Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Long Tail: The Influence of Online-Reviews and Product Recommendations on Book Sales - Evidence from German Online Retailing

Exploring the long tail phenomenon, we empirically analyze whether online reviews, discussion forums, and product recommendations help to reduce search costs and actually alter the sales distribution in online book retailing. We have collected a data set containing 320,248 observations for 40,031 different books at Amazon.de, each assigned to one of 111 different product categories in our sample. By adopting an innovative approach, we provide the first long tail conversion model for the German online market, based on publicly available sales data. Our results indicate that online reviews and automated product recommendations reduce search costs by facilitating the identification of adequate books and the assessment of their quality. This highlights the relevance of information technology implementation as vital part of the marketing strategy.
Fermi-polaron-like effects in a one-dimensional (1D) optical lattice

We study a highly imbalanced Fermi gas in a one-dimensional (1D) optical lattice from the polaronic point of view. The time-evolving block decimation algorithm is used to calculate the ground state and dynamics of the system. We find polaronic behaviour qualitatively similar to that in the recent experiment by Schirotzek et al (2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 230402), where radio-frequency (rf) spectroscopy was used to observe polarons in 3D space. In the weakly interacting limit, our exact results are in excellent agreement with a polaron ansatz, and in the strongly interacting limit, the results match with an approximative solution of the Bethe ansatz (BA), suggesting crossover from a quasiparticle to a charge-density excitation regime.
CRIME AND THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY IN MALAYSIA : ARE THEY RELATED ?

The underground economy (UE) also known as the shadow economy is a phenomenon known throughout the world. The growth of the UE is a matter of increasing concern, at least, throughout the developed nations. Researchers have recognized that the underground economy and crime are linked. Studies on the US, Canada and the transition economies indicate that crime and the shadow economy are facts of live. Given the important implication of UE, in this study, we use fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic to construct an annual time-series for the (unobservable) Malaysia‟s UE over the period 1973-2003. Two input variables are used-the tax burden and government regulation. The resulting UE time-series is then tested for long-run relationship with the crime rate in Malaysia. Using the vector error-correction model, we are able to show that underground economy Granger causes the criminal activity in Malaysia. One policy implication from this study is that the government of Malaysia must take proactive measures to curtail the development of the underground economy, for example, policies to attract unofficial activities back to the official sector.
A large deletion in the LDL receptor gene--the cause of familial hypercholesterolemia in three Italian families: a study that dates back to the 17th century (FH-Pavia).

In the LDL-receptor gene, a large rearrangement causing hypercholesterolemia was detected in three apparently unrelated families living in northern Italy. In all probands, binding, internalization, and degradation of 125I-LDL measured in skin fibroblasts were found to be 40%-50% of control values, indicative of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Southern blot analysis revealed that the probands were heterozygous for a large (25-kb) deletion of the LDL-receptor gene eliminating exons 2-12. The affected subjects possessed two LDL-receptor mRNA species: one of normal size (5.3 kb) and one of smaller size (3.5 kb). In the latter mRNA, the coding sequence of exon 1 is joined to the coding sequence of exon 13, causing a change in the reading frame and thereby giving rise to a premature stop codon. The receptor protein deduced from the sequence of the defective mRNA is a short polypeptide of 29 amino acids, devoid of any function. Tracing these three families back to the 17th century, we found both their common ancestor and the possible origin of the mutation, in a region which is called "Lomellina" and which is located in southwest Lombardy, near the old city of Pavia. Therefore we named the mutation "FH-Pavia. "
Long life to emotions: Emotional response categorisation across the lifespan

People perceive and organise their social world on the basis of their previous semantic knowledge as well as on the basis of their emotional responses. We tested the hypothesis that emotional response categorisation, namely the tendency to group stimuli on the basis of the emotion they evoke, increases across the lifespan. Young and older adults were asked to categorise target words and either conceptual or emotional response similarity could be used to perform the task. Results showed that older adults were more likely than younger adults to rely on emotional equivalence to categorise stimuli. In addition, current affective state was significantly related to emotional response categorisation. These findings are discussed in relation to recent models that propose a prominent role for emotions in the social life of older adults.
Optimal Edge Detection using Expansion Matching and Restoration

Discusses the application of a newly developed expansion matching method for edge detection. Expansion matching optimizes a novel matching criterion called the discriminative signal-to-noise ratio (DSNR) and has been shown to robustly recognize templates under conditions of noise, severe occlusion and superposition. The DSNR criterion is better suited to evaluate matching in practical conditions than the traditional SNR since it considers as "noise" even the off-center response of the filter to the template itself. We introduce a family of optimal DSNR edge detectors based on the expansion filter for several edge models. For step edges, the optimal DSNR step expansion filter (SEF) is compared with the widely used Canny edge detector (CED). Experimental comparisons show that our edge detector yields better performance than the CED in terms of DSNR even under very adverse noise conditions. As for boundary detection, the SEF consistently yields higher figures of merit than the CED on a synthetic binary image over a wide range of noise levels. Results also show that the design parameters of size or width of the SEF are less critical than the CED variance. This means that a single scale of the SEF spans a larger range of input noise than a single scale of the CED. Experiments on a noisy image reveal that the SEF yields less noisy edge elements and preserves structural details more accurately. On the other hand, the CED output has better suppression of multiple responses than the corresponding SEF output. >
Cooked Meat and Risk of Breast Cancer—Lifetime Versus Recent Dietary Intake

Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are carcinogens formed in or on the surface of well-done meat, cooked at high temperature. Methods: We estimated breast cancer risk in relation to intake of cooked meat in a population-based, case-control study (1508 cases and 1556 controls) conducted in Long Island, NY from 1996 to 1997. Lifetime intakes of grilled or barbecued and smoked meats were derived from the interviewer-administered questionnaire data. Dietary intakes of PAH and HCA were derived from the self-administered modified Block food frequency questionnaire of intake 1 year before reference date. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Modest increased risk was observed among postmenopausal, but not premenopausal, women consuming the most grilled or barbecued and smoked meats over the life course (OR = 1.47; CI = 1.12–1.92 for highest vs. lowest tertile of intake). Postmenopausal women with low fruit and vegetable intake, but high lifetime intake of grilled or barbecued and smoked meats, had a higher OR of 1.74 (CI = 1.20–2.50). No associations were observed with the food frequency questionnaire-derived intake measures of PAHs and HCAs, with the possible exception of benzo(α)pyrene from meat among postmenopausal women whose tumors were positive for both estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors (OR = 1.47; CI = 0.99–2.19). Conclusions: These results support the accumulating evidence that consumption of meats cooked by methods that promote carcinogen formation may increase risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) mother-calf interactions

Chez les baleines a bosse (Megaptera novaeangliae), le maintien des liens sociaux entre les femelles et leurs nouveau-nes implique differentes modalites sensorielles telles que l'ouie, le toucher et la vision. Si la communication acoustique chez les mâles chanteurs de cette espece a ete largement etudiee, les sons sociaux, en particulier ceux produits par les femelles et leurs nouveau-nes, ont ete peu reportes. Cette etude decrit les sons sociaux presents dans les enregistrements acoustiques axes sur les groupes mere-baleineau et discute des vocalisations produites par les femelles et les baleineaux dans les interactions mere-jeune. En considerant les sons les plus frequents de ce repertoire vocal, une analyse centree sur la determination de la source des sons de bass frequence produits par la mere a ete effectuee et des analyses ont ete realisees pour mettre en evidence l'individualite de certaines vocalisations appartenant a la mere et a son petit. Une description du contexte comportemental de leur production vocale a ete realisee et parallelement, les profils de plongee des meres et de leurs nouveau-nes ont ete decrits. En outre, les femelles et leurs petits passent beaucoup de temps a la surface de l'eau. Les meres sont souvent statiques a la surface tandis que les baleineaux evoluent autour d'elles. Cette etude est egalement consacree a la comprehension de leurs comportements de surface, en tenant compte des comportements inities par les baleineaux. Des series d’analyses ont ete realisees pour determiner si les baleineaux presentaient des comportements de lateralisation par rapport a leur mere. Enfin, en utilisant la methode de photogrammetrie, les tailles des femelles et des nouveau-nes ont ete mesurees, ainsi que l'espace utilisee par les baleineaux autour de leur mere.
Six Y-chromosome STR frequencies in a population from Argentina.

Chelex procedure (1) and then quantified using QuantiBlot Human DNA Quantitation Kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions (2). DNA samples (1 ng) were amplified and typed by Y-PlexTM 6 System (3). The electrophoresis was carried out on the ABI PRISM 377 DNA Sequencer using GeneScan y Genotyper and Y-Typer Genotyping Software. Data were analyzed by B. Budowle according to Tajima (4) and Stoneking et al. (5). The complete data are available to any interested researcher by accessing http://www.cnea. gov.ar/cac/radiobiologia/yplex.xls. References
Composite Energy Storage System using dynamic energy management in microgrid applications

Renewable energy based micro grids are a better way of utilizing renewable power and reduce the usage of fossil fuels. Usage of energy storage becomes mandatory, when such micro-grids are used to supply quality power to the loads. However, it is difficult to meet the various needs from both the source and the load. The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like PV demands usage of storage with high energy density. At the same time, quick fluctuation of load demands storage with high power density. This paper proposes a Composite Energy Storage System (CESS) which contains both high energy density and high power density storages to meet the above mentioned requirements. The proposed power converter configuration and the energy management scheme can actively share the power flow among the different energy storages. Results are presented to show the feasibility of the proposed scheme.
An inner outer iteration scheme for the spurious free solution of polynomial eigenvalue problems of electrically large structure

It is of critical importance to efficiently and accurately evaluate both the internal and external resonances of three dimensional closed and open-radiating structures. Regarding the polynomial eigenvalue problem for the case of both lossy and open radiating structures the spurious modes are being suppressed by appropriately enforcing the “divergence-free” constraint equations over the whole domain. For the spurious modes suppression, two newly presented techniques are implemented and tested for the first time in conjunction with both direct and iterative solvers exploiting Arnoldi algorithm.
Web Real-Time Communication Use Cases and Requirements

This document describes web-based real-time communication use cases. Requirements on the browser functionality are derived from the use cases. This document was developed in an initial phase of the work with rather minor updates at later stages. It has not really served as a tool in deciding features or scope for the WG's efforts so far. It is being published to record the early conclusions of the WG. It will not be used as a set of rigid guidelines that specifications and implementations will be held to in the future.
Research on reputation estimation system of e-commerce based on fuzzy neural network

The systematic study of the evaluation reputation system seem to be at he heart of all e-commerce activities that require trust. We found that the fuzzy neural network method has its own advantage of solving e-commerce reputation estimate. In this research, We propose a fuzzy neural network model to determine the weights of estimate index. Then, we presents the sellers' reputation estimate index system, and gives the fuzzy neural network estimate model. Finally, we trained data which have gained membership degree after quantized and fuzzy disposed. Because the training of the network is an adaptive course, the results of evaluation indices are more objective.
Binding of FGF2 to FGFR2 in an autocrine mode in trophectoderm cells is indispensable for mouse blastocyst formation through PKC-p38 pathway

Fibroblast growth factors (FGF1, FGF2 and FGF4) and fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3 and FGFR4) have been reported to be expressed in preimplantation embryos and be required for their development. However, the functions of these molecules in trophectoderm cells (TEs) that lead to the formation of the blastocyst as well as the underlying mechanism have not been elucidated. The present study has demonstrated for the first time that endogenous FGF2 secreted by TEs can regulate protein expression and distribution in TEs via the FGFR2-mediated activation of PKC and p38, which are important for the development of expanded blastocysts. This finding provides the first explanation for the long-observed phenomenon that only high concentrations of exogenous FGFs have effects on embryonic development, but in vivo the amount of endogenous FGFs are trace. Besides, the present results suggest that FGF2/FGFR2 may act in an autocrine fashion and activate the downstream PKC/p38 pathway in TEs during expanded blastocyst formation.
Vidéo-ethnographie des usages de Gallica

Ces dernieres annees, les interfaces d’acces aux collections numeriques des bibliotheques patrimoniales ont vu leur audience croitre en meme temps que le nombre et la diversite des documents mis a disposition. Qui sont les utilisateurs de ces collections ? Comment les decouvrent-ils et les utilisent-ils, selon quelle logique d’interrogation avec quels effets sur la connaissance ? Pour repondre a ces questions, un projet de recherche de 10 mois (2016-2017) a ete conduit par la Bibliotheque nationale de France, le labex Obvil et Telecom ParisTech : "Mettre en ligne le patrimoine : evolution des usages, transformation des savoirs ? " A travers l’exemple de Gallica, bibliotheque numerique de la BnF et de ses partenaires, il s’agissait d’analyser l’evolution des usages des collections patrimoniales numerisees, en particulier la maniere dont celles-ci sont percues et integrees dans des strategies de recherche, professionnelles et amateurs. L’etude video-ethnographique constitue le deuxieme volet du projet de recherche. L’objectif est d’observer au plus pres les parcours des utilisateurs et les specificites de leurs pratiques en ligne. La captation audiovisuelle de l’activite a l’ecran est completee par des entretiens d’autoconfrontation qui permettent de donner sens aux observations. Deux axes d’analyse decoulent des donnees recueillies. Le premier porte sur les phenomenes de categorisation et d’evaluation (d’une liste de resultats, d’un document) et souligne la facon dont une idee, guidee par des motifs et dynamisee par de la serendipite, peut emerger et se configurer dans le temps de la consultation. Le second explore la dimension ecologique de l’usage de Gallica. Il met en lumiere que l’utilisateur de Gallica est engage dans de nombreuses operations structurantes associant environnement numerique, materiel et social.
Identification for animal fibers with artificial neural network

Scale pattern of animal fibers is different and that is a major reference distinguishing them from each other. Usually, there are four basic shape parameters, including fiber diameters, scale interval, scale perimeter and scale area, to be used for describing the cuticle scale pattern of animal fiber. In present paper, two kinds of animal fiber are checked up under light microscope with a magnification of 40timesfor objective and their images are captured by a CCD camera fixed on the microscope. After using a series of image operators on them, the skeletonized binary images only having one pixel wide can be obtained. Then, these basic shape parameters of scale are measured and the database composed of numerical data of four comparable indexes, including fiber diameter, scale interval, normalized scale perimeter and normalized scale area, are established. Finally, a multi-parameter neural network classifier, including four input nodes, five hidden nodes and two output nodes, are developed to classify the two kinds of animal fibers. Two sets of classification rules are applied to the classifier respectively and the simulation results show that whether rule 1 or 2, the neural network classifier can always distinguish cashmere from fine wool (70s) effectively and the average classification performance is higher than 90 percent.
Identification of a virus-specific polypeptide associated with a transforming fragment (BglII-N) of herpes simplex virus type 2 DNA

The BglII N fragment of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) DNA (approximately 0.58 to 0.63 map unit) was examined for encoded products. Using plasmid pGZ59, which consists of BglII-N cloned in pAT153, in conjunction with hybrid arrested translation, mRNA selection, and in vitro protein synthesis, we found that the major translated product of this region has an approximate molecular weight of 37,800. By further mapping, coding sequences for this polypeptide were located within the region of BglII-N representing approximately 0.58 to 0.61 genome map unit. To demonstrate immunological specificity, we used staphylococcal A protein immunoprecipitation with rabbit anti-HSV-1 or HSV-2 sera and antigens from HSV-1 or HSV-2 total mRNA translated in vitro and BglII-N-selected mRNA. The results show that the 37,800-dalton polypeptide has HSV-2 immunological specificity, as it is precipitated with anti-HSV-2 sera but not with anti-HSV-1 or control sera.
High resolution micro-Pirani pressure sensor gauge with transient response processing

A micro-Pirani pressure sensor, which consists of a pressure dependent thermo-resistance gauge, is traditionally exploited using a steady state resistance measurement. Any signal variation occurs over a constant voltage bias due to the initial resistance of the device which affects the sensor's sensitivity. Our work shows for the first time an experimental investigation of a micro-Pirani gauge based on its dynamic behavior when heated by a current step. Such processing magnifies the pressure dependence of the gauge's signal by eliminating the initial resistance influences on the measurement. Furthermore, a first order low pass filter step response identification of the experimental transient signal strongly reduces the thermal noise influence on the measurement. The heating step, the recording of the time dependent signal and its post-processing can be easily achieved by a small-size controller. The proposed system provides a substantial enhancement of the micro-Pirani pressure sensor performance.
Monitoring of airborne bacteria and aerosols in different wards of hospitals - Particle counting usefulness in investigation of airborne bacteria.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE The presence of airborne bacteria in hospital environments is of great concern because of their potential role as a source of hospital-acquired infections (HAI). The aim of this study was the determination and comparison of the concentration of airborne bacteria in different wards of four educational hospitals, and evaluation of whether particle counting could be predictive of airborne bacterial concentration in different wards of a hospital. MATERIALS AND METHOD The study was performed in an operating theatre (OT), intensive care unit (ICU), surgery ward (SW) and internal medicine (IM) ward of four educational hospitals in Isfahan, Iran. A total of 80 samples were analyzed for the presence of airborne bacteria and particle levels. RESULTS The average level of bacteria ranged from 75-1194 CFU/m (3) . Mean particle levels were higher than class 100,000 cleanrooms in all wards. A significant correlation was observed between the numbers of 1-5 µm particles and levels of airborne bacteria in operating theatres and ICUs. The results showed that factors which may influence the airborne bacterial level in hospital environments should be properly managed to minimize the risk of HAIs especially in operating theaters. CONCLUSIONS Microbial air contamination of hospital settings should be performed by the monitoring of airborne bacteria, but particle counting could be considered as a good operative method for the continuous monitoring of air quality in operating theaters and ICUs where higher risks of infection are suspected.
Who is the expert? Analyzing gaze data to predict expertise level in collaborative applications

In this paper, we analyze complex gaze tracking data in a collaborative task and apply machine learning models to automatically predict skill-level differences between participants. Specifically, we present findings that address the two primary challenges for this prediction task: (1) extracting meaningful features from the gaze information, and (2) casting the prediction task as a machine learning (ML) problem. The results show that our approach based on profile hidden Markov models are up to 96% accurate and can make the determination as fast as one minute into the collaboration, with only 5% of gaze observations registered. We also provide a qualitative analysis of gaze patterns that reveal the relative expertise level of the paired users in a collaborative learning user study.