Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TECHGIRLS' MOBILE MINIMOVIES - A CASE STUDY OF GIRLS AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

Abstract Mobile phones with digital cameras have become a common new tool for producing user created video content. In this paper we present a study of 84 participants (teenage girls) who created and authored minimovies using the N73 mobile phone. The participants produced 28 minimovies in a 30-minute period which were then analysed for their structure, style and feature usage. 1. Introduction Mobile phones are a good example of today’s pervasive devices. Their computational capabilities, connectivity features, versatile applications and multiple features enable multipurpose usage, and their very high adoption rate create end-user behaviour which can truly be embedded into our society. Research has revealed how the use of mobile phones has shaped social interaction and created new communication subcultures, especially due to text messaging [1]. The introduction of photo/video taking capability has offered the user tools for recording and sharing visual content [3] as well as increasing the possibilities for self-expression in creative ways. User created content utilizing audiovisual recording capabilities on the mobile phone can bring forward novel applications, such as the MMS-based comic creation tool described in [6]. Photosharing has also provided new tools for educational activities, used e.g. for mentoring young girls in technology education [2]. In the entertainment realm, studies related to mobile TV and videos are still a rarity, and so far they focus on the consumption rather than content creation [5, 6, 7]. The creation of mobile video content is still a largely unexplored area. In this paper we investigate the creation of minimovies with a mobile phone. We present the results of our study in terms of the video styles used, the video structure adopted and the features used on the phone.
Multi-source localization based on approximated kernel density estimator and spatial likelihood function in near-field reverberant environment

In order to cope with the multi-source localization in near-field reverberant environment, approximated kernel density estimator (KDE) algorithm is introduced to provide robust anti-reverberation performance and multi-stage (MS) is used to solve the spectrum aliasing of high frequency on account of wide spacing of microphone array. Then spatial likelihood function (SLF) is built to mix the pairwise KDE or KDEMS function together. Based on the above KDE, MS, SLF, two algorithms SLF-KDE, SLF-KDEMS is proposed. The feasibility of the methods is confirmed by theoretical derivation and computer simulation. The results shows that SLF-KDEMS is a localization algorithm with high robustness and recognition in near-field reverberant environment.
Characterization of count data distributions involving additivity and binomial subsampling

In this paper we characterize all the $r$-parameter families of count distributions (satisfying mild conditions) that are closed under addition and under binomial subsampling. Surprisingly, few families satisfy both properties and the resulting models consist of the $r$th-order univariate Hermite distributions. Among these, we find the Poisson ($r=1$) and the ordinary Hermite distributions ($r=2$).
14 From Simplicity to Complexity and Back * Function , Architecture , and Mechanism of Light-harvesting Systems in Photosynthetic Bacteria

Photosynthetic organisms fuel their metabolism with light energy and have developed for this purpose an efficient apparatus for harvesting sunlight, key features of which were conceptually established long ago. Recently, the atomic structure of a main protein constituent of the apparatus, as it evolved in purple bacteria, has been solved through a combination of modeling, X-ray crystallography, and electron microscopy. This permitted the modeling of the entire light-harvesting system, a complex nanometric aggregate of transmembrane proteins. This chapter discusses how an ongoing analysis has wrested an explanation of the light-harvesting function from an atomic level structure, based on quantum physics. The investigations of the light-harvesting system of purple bacteria demonstrate very clearly the course typical for research in biological physics, starting from a simply stated, known function and proceeding through experimental and theoretical investigations carried out at more and more refined levels of molecular reality: First, the macromolecular components of the system underlying a function are identified and their role characterized, e.g., through spectroscopy. Second, the complex Simplicity and Complexity in Proteins and Nucleic Acids Edited by H. Frauenfelder, J. Deisenhofer, and P.G. Wolynes 1999 Dahlem University Press structures of these components are established at atomic resolution and functionally relevant architectural elements are recognized. Finally, through refined observation and theoretical analyses of these elements, the physical mechanisms exploited by the organism to achieve the function are determined.
Pulling back error to the hidden-node parameter technology: Single-hidden-layer feedforward network without output weight

According to conventional neural network theories, the feature of single-hidden-layer feedforward neural networks(SLFNs) resorts to parameters of the weighted connections and hidden nodes. SLFNs are universal approximators when at least the parameters of the networks including hidden-node parameter and output weight are exist. Unlike above neural network theories, this paper indicates that in order to let SLFNs work as universal approximators, one may simply calculate the hidden node parameter only and the output weight is not needed at all. In other words, this proposed neural network architecture can be considered as a standard SLFNs with fixing output weight equal to an unit vector. Further more, this paper presents experiments which show that the proposed learning method tends to extremely reduce network output error to a very small number with only 1 hidden node. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can provide several to thousands of times faster than other learning algorithm including BP, SVM/SVR and other ELM methods.
How (and why) twisting cycles make individual MWCNTs stiffer

Torsion of MWCNTs entails bumpy nanoscopic interwall phenomena, which gradually enhance the microscopic interwall coupling. This effect is likely to be confined at the ends of the suspended portions of the CNT, the structural changes required to link the outer wall to the inner ones being probably triggered by a complex interaction with the metal deposited onto the nanotube.
QUANTITATIVE SINGLE MOLECULE ANALYSIS OF ANCHORING PROTEIN OF THE INHIBITORY SYNAPSE

Francesca Pennacchietti, Sebastiano Vascon, Alessio Del Bue, Enrica Maria Petrini, Andrea Barberis, Alberto Diaspro, Francesca Cella Zanacchi 1 Nanoscopy, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, Genoa, Italy 2 Pattern Analysis and Computer Vision, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, Genoa, Italy 3 Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, Genoa, Italy 4 Nikon Imaging Center @ IIT, Genoa, Italy 5 Università di Genova, Department of Physics, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genoa, Italy
WSJCAM0: A BRITISH ENGLISH SPEECH CORPUS FOR LARGE VOCABULARY CONTINUOUS SPEECH RECOGNITION

A signiicant new speech corpus of British English has been recorded at Cambridge University. Derived from the Wall Street Journal text corpus, WSJCAM0 constitutes one of the largest corpora of spoken British English currently in existence. It has been speciically designed for the construction and evaluation of speaker-independent speech recognition systems. The database consists of 140 speakers each speaking about 110 utterances. This paper describes the motivation for the corpus , the processes undertaken in its construction and the utilities needed as support tools. All utterance transcriptions have been veriied and a phonetic dictionary has been developed to cover the training data and evaluation tasks. Two evaluation tasks have been deened using standard 5,000 word bigram and 20,000 word trigram language models. The paper concludes with comparative results on these tasks for British and American English.
Creative Destruction and Innovative Core: Is Innovation Persistent at the Firm Level? An empirical reexamination from CIS data comparing the propensity score and regression methods

At the macroeconomic level, the persistence of innovation allows sustainable growth. But does growth come from the same set of firms or originate always from different innovators? On this point, the assumptions of endogenous growth models differ and innovation persistence at the macroeconomic level can be supported by different firm-level behavioural assumptions. The aim of this article is twofold. First, we evaluate the empirical pertinence of the different views of the dynamics of the innovative process by estimating the degree of innovation persistence at the firm level. Secondly, we explore the determinants of innovation persistence by testing the empirical implications of three theoretical models. We show that the innovation persistence is essential at the firm level and that the origin of the persistence depends on the size of the firm.
Effects of Aroclor 1254 on In Vivo Oocyte Maturation in the Mouse

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are stable, lipophilic compounds that accumulate in the environment and in the food chain. Though some studies provided evidence that PCBs had adverse effects on reproductive function, most of these results were from in vitro models. Therefore we investigated the effect of Aroclor 1254 (a commercial PCBs mixture) treatments on in vivo maturation and developmental potential of mouse oocytes. In the present study, female ICR mice were treated with different doses (12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg) of Aroclor 1254 (a commercial PCB mixture) once every 72 hours by intraperitoneal injection for 9 days. After three treatments of Aroclor 1254, the mice were superovulated to collect oocytes one day after the last exposure. The effects of Aroclor 1254 on oocyte maturation, fertilization, and preimplantation embryonic development were investigated. Immunofluorescence-stained oocytes were observed under a confocal microscope to assess the effects of Aroclor 1254 on spindle morphology. Parthenogenic activation and the incidence of cumulus apoptosis in cumulus-oocyte complexes were observed as well. Oocytes exposed to different doses of Aroclor 1254 in vivo were associated with a significant decrease in outgrowth potential, abnormal spindle configurations, and the inhibition of parthenogenetic activation of ovulated oocytes. Furthermore, the incidence of apoptosis in cumulus cells was increased after exposed to Aroclor 1254. These results may provide reference for the treatment of reproductive diseases such as infertility or miscarriage caused by environmental contaminants.
Photovoltaic Forecasting: A state of the art

Photovoltaic (PV) energy, together with other renewable energy sources, has been undergoing a rapid development in recent years. Integration of intermittent energy sources as PV or wind power is challenging in terms of power system management in large scale systems as well as in small grids. Indeed, PV energy is a variable resource that is difficult to predict due to meteorological uncertainty. To facilitate the penetration of PV energy, forecasting methods and techniques have been used. Being able to predict the future behavior of a PV plant is very important in order to schedule and manage the alternative supplies and the reserves. In this paper we presented an overview aiming at a classification attending to the different techniques of forecasting methods used for PV or solar prediction. Finally, recent new approaches that take into account the uncertainty of the estimation are introduced. First results of these kind of models are presented.
The Effect of Uncertainty in Exposure Estimation on the Exposure-Response Relation between 1,3-Butadiene and Leukemia

In a follow-up study of mortality among North American synthetic rubber industry workers, cumulative exposure to 1,3-butadiene was positively associated with leukemia. Problems with historical exposure estimation, however, may have distorted the association. To evaluate the impact of potential inaccuracies in exposure estimation, we conducted uncertainty analyses of the relation between cumulative exposure to butadiene and leukemia. We created the 1,000 sets of butadiene estimates using job-exposure matrices consisting of exposure values that corresponded to randomly selected percentiles of the approximate probability distribution of plant-, work area/job group-, and year specific butadiene ppm. We then analyzed the relation between cumulative exposure to butadiene and leukemia for each of the 1,000 sets of butadiene estimates. In the uncertainty analysis, the point estimate of the RR for the first non zero exposure category (>0–<37.5 ppm-years) was most likely to be about 1.5. The rate ratio for the second exposure category (37.5–<184.7 ppm-years) was most likely to range from 1.5 to 1.8. The RR for category 3 of exposure (184.7–<425.0 ppm-years) was most likely between 2.1 and 3.0. The RR for the highest exposure category (425.0+ ppm-years) was likely to be between 2.9 and 3.7. This range off RR point estimates can best be interpreted as a probability distribution that describes our uncertainty in RR point estimates due to uncertainty in exposure estimation. After considering the complete probability distributions of butadiene exposure estimates, the exposure-response association of butadiene and leukemia was maintained. This exercise was a unique example of how uncertainty analyses can be used to investigate and support an observed measure of effect when occupational exposure estimates are employed in the absence of direct exposure measurements.
Glucocorticoids in the treatment of early and late RA

A little GC, like a glass of wine, may benefit many people, whereas a high dose of GC, like a bottle of wine, is harmful to all At the 2003 meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) a debate on the advantages and disadvantages of glucocorticoids (GCs) in the treatment of early and late rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was held, with some authors putting the case for, and others the case against, such treatment (presentations now available online: http://www.rheumatology.org). Some new data emerged, and this paper summarises the arguments and the existing and new data. Hench was awarded the Nobel prize in 1950 for the discovery of GCs and their effect in established RA. However, subsequently disillusionment with GCs set in, caused by the rapid appearance of unacceptable side effects of long term high dose treatment, and loss of efficacy at lower dosing. The dogma became that treatment with systemic GCs caused only temporary symptomatic relief, led to habituation with danger of ever increasing doses necessary to maintain effect, and that chronic treatment universally caused unacceptable side effects. Therefore, such treatment was often only considered as a last resort. An associated idea was that RA was in most cases a benign disease, which, although incurable, caused significant disability in only a minority of cases. The combination of these ideas caused most rheumatologists to limit treatment to traditional schemes that emphasised rest, lifestyle adjustment, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and spa treatment. In unresponsive cases antirheumatic drugs such as intramuscular gold were advised. A paradigm shift was initiated by Wilske and Healey, who argued that the pyramid should be inverted and aggressive treatment should be started early.1 This was based on the appearance of long term outcome studies that recorded the dismal prognosis of many patients when followed up for a …
Visual orientation and motion control of MAKRO: adaptation to the sewer environment

Adaptation has become an important aspect of robot design. The work here describes the perception and motion control of MAKRO - an autonomous robot for sewer inspection - from the point of view of MAKRO's adaptation to specific features of the sewer environment. Two features are crucial for MAKRO's adaptation. First, narrow sewer pipes connected into a unified system via junctions, compose a graph-like structure with rather constraint surface geometry. Second, a sewer interior is absolutely dark. The visual sensing of MAKRO is not only well adapted to these specific conditions, in fact it benefits from them. Visual orientation by a hybrid vision system gives rise to a rather simple vision model, which is capable of supporting real time orientation in the sewer. This instantiates an important principle of embodied cognition, which states that adaptation of an agent to an environment allows the use of simple principles of "cheap vision" for navigation purposes. Moreover, a fast visual processing enables MAKRO to react rapidly to events in its surroundings. This in turn, changes our approach to movement control: MAKRO does not act in the "plan - move" fashion; instead, it explores the environment, updates its heading and finds the right direction for the next move in real time. This leads to a second principle of the current work: if visual orientation of an agent operates in real time, all that is required for its successful navigation is to continuously update the right direction of motion. Navigation of MAKRO gives a powerful demonstration of how adaptation to an ecological niche and the exploitation of environmental constraints can lead to extraordinarily robust performance in a mobile robot.
Tourist destination governance: practice, theory and issues.

This book examines the political order and the issues, processes and approaches in applying governance insights to tourist destinations. The book consists of 16 chapters presented in three parts. Part I introduces the reader to the issues and considerations of tourist destination governance. The four chapters in this part address the diversity of questions of relevance around regional destination development, community involvement, responsiveness and future outcomes of governance in the context of tourism. This includes an exploration of a variety of challenges regarding governance in emerging tourist destinations within the Greater Mekong in Asia, the conflicts in governance within a regional community in Scotland which has had a long history of golf tourism, the development of a typology of issues and pressures that affect tourist destination governance and the role of knowledge in good governance for tourist destinations. Part II explores the complexities and considerations of decision making and the significant role it plays in its specific relevance to tourist destination governance and tourism development within regional communities. In acknowledging that tourist destination development may involve contentious, complicated and arduous processes, this part recognizes that decision making has a prominent role to play in achieving effectiveness in governance. The three chapters in this part examine tourist destination decision making during times of crisis in Thailand, stakeholder roles in governance and decision making for a wildlife tour in Tonga, and the utilization of community involvement and empowerment as keys to success in regional tourist destinations. Part III provides further understanding regarding the approaches and solutions of tourist destination governance. This includes aspects of structural change, community engagement, networks and collaborations in the context of destinations. The five chapters in this part include the exploration of a process of governance change within a broader mountain tourist destination in Switzerland, utilizing effective networks as assistance to governance in destinations, community-based tourism governance solutions in a case study in Thailand and insights from complexity, network and stakeholder theories as approaches, including an understanding of a micro-macro context of tourist destination governance at its local/regional and national level. The concluding chapter examines the theory and methodology of governance studies, provide insights for tourist destination managers and researchers, and identify opportunities for further research into destination governance issues. This chapter discusses the application of governance concepts to other countries' governance and issues of conceptual importance, such as the need for ideology in the discussion of governance. This raises the question: does good governance of a tourist destination have to be based on democratic principles? Finally, the chapter looks at the concept of governance effectiveness.
Explaining Ghana's Recent Good Cocoa Karma: Smuggling Incentive Argument

The paper contends that the current boom in cocoa exports from Ghana is primarily in response to reversal in price incentives to smuggle Ghana cocoa to La Cote d’Ivoire and not due to productivity gains in the Ghana cocoa supply chain. Using recent data; ADF, Perron and KPSS tests of stationarity; Engle and Granger and Johansen co-integration tests; Granger causality tests; single and vector error correction models; as well as partial adjustment models, we estimate the Ghana cocoa supply response to determine the most pertinent factors that explain the cocoa boom. Different from previous research, the VECM and ECM models are modified to be more reflective of current conditions in the Ghana cocoa sector by including prices of relevant substitutes in cocoa production. Furthermore we carefully account for the time series properties of the data and address endogeneity problems that plague the estimation. For example, in testing for the order of integration of different series, we account for the possible existence of structural breaks. We find that the “price incentive to smuggle” argument adequately explains the current boom in Ghana cocoa supply response. This finding is important because it questions claims in the literature that substantial productivity gains in the cocoa sector in response to good policy is the main reason behind the Ghana cocoa export boom.