Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Decision Theoretic Framework for Real-Time Communication

We consider a communication system in which the outputs of a Markov source are encoded and decoded in real-time by a finite memory receiver, and the distortion measure does not tolerate delays. The objective is to choose designs, i.e. real-time encoding, decoding and memory update strategies that minimize a total expected distortion measure. This is a dynamic team problem with non-classical information structure [7]. We use the structural results of [4] to develop a sequential decomposition for the finite and infinite horizon problems. Thus, we obtain a systematic methodology for the determination of jointly optimal encoding decoding and memory update strategies for real-time point-to-point communication.
Segment-based stereo matching using graph cuts

In this paper we present a new segment-based stereo matching algorithm using graph cuts. In our approach, the reference image is divided into non-overlapping homogeneous segments and the scene structure is represented as a set of planes in the disparity space. The stereo matching problem is formulated as an energy minimization problem in the segment domain instead of the traditional pixel domain. Graph cuts technique is used to fast approximate the optimal solution, which assigns the corresponding disparity plane to each segment. Experiments demonstrate that the performance of our algorithm is comparable to the state-of-the-art stereo algorithms on various data sets. Furthermore, strong performance is achieved in the conventionally difficult areas such as: textureless regions, disparity discontinuous boundaries and occluded portions.
Discovery of Causal Relationships in a Gene-Regulation Pathway from a Mixture of Experimental and Observational DNA Microarray Data

This paper reports the methods and results of a computer-based search for causal relationships in the gene-regulation pathway of galactose metabolism in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The search uses recently published data from cDNA microarray experiments. A Bayesian method was applied to learn causal networks from a mixture of observational and experimental gene-expression data. The observational data were gene-expression levels obtained from unmanipulated "wild-type" cells. The experimental data were produced by deleting ("knocking out") genes and observing the expression levels of other genes. Causal relations predicted from the analysis on 36 galactose gene pairs are reported and compared with the known galactose pathway. Additional exploratory analyses are also reported.
Eliciting positive social change: marketing’s capacity to drive prosocial behaviours

Purpose – While social marketing has been utilised to bring about positive social change, ultimately, the decision to engage in prosocial behaviour resides with the individual. The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants and outcomes of prosocial behaviours. Design/methodology/approach – A web-based self-administered survey was used to collect data from a convenience sample of largely university staff and students. Data obtained were analysed using SEM-based partial least squares methodology. Findings – The results show that individuals who are future oriented and issue involved are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviour. Also, these individuals are more likely to assess fewer negative consequences and experience more positive feelings as a result of their prosocial behaviour. Research limitations/implications – While the study focuses on two social issues, it does provide some explanation of self-reported behaviour, rather than intention to behave. However, future research could pay at.
New approaches for the standardization and validation of a real-time qPCR assay using TaqMan probes for quantification of yellow fever virus on clinical samples with high quality parameters

The development and production of viral vaccines, in general, involve several steps that need the monitoring of viral load throughout the entire process. Applying a 2-step quantitative reverse transcription real time PCR assay (RT-qPCR), viral load can be measured and monitored in a few hours. In this context, the development, standardization and validation of a RT-qPCR test to quickly and efficiently quantify yellow fever virus (YFV) in all stages of vaccine production are extremely important. To serve this purpose we used a plasmid construction containing the NS5 region from 17DD YFV to generate the standard curve and to evaluate parameters such as linearity, precision and specificity against other flavivirus. Furthermore, we defined the limits of detection as 25 copies/reaction, and quantification as 100 copies/reaction for the test. To ensure the quality of the method, reference controls were established in order to avoid false negative results. The qRT-PCR technique based on the use of TaqMan probes herein standardized proved to be effective for determining yellow fever viral load both in vivo and in vitro, thus becoming a very important tool to assure the quality control for vaccine production and evaluation of viremia after vaccination or YF disease.
Bootstrapping higher-order program transformers from interpreters

Partial evaluation can automatically generate program transformers from interpreters. In the context of functional languages, we investigate the design space of higher-order interpreters to achieve certain transformation effects. Our work is based on the interpretive approach and exploits the language preservation property of offline partial evaluators. We have generated higher-order online partial evaluators, optimizing closure converters, and converters to first-order tail form. The latter can serve as the middle end of a compiler. The generated transformers are strictly more powerful than the partial evaluators used for their generation.
Memory Hierarchies and Models of Them

It is clear that the fastest memory levels are substantially smaller than the slowest ones. Generally, each level has a direct connection to only the level directly below it in the hierarchy. In addition, the faster, smaller levels are substantially more expensive to produce, so do not expect 1GB of register space any time soon. Many of the levels communicate in blocks. For example, asking Main Memory to read one integer will typically also transmit a “block” of nearby data. So processing the other block members requires no additional memory transfers. This issue is exacerbated when communicating with the disk: the 10ms is dominated by the time needed to find the data (move the read head over the disk). Modern disks are circular, spinning at 7200rpm, so once the head is in position, reading all of the data on that “ring” is much faster.
Bridging the gaps between cameras

The paper investigates the unsupervised learning of a model of activity for a multi-camera surveillance network that can be created from a large set of observations. This enables the learning algorithm to establish links between camera views associated with an activity. The learning algorithm operates in a correspondence-free manner, exploiting the statistical consistency of the observation data. The derived model is used to automatically determine the topography of a network of cameras and to provide a means for tracking targets across the "blind" areas of the network. A theoretical justification and experimental validation of the methods are provided.
Attitudes to dementia and dementia care held by nursing staff in U.K. “non-EMI” care homes: what difference do they make?

Background: There is doubt about the value of training in dementia care in U.K. nursing homes. We decided to estimate the association between nursing staff's attitudes to dementia and dementia care and their recognition of cognitive impairment in residents and other indicators of care practice in nonspecialist nursing homes derived from a probability sample of 445 residents in South-East England, and to relate this to previous training. Methods: Prospective survey. The most senior nurse on duty was interviewed about each resident sampled, about their own training and experience, their attitude to restriction of egress and covert medication use, and asked to complete the Attitudes to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ) and the dementia Care Styles Questionnaire (CSQ). Nurses were also asked about care practices in relation to restriction of egress and covert medication use in the home. Residents were interviewed using the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: One hundred and fifty-eight nurses were interviewed. Increased person-centered attitudes seem to be associated with better recognition of cognitive impairment independent of training and experience. The espousal of restrictive practices was also associated with better recognition, but only when analysis included nurses reporting on only one impaired resident. Conclusions: More person-centered attitudes are associated with better recognition of cognitive impairment, despite perverse U.K. regulatory incentives; the need for training and support in developing person-centered dementia care for staff in “non-Elderly Mentally Infirm” (“non-EMI”) care homes is supported by these results.
Suture-Line Reinforcement With Glutaraldehyde-Preserved Bovine Pericardium for Nonanatomic Resection of Lung Tissue

In this study we assessed the usefulness of glutaraldehyde-preserved bovine pericardium (GPBP), preparated in our laboratory, in nonanatomic resection of lung tissue in dogs. A 30% resection of the right cranial lobe of the lung was performed in 18 mongrel dogs. The suture line was reinforced with GPBP strips. For group I (n = 6), the GPBP strips were fixed on the lung with nonabsorbable suture by thoracotomy. In Group II (n = 6), the resection and fixation of the GPBP strips were performed with an endoscopic linear stapler by thoracotomy. In Group III (n = 6), the resection and fixation of the GPBP strips were performed with a linear stapler by thoracoscopy. The animals were evaluated each day during the first week after surgery and every other day during the study time. At the end of the study all animals were euthanized with an overdose of pentobarbital. Macroscopic and microscopic examinations of the bioprosthesis and lung were evaluated. All animals survived the surgical procedure and study time (8 weeks). In the three groups, macroscopic examination of the bioprosthesis showed good adaptation to the lung tissue. Microscopically, all groups of animals presented good healing, with the presence of fibrotic tissue layer on the GPBP and its periphery as well as in the lung. However, in group I we observed the presence of giant cells in the suture line. GPBP proved to be a useful material for reinforcement of the nonanatomic resection suture line of lung tissue in dogs.
Application of Reinforcement Learning for the Generation of an Assembly Plant Entry Control Policy

The generation of an entry control policy for an assembly plant using a reinforcement learning agent is investigated. The assembly plan studied consists of ten workstations and produces three types of products. The objective of the entry control policy is to produce a given production mix within a planning horizon, while following a given production mix. Due to the large state space, a function approximator, based on a neural network, is used to model the long-term reward function. The schedules generated by the trained agent are compared to those produced by a deterministic heuristic control policy that has been developed for this assembly plant. Simulation results show that the reinforcement learning agent produces production plans that achieve better productivity than the heuristic controller under tight planning horizons, generating sub-optimal yet acceptable production mix balance.
Moments of Humiliation, Intimidation and Implied ‘Illegality’: Encounters with Immigration Officials at the Border and the Performance of Sovereignty

This paper examines the role of border encounter—the set of interactions between potential entrants into a country and the country's immigration officials. These interactions are laden with power relations and can involve moments of interrogation, intimidation and humiliation on the side of immigration officials and negotiations and resourcefulness on the side of potential entrants. I argue that these sets of interactions, organised by the assemblage of actors, institutions, documents, technologies, discourses and affect, inform us about one of the ways sovereignty is performed by nation-states and their representatives. Moreover, potential entrants also mobilise particular strategies to negotiate performances of sovereignty and obtain entry.
TCP congestion signatures

We develop and validate Internet path measurement techniques to distinguish congestion experienced when a flow self-induces congestion in the path from when a flow is affected by an already congested path. One application of this technique is for speed tests, when the user is affected by congestion either in the last mile or in an interconnect link. This difference is important because in the latter case, the user is constrained by their service plan (i.e., what they are paying for), and in the former case, they are constrained by forces outside of their control. We exploit TCP congestion control dynamics to distinguish these cases for Internet paths that are predominantly TCP traffic. In TCP terms, we re-articulate the question: was a TCP flow bottlenecked by an already congested (possibly interconnect) link, or did it induce congestion in an otherwise idle (possibly a last-mile) link? TCP congestion control affects the round-trip time (RTT) of packets within the flow (i.e., the flow RTT): an endpoint sends packets at higher throughput, increasing the occupancy of the bottleneck buffer, thereby increasing the RTT of packets in the flow. We show that two simple, statistical metrics derived from the flow RTT during the slow start period---its coefficient of variation, and the normalized difference between the maximum and minimum RTT---can robustly identify which type of congestion the flow encounters. We use extensive controlled experiments to demonstrate that our technique works with up to 90% accuracy. We also evaluate our techniques using two unique real-world datasets of TCP throughput measurements using Measurement Lab data and the Ark platform. We find up to 99% accuracy in detecting self-induced congestion, and up to 85% accuracy in detecting external congestion. Our results can benefit regulators of interconnection markets, content providers trying to improve customer service, and users trying to understand whether poor performance is something they can fix by upgrading their service tier.
The Role of Worksite and Home Smoking Bans in Smoking Cessation among U.S. Employed Adult Female Smokers

Purpose. Examine the association of work and home smoking bans with quitting behaviors among employed female smokers in the United States. Design. Secondary analyses using cross-sectional data from the 2006/2007 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Subjects. Nationally representative sample of 7610 U.S. employed female smokers, aged 18 to 64 years, who reported working indoors. Setting. N/A. Methods. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of smoking ban policies (complete work and home bans, complete work ban only, complete home ban only, and no complete work or home ban) with intention to quit in the next 30 days, at least one quit attempt in the past year, and sustained abstinence of at least 3 months in the past year. Results. Twenty-nine percent of women reported complete work and home smoking bans. Smoking bans were not associated with intention to quit and were marginally associated with sustained abstinence. Regardless of intention to quit, women with complete work and home bans were significantly more likely than those without complete work and home bans to report quit attempts. Among women with no intention to quit, the odds of having a quit attempt were significantly higher among women who had a complete home ban only compared with women without complete work and home bans. Conclusions. Efforts to promote quitting behaviors among employed female smokers may be facilitated by increasing rates of complete smoking bans at both work and home settings.
Stereoscopic 3D visual attention model considering comfortable viewing

Stereoscopic 3D images have depth perception as one of characteristics differ from conventional 2D images. Therefore, the conventional 2D oriented visual attention model cannot be directly applied to stereoscopic 3D images. In addition, visual fatigue is considered as another 3D related characteristics when viewing stereoscopic 3D images. In this paper, we propose a novel 3D visual attention model that combines bottom-up and top-down methods which considers comfortable viewing. The proposed model is based on 2D oriented features extracted from the image: intensity, colour, local orientation information, and the detection of human representation. Then, this model is combined with depth information obtained by considering the comfortable viewing. The experimental results show that the proposed model increase the simulation efficiency of visual characteristics of human visual system. (5 pages)
On-line Active Reward Learning for Policy Optimisation in Spoken Dialogue Systems

The ability to compute an accurate reward function is essential for optimising a dialogue policy via reinforcement learning. In real-world applications, using explicit user feedback as the reward signal is often unreliable and costly to collect. This problem can be mitigated if the user's intent is known in advance or data is available to pre-train a task success predictor off-line. In practice neither of these apply for most real world applications. Here we propose an on-line learning framework whereby the dialogue policy is jointly trained alongside the reward model via active learning with a Gaussian process model. This Gaussian process operates on a continuous space dialogue representation generated in an unsupervised fashion using a recurrent neural network encoder-decoder. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework is able to significantly reduce data annotation costs and mitigate noisy user feedback in dialogue policy learning.
Closing the Doors: Insights and Reflections on Deinstitutionalisation

The shift from deinstitutionalisation to community living is examined in order to establish whether the lives of people with disabilities have been improved as a result of moving into the community. The institutionalisation of people with intellectual and physical disabilities is considered in the context of the historical provision of disability services. While the move to community living has been predominantly motivated by a desire to respect the dignity of people with disabilities by bringing them back into the community, Chenoweth argues that this is insufficient in itself to be a measure of the success of deinstitutionalisation. Access to services and supports is essential for the well being of those who have been moved into the community. The availability and quality of supports have been variable and the failure to provide sufficient resources could place people with disabilities in a more invidious position than they had in their previous institutional lives.
Early male reproductive advantage, multiple paternity and sperm storage in an amphibian aggregate breeder

We tested whether the order in which males encounter females affects reproductive fitness in spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). Using mating chambers in the field, we allowed one male access to a female before a second male. We then used four microsatellite markers in paternity analyses of the resulting larvae. First males sired a significantly larger number of offspring than second males, suggesting that male reproductive success is greatly enhanced by early arrival at breeding ponds. Multiple paternity was common among clutches, and frequently larvae were assigned to unidentified males that had not been in the chambers. Sperm from these males had either been stored by females for a year or obtained more recently at other breeding sites.
Development of the Internal Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire

Rad opisuje razvoj instrumenta – Upitnika za procjenu zadovoljstva internom komunikacijom (UPZIK). Instrument je razvijen kroz dvije faze. U prvoj je fazi razvijen inicijalni upitnik sa 107 cestica, koji je primijenjen na uzorku od 259 ispitanika. Na temelju faktorske analize dobivenih rezultata razvijen je konacni upitnik sa 32 cestice grupirane u 8 dimenzija zadovoljstva komunikacijom. U drugoj je fazi finalni mjerni instrument primijenjen na uzorku od 169 ispitanika u jednoj velikoj hrvatskoj organizaciji. Ponovljena faktorska analiza i analiza faktorske strukture dimenzija pokazale su da je razvijeni instrument: (1) pouzdan i valjan, (2) usporediv sa slicnim instrumentima razvijenima u svijetu, no dovoljno razlicit da opravdava razvoj instrumenta prilagođenoga hrvatskim kulturoloskim specificnostima te (3) primjenjiv u buducim teorijskim i prakticnim istraživanjima.
A Study of SiGe HBT Signal Sources in the 220–330-GHz Range

The paper presents design optimization strategies and a comparison of the performance of SiGe HBT fundamental and push-push Colpitts and Colpitts-Clapp voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), with and without doublers and buffers, as possible solutions for efficient milliwatt-level, low-noise signal sources at submillimeter-wave frequencies. The fundamental frequency Colpitts VCO covers a 12% tuning range between 218 and 246 GHz (the highest for SiGe HBTs) with up to -3.6-dBm output power and 0.8% efficiency. The 300-GHz signal source, consisting of a Colpitts-Clapp VCO followed by a buffer amplifier and a doubler, shows -1.7-dBm output power around 290 GHz, -101-dBc/Hz phase noise at 10-MHz offset, 7.5% tuning range, and 0.4% efficiency. Finally, the push-push Colpitts-Clapp VCO exhibits the highest operation frequency, from 309 to 325 GHz, but with reduced efficiency of only 0.07% and 5% tuning range. It was concluded that the differential cascode buffer placed between the VCO and doubler was instrumental in achieving the best phase noise and output power with good efficiency and without compromising tuning range.
Fluvoxamine alone in the treatment of delusional depression.

Objective : The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of fluvoxamine in the treatment of delusional depression. Method : Fifty-nine in patients who met the DSM-III-R criteria for major depression with psychotic features were treated with fluvoxamine for 6 weeks. Patients were assessed at baseline and weekly thereafter with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Dimensions of Delusional Experience rating scale. Results : Of the 57 subjects who completed the trial, 84.2% (N=48) recovered. The index episodes of the patients who did not respond to fluvoxamine were of significantly longer duration than those of the responders. Conclusions : Fluvoxamine has a response rate similar to that of the currently most efficacious treatments for delusional depression, including antidepressants plus antipsychotics and ECT.