In this work we present a trainable model for Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) for resolving this ambiguity. The proposed model applies concepts of information theory to find the appropriate sense of a word when the context is known. Given a training text tagged with the correct senses of a particular word, our model learns to classify each occurrence of the target word with its correct sense in the unseen text.
Distributing a visible surface algorithm over multiple processors

Described is a procedure for executing a visible surface algorithm in a new multi-microprocessor system which utilizes distributed image and depth (“Z”) buffers. It is shown that despite image distribution over a large number of processing and memory units, object coherence can still be maintained and used to reduce the number of calculations needed to generate a continuous-tone visible surface image.
Statistical Texture Modeling for Medical Volume Using Linear Tensor Coding

We introduced a compact representation method named Linear Tensor Coding (LTC) for medical volume. With LTC, medical volumes can be represented by a linear combination of bases which are mutually independent. Furthermore, it is possible to choose the distinctive basis for classification. Before classification, correlations between category labels and the coefficients of LTC basis are used to choose the basis. Then we use the selected basis for classification. The classification accuracy can be significantly improved by the use of selected distinctive basis.
Spatially irregular space-waveform coded CPFSK with full rank optimized waveforms

A nonlinear modulation, the constant envelope CPM class being of particular interest, has multi-dimensional signal waveforms. We introduce a spatial code for multi-antenna CPFSK system using a different waveform (constellation) space on each antenna. The 2-dimensional space-waveform codeword spans an antenna (spatial) and constellation (waveform) domains. We optimize the waveforms for rank and determinant criterion. The resulting space-waveform code exhibits a full rank without any need of temporal domain encoding. Numerical results are presented for a selected set of CPFSK class of signals and 2-antenna transmitter. In this particular case, the procedure leads to an elegant implementation by Spatially Mirrored Tilted Phase CPFSK. The presented scheme is well suited for the concatenation with outer scalar temporal domain code.
Can a Robot Wake a Sleeping Person Up by Giving Him or Her a Nudge?

In this study, a robot is modeled to have the behavior of a hearing dog that assists hearing-impaired people. Hearing dogs use physical contact to communicate with hearing-impaired people. The proposed robot nudges an object in contact with a person (in this case, a bed) to deliver urgent notifications. This paper describes the concept of a robot with a nudging capability and discusses an experiment to determine whether such a robot can wake sleeping people wearing earplugs. We discuss the functions of the hearing-dog robot as a wake-up alarm.
Time-of-Flight Depth Camera Motion Blur Detection and Deblurring

Recently, many consumer time-of-flight depth cameras have been introduced that provide direct 3-D geometry measurement of real world objects in real-time. However, these cameras suffer from motion blur artifact when there is any movement of camera or target object in the scene causing serious geometry measurement distortions. Unlike other noises, depth camera motion blur is difficult to eliminate using any existing image processing method due to the unique principle of time-of-flight depth calculation. In this letter, we propose a novel depth motion blur detection and deblurring method that can be applied for any ToF depth sensor. Our method utilizes the relations between different phase offsets observed at multiple time slots in ToF sensor. Experimental results show that the proposed method successfully detects motion blur regions and accurately eliminates them with minimal computational cost in real time.
Variational segmentation under variable illumination conditions

When illumination conditions vary significantly, the task of segmentation becomes more challenging since the existing ambiguities increase considerably. In this paper we introduce an illumination invariant framework that can be applied as a preprocessing step to obtain consistent segmentation when the lit conditions are substantially changed. We aim for an optimal luminance value that blends effectively the chromatic information with the initial luminance while the existing local features of the original lightness are enhanced. Practically, the local information is minimized by constraining the new lightness distribution with the chromatic contrast of the original image. We demonstrate the novel strategy for one of the main segmentation classes: variational PDE segmentation. Comprehensive qualitative and quantitative experiments prove the effectiveness and utility of the novel approach.
Spectro-directional CHRIS/PROBA data over two Swiss test sites for improved estimation of biophysical and -chemical variables: Five years of activities

The spaceborne ESA-mission CHRIS (Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) on-board PROBA-1 (Project for On-board Autonomy) delivers multi-directional data sets that contain spectral, directional, spatial and multi-temporal information. CHRIS/PROBA data have been acquired over two well documented test sites in Switzerland (Swiss National Park (SNP) and Vordemwald (VOR) since 2003 and allow for the monitoring of complex and dynamic vegetation canopies of forests and agricultural crops. For vegetated surfaces, the spectral information content of CHRIS/PROBA may yield the biochemical and biophysical properties of vegetation canopies, while the directional component may deliver additional information on canopy structure. The CHRIS instrument offers the possibility to combine independent information sources, such as spectral and directional observations, for a complete and robust characterization of a vegetation canopy. Such an integrated approach bears the potential to improve the estimation of biophysical and biochemical canopy characteristics relevant for applications such as ecological modeling and precision agriculture. A full pre-processing scheme for CHRIS/PROBA data for geometric and atmospheric processing over mountainous and hilly terrain, which is a pre-requisite for the subsequent spectro-directional data analysis, has been established. The three case studies presented in this paper deal with a) the assessment of canopy structure and heterogeneity from multi-angular data, b) the contribution of directional data for the estimation of canopy biochemistry and c) the estimation of leaf area index (LAI) from multi-temporal CHRIS/PROBA data. Concerning the first case study, the structure and heterogeneity of a coniferous canopy based on its degree of reflectance anisotropy is addressed using multi-angular CHRIS data and the parametric Rahman-Pinty-Verstraete (RPV) model. The second case study aims at an improved retrieval of foliar nitrogen concentration (CN) and water content (CW) using multi-angular CHRIS data and ground truth in multiple linear regression analyses limited by a statistical variable selection method. In the third case study, a radiative transfer model (RTM) is coupled to a canopy structure dynamics model (CSDM) for provision of a continuous LAI time course of maize over the season. The resulting estimation of the temporal and spatial variation of LAI is improved by integrating multi-temporal CHRIS/PROBA data and ground meteorological observations. The paper shows the potential and value of spectro- directional Earth observations, as provided by an innovative system like CHRIS/PROBA for Earth system studies.
Dynamic susceptibility of nanopillars

We have calculated the dynamic susceptibility of patterned cobalt and Permalloy pillars with a diameter of 50 nm and different pillar heights using micromagnetic simulations. The resonance modes obtained from these simulations are compared to the results obtained from an analytical solution of Kittel's equation for spheroids. We also compared directly to Kittel's equation with the simulation of cobalt spheroids. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)
The role of social socialization tactics in the relationship between socialization content and newcomers' affective commitment

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the role of social socialization tactics on the relationship between task‐ and organization‐related information (socialization content) and newcomers' affective commitment to their work organization.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 280 new hires in a Greek service company participated in a survey. Moderated regression analyses were conducted to test research hypotheses.Findings – The results supported the role of investiture‐divestiture tactics as a moderator in the relationship between newcomers' task‐related information acquisition and organizational affective commitment. In addition, serial‐disjunctive tactics were found to moderate the relationship between organization‐related information acquisition and newcomers' affective commitment. The study also demonstrated that both task‐related and organization‐related information acquisition are important to the development of newcomers' affective commitment at the early stages of the socialization proces.
Interests that occupy 86‐year‐old persons living at home: Associations with functional ability, self‐rated health and sociodemographic characteristics

Background and Aims: Interest is generated from the experience of pleasure in occupational behaviour. However, there is little known about the type and amount of interests that occupy very old people. The aims of the present study were to explore the interests of people aged 86 years who are living at home (n = 205) and to study the association between these interests and functional ability, self-rated health and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: Participants were interviewed during home visits and data were analysed by using content analysis and statistics. Results: Participants had a broad range of interests. Personal and environmental factors played a part in people giving up their interests. Participants who regarded their health as good or who had no problems in carrying out daily activities had more interests than those with poor health or limited ability to participate in daily activities. Few differences based on gender and sociodemographics were found. Conclusions: Being active (i.e. practising many interests) also means experiencing good health. In the name of occupational justice, it is important to enable elderly persons to pursue interests.
Why Do Governments Sell Privatised Companies Abroad?

This paper provides an empirical analysis of Governments' decisions to sell privatised companies on both international and domestic markets in a sample of 392 privatisations in 42 countries. Political theories of privatisation find strong support in our analyses: market oriented Governments favour domestic investors in the allocation of shares. Furthermore, the need to penetrate foreign markets and to warrant better legal protection to shareholders also appear as relevant. Significant differences emerge in OECD and non-OECD countries. In wealthy economies stock market liquidity favours cross-listing, while in emerging countries Governments resort to cross-list in order to "import" liquidity and to develop domestic stock markets. Legal institutions also play a different role. In OECD countries, weak shareholder protection induces Governments to cross-list, in order to borrow the reputation and best practices of established exchanges. On the other hand, creditors' protection is more relevant in non-OECD countries, where weak legal protection of creditors reduces the scope of bank finance, forcing Governments to look for external finance abroad.
Automatic generation of English lesson materials for native speakers of Japanese

This paper describes a computer program, a Lesson Material Builder, that is designed to automatically generate editable lesson materials for teaching English to speakers of Japanese. This program has two functions, a) an Exercise Creator, and b) a Vocabulary Quiz Creator. The Exercise Creator automatically creates an editable reading exercise document, from an input text, in which target vocabulary words are highlighted and definitions in Japanese are provided. Taking a reading exercise, of the sort produced by the Exercise Creator, the Vocabulary Quiz Creator can create vocabulary quizzes that require students to match vocabulary words with their definitions.
Consumer Heterogeneity , Network Structure and Innovation Diffusion over the Product Life Cycle

ZHAO Liangjie, CHEN Zhong 2 1. College of Management, Southwest University for Nationalities, China, 610041 2. Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China, 200052 zhaolj1981@gmail.com Abstract:By considering the local network effects of innovation, this paper uses an agent-based model to study the joint effects of consumer heterogeneity and network structure on innovation diffusion over the product life cycle (PLC). The simulation results show that the characteristics of Triadic Closure in adopters’ decision pattern don’t influence the diffusion speed at early stage. The high heterogeneity of customers’ preference causes an early take-off of innovation diffusion. Meanwhile, the influence of those two factors above on the diffusion speed of innovation at middle and late stage exhibit different patterns due to the different structures of social network.
Activity Systems and Moral Reasoning: An Intervention Study

Seventeen social educator students were taught to analyze their work activity by means of a Vygotsky-inspired method, drawing on Engeström's notion of an activity system. The method aimed at increasing the consciousness of the students of the structure of work activity system. The participants wrote two accounts of their field-work practice experiences in child welfare institutions, six months apart. The accounts were blind scored for Kohlberg moral judgment stage and for the ethic of care level. While few instances of care reasoning were identified, most of the accounts could be coded for moral judgment stage. Stage 4 (or higher) reasoning increased from 22% at Time 1 to 59% at Time 2. It was interpreted as due to increasing reflection of one's activity, induced by use of the tools provided by the teaching. We also present evidence of socio-cognitive conflicts that involved a normative orientation attributed to the permanent staff of the institutions and a more flexible orientation of the students.
Influence of Probable Alzheimer's Disease on Multiplication Verification and Production Abstract

Abstract We compared the multiplication verification and production performances of healthy younger (n = 20) and older (n = 20) adults to that of mildly demented (Mini Mental Status Exam range: 19–27) individuals diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease (n = 18). While healthy older adults and Alzheimer's patients were slower than younger adults, the older adults actually showed significantly smaller problem-size effects for verification and production reaction time (RT) tasks. These results suggest that retrieval of multiplication fact knowledge from long-term memory for multiplicands greater than zero remains largely intact in mildly demented individuals diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's discase, although these individuals may have more difficulty with volitional retrieval because group differences were larger for some production analyses (require volitional retrieval) than for verification analyses (simply requires familiarity). However, for problems involving zero multiplicands (but not 1’s), healthy older adults and especially Alzheimer's patients showed significantly higher error rates than younger adults, suggesting that rule retrieval of correct solutions in memory was impaired in both of these older groups for problems involving zero operands. Also, when RT was regressed on problem size across groups, there was no effect for problem size for the production task for Alzheimer's patients—but there was for healthy younger and older adults. Finally, when verifying problems, there was a significant problem size effect of comparable magnitude for all three groups.
Breaking the will: relations between mental mortification in monastic life and the psychological abuse of children in Catholic institutions

This article will go into relations between mental mortification and the timely topic of abuse of children in Catholic institutions. Explorations are based upon qualitative research carried out at the University of Groningen. As unexpected as it may seem, in Dutch monastic life mortification was (still) being practiced during the 1950s and 1960s. Besides physical mortification that was primarily aimed at disciplining the body, members of religious communities also performed mental mortification to discipline their will. In this article the psychological context of mental mortification will be described in order to shed light on the topic of psychological abuse in particular. In the concluding section attention will be paid to parallels between mental mortification practices and experiences brought forward in testimonies of victims. In addition, the ways in which mental mortification may have caused abusive behaviour will be discussed.
Triton's trident: cryptic Neogene divergences in a marine clam (Lasaea australis) correspond to Australia's three temperate biogeographic provinces

The southern coast of Australia is composed of three distinct biogeographic provinces distinguished primarily by intertidal community composition. Several ecological mechanisms have been proposed to explain their formation and persistence, but no consensus has been reached. The marine clam Lasaea australis is arguably the most common bivalve on southern Australian rocky shores and occurs in all three provinces. Here, we tested if this species exhibits cryptic genetic structuring corresponding to the provinces and if so, what mechanisms potentially drove its divergence. Variation in two mitochondrial genes (16S and COIII) and one nuclear gene (ITS2) was assayed to test for genetic structuring and to reconstruct the clam's phylogenetic history. Our results showed that L. australis is comprised of three cryptic mitochondrial clades, each corresponding almost perfectly to one of the three biogeographic provinces. Divergence time estimates place their cladogenesis in the Neogene. The trident‐like topology and Neogene time frame of L. australis cladogenesis are incongruent with Quaternary vicariance predictions: a two‐clade topology produced by Pleistocene Bass Strait land bridge formation. We hypothesize that the interaction of the Middle Miocene Climate Transition with the specific geography of the southern coastline of Australia was the primary cladogenic driver in this clam lineage. Additional in‐depth studies of the endemic southern Australian marine biota across all three provinces are needed to establish the generality of this proposed older framework for regional cladogenesis.