Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Passive Acoustic Tracking of Cetaceans using Chirplet Transform

To study the behavior of marine mammals, dolphins, whales, and porpoises, etc., unobtrusively without influencing their behavior, a passive acoustic tracking system is used to accurately estimate the location and track of such animals. We introduce a new method to track underwater animals. We utilize chirplet transform to estimate differential delays-Dopplers between pairs of sensors of an array from the received acoustic signal, and use extended Kalman filter (EKF) for tracking. Since the acoustic signals from these animals are inherently non-stationary, the time-frequency processing of the received wavefront is required. The performance of our method is illustrated on real data, where a whale song is contaminated with simulated underwater noise in different signal-to-noise ratios.
Documentary Research Method: New Dimensions

This paper explores the documentary research method (DSM) in social research and aims to provide a general understanding of the DSM as well as specific tools for its successful implementation. In recent years, although a number of social research scholars discuss the importance of documentary research but this method has had little attention as compared to other methods. The DSM tools can be utilized in all fields where the documentary method is prominent, including business, anthropology, communications, economics, education, medicine, political science, social work, and sociology. In social science research the use of documentary sources is often overlooked. This paper argues that although the documentary research method is not very popular in social science research but it is nevertheless acceptable as a scientific research method. This article reveals assessing the validity of documentary data as well as the value of documentary research.
Functional MRI for neurofeedback: feasibility studyon a hand motor task

We present an fMRI-based method that enables subjects to monitor and actively modulate their own brain activity as a form of biofeedback. On a 1.5 T clinical MR scanner, functional areas during a simple hand motor task were delineated by detecting signal variations associated with the brain activity. Then, the subject adopted a different strategy to expand the activation in motor and somatosensory areas that were not activated previously. Statistical maps of brain activity were visually presented back to the subject, being updated at the end of each segmented rest-task block in near real-time manner. Our results suggest that the visual feedback of the functional brain activation maps guided subjects to adjust their task performance to achieve the desired modulation of cortical activity. This method may offer a potential utility for fMRI-based neurofeedback.
Identification of Languages in Algerian Arabic Multilingual Documents

This paper presents a language identification system designed to detect the language of each word, in its context, in a multilingual documents as generated in social media by bilingual/multilingual communities, in our case speakers of Algerian Arabic. We frame the task as a sequence tagging problem and use supervised machine learning with standard methods like HMM and Ngram classification tagging. We also experiment with a lexicon-based method. Combining all the methods in a fall-back mechanism and introducing some linguistic rules, to deal with unseen tokens and ambiguous words, gives an overall accuracy of 93.14%. Finally, we introduced rules for language identification from sequences of recognised words.
PUB_BIAS: A SAS ® Macro for Detecting Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis

Publication bias is one threat to validity that researchers conducting meta-analysis studies confront. Although statistical methods for detecting publication bias have surfaced in the literature (e.g., Begg Rank Correlation, Egger Regression, Funnel Plot Regression, and Trim & Fill), many researchers rely on visual inspection of funnel plots. This program was created to provide meta-analysts with the ability to implement statistical methods to detect publication bias. Statistical information from the corpus of studies (i.e., effect sizes and sample sizes) is input in this SAS macro and analyzed for potential publication bias using the above mentioned statistical methods. In addition to the p-value associated with each detection method the program output provides the estimated mean effect size and random effects variance component. The application of the SAS/IML programming on two sets of example data (with and without publication bias) is provided along with the macro programming language.
Assessment of community-submitted ontology annotations from a novel database-journal partnership

As the scientific literature grows, leading to an increasing volume of published experimental data, so does the need to access and analyze this data using computational tools. The most commonly used method to convert published experimental data on gene function into controlled vocabulary annotations relies on a professional curator, employed by a model organism database or a more general resource such as UniProt, to read published articles and compose annotation statements based on the articles' contents. A more cost-effective and scalable approach capable of capturing gene function data across the whole range of biological research organisms in computable form is urgently needed. We have analyzed a set of ontology annotations generated through collaborations between the Arabidopsis Information Resource and several plant science journals. Analysis of the submissions entered using the online submission tool shows that most community annotations were well supported and the ontology terms chosen were at an appropriate level of specificity. Of the 503 individual annotations that were submitted, 97% were approved and community submissions captured 72% of all possible annotations. This new method for capturing experimental results in a computable form provides a cost-effective way to greatly increase the available body of annotations without sacrificing annotation quality. Database URL: www.arabidopsis. org
Beamforming-based broadcast scheme for multihop wireless networks with transmission range adjustment

We investigate here the following fundamental question - how can we achieve a high reachability while minimizing the inherent effects of high transmission power for a beamforming-based broadcast scheme in multihop wireless networks? To address this challenge, this paper proposes a fully distributed scheme that allows nodes to set dynamically their transmission range based on their local densities and the distance to the destination. The efficiency of this technique is studied first in a vehicular environment using real road network-based simulations. Furthermore, the proposal is evaluated using a simplified node distribution scheme and an analytical model is derived to calculate the transmission area.
Identification of Novel Variants in Colorectal Cancer Families by High-Throughput Exome Sequencing

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) in densely affected families without Lynch Syndrome may be due to mutations in undiscovered genetic loci. Familial linkage analyses have yielded disparate results; the use of exome sequencing in coding regions may identify novel segregating variants. Methods: We completed exome sequencing on 40 affected cases from 16 multicase pedigrees to identify novel loci. Variants shared among all sequenced cases within each family were identified and filtered to exclude common variants and single-nucleotide variants (SNV) predicted to be benign. Results: We identified 32 nonsense or splice-site SNVs, 375 missense SNVs, 1,394 synonymous or noncoding SNVs, and 50 indels in the 16 families. Of particular interest are two validated and replicated missense variants in CENPE and KIF23, which are both located within previously reported CRC linkage regions, on chromosomes 1 and 15, respectively. Conclusions: Whole-exome sequencing identified DNA variants in multiple genes. Additional sequencing of these genes in additional samples will further elucidate the role of variants in these regions in CRC susceptibility. Impact: Exome sequencing of familial CRC cases can identify novel rare variants that may influence disease risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 22(7); 1239–51. ©2013 AACR.
Automatic Evaluation of Summaries Using Document Graphs

Summarization evaluation has been always a challenge to researchers in the document summarization field. Usually, human involvement is necessary to evaluate the quality of a summary. Here we present a new method for automatic evaluation of text summaries by using document graphs. Data from Document Understanding Conference 2002 (DUC-2002) has been used in the experiment. We propose measuring the similarity between two summaries or between a summary and a document based on the concepts/entities and relations between them in the text.
Automated Grammatical Analysis of Language Samples from Spanish-Speaking Children Learning English

AUTOMATED GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE SAMPLES FROM SPANISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN LEARNING ENGLISH Nikki Redd Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Master of Science Research has demonstrated that automated grammatical tagging is fast and accurate for both English and Spanish child language, but there has been no research done regarding its accuracy with bilingual children. The present study examined this topic using English and Spanish language samples taken from 254 children living in the United States. The subjects included school-aged children enrolled in public schools in the United States in grades 2, 3, or 5. The present study found high automated grammatical tagging accuracy scores for both English (M = 96.4%) and Spanish (M = 96.8%). The study suggests that automated grammatical analysis has potential to be a valuable tool for clinicians in the analysis of the language of bilingual children. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I could not have completed this thesis on my own. I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Ron Channell, for his constant support and guidance. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Martin Fujiki and Dr. Shawn Nissen for their input and advice. I express my appreciation for my family and friends for their support during my thesis and throughout my education.
An adaptive early skip mode decision scheme for multiview video coding

In this work a novel scheme is proposed for adaptive early SKIP mode decision in the multiview video coding based on mode correlation in the 3D-neighborhood, variance, and ratedistortion properties. Our scheme employs an adaptive thresholding mechanism in order to react to the changing values of Quantization Parameter (QP). Experimental results demonstrate that our scheme provides a consistent time saving over a wide range of QP values. Compared to the exhaustive mode decision, our scheme provides a significant reduction in the encoding complexity (up to 77%) at the cost of a small PSNR loss (0.172 dB in average). Compared to state-of-the-art, our scheme provides an average 2× higher complexity reduction with a relatively higher PSNR value (avg. 0.2 dB).
Adaptive Strategies for Speeding Up Sequences of Consensus

The Paxos-MIC protocol allows to solve a sequence of consensus instances in an unreliable asynchronous system. It follows the basic principles of Paxos and uses two optimizations of this protocol: a safe one, So that is always activated and a risky one, Ro. The paper focuses on the interest of Ro that has been introduced by Lamport in the Fast Paxos protocol. We study the optimization Ro in favorable and unfavorable scenarios where it may lead to an additional cost. Paxos-MIC is adaptive as it tries to obtain the best performance gain depending on the current context. Indeed, between two consecutive consensus instances, the leader determines if Ro has to be triggered or not. In the particular context of a secure Web architecture whose design relies on a consensus service, we use a trace that contains all the HTTP requests addressed to a real Web site during a period of 16 days. We propose different triggering criteria and we analyze their accuracy to predict collisions when proposed values are produced at the rate observed in this trace.
Contributing Evidence to Data-driven Ontology Evaluation - Workflow Ontologies Perspective

Ontologies have established themselves as the single most important semantic web technology. They have attracted widespread interest from both academic and industrial domains. This has led to an increase in ontologies created. It has become apparent that more than one ontology may model the same domain yet they can be very different. The question then is, how do you determine which ontology best fits your purposes? This paper endeavours to answer this question by reviewing relevant literature and instantiating the data-driven ontology evaluation methodology in the context of workflow ontologies. This evaluation methodology is then evaluated through statistical means particularly the Kruskal-Wallis test and further post hoc testing using the Mann-Whiteny U test.
LGBTQ Alumni Philanthropy

Using a constructivist case study analysis, we explore philanthropy toward higher education among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) alumni, examining how a person’s LGBTQ identity and experiences (un)consciously affects his, her, or hir1 decision to give philanthropically. Data come from focus groups with 37 advancement staff and 23 LGBTQ alumni at two research extensive universities. Findings reveal unconscious influences of LGBTQ identities on giving, importance of campus climate for LGBTQ individuals, and LGBTQ alumni affinity group involvement. We draw implications from our findings, discussing the need to create a warm campus climate for current students, increase and encourage involvement within LGBTQ affinity groups, systematize data collection to include LGBTQ identities, and develop culturally sensitive solicitations.
SOCIAL CONTEXT, ETHNIC IDENTITY, AND ETHNOCULTURAL EMPATHY

of SOCIAL CONTEXT, ETHNIC IDENTITY, AND ETHNOCULTURAL EMPATHY by Patty Nguyen Research on ethnicity suggests that people’s understanding of ethnicity is embedded in a system of levels and the degree to which a setting is ethnically diverse may shape how people understand and identify with their ethnicity and related attitudes and emotions. Drawing on this body of work, this study investigated how ethnocultural empathy may vary by the ethnic composition of social context for White Americans and ethnic minority group members and how it may vary for ethnic minority group members with different ethnic identity levels. One-hundred and thirty-three undergraduate students served as participants and completed a questionnaire packet assessing percent diversity of social settings participants resided in, their ethnic identity, and their ethnocultural empathy. The results showed a strong ethnicity and ethnic identity effect with ethnic minority participants reporting greater ethnocultural empathy than White American participants and those ethnic minorities with a stronger ethnic identity reporting greater ethnocultural empathy. , Committee Chair Greg M. Kim, Ph.D. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Greg Kim, without whom this thesis would not be of the quality it is today. I appreciate his continued support and patience during this thesis process. I would also like to express my gratitude to my committee members, Dr. Larry Meyers and Dr. Gregory Mark, for their guidance, support, and feedback during my graduate studies. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents for their unending love and support throughout my academic career.
Ecommerce: Channel or Strategy? Insights from a Comparative Case Study

The transformation of traditional offline operations into digitally integrated offline-online environment has been a difficult challenge for firms from both operational and strategic perspectives, and has become a major topic of research for scholars. We conducted a comparative case study to explore an emerging trend – the convergence of offline and online operations and strategies. This study extends disruptive innovation theory by emphasizing the interactive effect between firms and customers on organizational innovation in the ecommerce environment. We demonstrate that treating online ecommerce as a channel innovation is an essential problem that pushes many traditional firms into a transformational dilemma. We further explore two successful transformational paths and strategies used by our case firms: the resource-complement sustaining renewal and the resource-substitute disruptive renewal. This study provides a theoretical understanding and a practical guide to firms that transform from traditional offline mode to digital online/offline mode.
Susceptibility of the Common Hamster (Cricetus cricetus) to Francisella tularensis and Its Effect on the Epizootiology of Tularemia in an Area Where Both Are Endemic

Francisella tularensis is a highly infectious zoonotic agent causing the disease tularemia. The common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) is considered a pest in eastern Europe, and believed to be a source of human tularemia infections. We examined the role of the common hamster in the natural cycle of tularemia using serologic methods on 900 hamsters and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on 100 hamsters in an endemic agricultural area. We collected 374 Ixodes acuminatus ticks from the hamsters and tested them by real-time PCR. All tests were negative. To examine clinical signs, pathology, and histopathology of acute tularemia infection similar to the natural infection, two hamsters were infected with a large dose of a wild strain of F. tularensis ssp. holarctica. After a short period of apathy, the animals died on the eighth and ninth days postinfection. The pathologic, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical examination contributed to the diagnosis of septicemia in both cases. Our results confirmed previous findings that common hamsters are highly sensitive to F. tularensis. We conclude that although septicemic hamsters may pose substantial risk to humans during tularemia outbreaks, hamsters in interepizootic periods do not act as a main reservoir of F. tularensis.
Aminooxypentane-RANTES Induces CCR5 Internalization but Inhibits Recycling: A Novel Inhibitory Mechanism of HIV Infectivity

CCR5, a chemokine receptor expressed on T cells and macrophages, is the principal coreceptor for M-tropic HIV-1 strains. Recently, we described an NH2-terminal modification of the CCR5 ligand regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), aminooxypentane-RANTES (AOP-RANTES), that showed potent inhibition of macrophage infection by HIV-1 under conditions where RANTES was barely effective. To investigate the mechanism of AOP-RANTES inhibition of HIV infectivity we examined the surface expression of CCR5 using a monoclonal anti-CCR5 antibody, MC-1. We demonstrate that AOP-RANTES rapidly caused >90% decrease in cell surface expression of CCR5 on lymphocytes, monocytes/ macrophages, and CCR5 transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. RANTES also caused a loss of cell surface CCR5, although its effect was less than with AOP-RANTES. Significantly, AOP-RANTES inhibited recycling of internalized CCR5 to the cell surface, whereas RANTES did not. When peripheral blood mononuclear cells are cultured for prolonged periods of time in the presence of RANTES, CCR5 expression is comparable to that seen on cells treated with control medium, whereas there is no CCR5 surface expression on cells cultured in the presence of AOP-RANTES. Immunofluorescence indicated that both AOP-RANTES and RANTES induced downmodulation of cell surface CCR5, and that the receptor was redistributed into endocytic organelles containing the transferrin receptor. When RANTES was removed, the internalized receptor was recycled to the cell surface; however, the receptor internalized in the presence of AOP-RANTES was retained in endosomes. Using human osteosarcoma (GHOST) 34/CCR5 cells, the potency of AOP-RANTES and RANTES to inhibit infection by the M-tropic HIV-1 strain, SF 162, correlated with the degree of downregulation of CCR5 induced by the two chemokines. These differences between AOP-RANTES and RANTES in their effect on receptor downregulation and recycling suggest a mechanism for the potent inhibition of HIV infection by AOP-RANTES. Moreover, these results support the notion that receptor internalization and inhibition of receptor recycling present new targets for therapeutic agents to prevent HIV infection.
Markov chain Monte Carlo without likelihoods

Many stochastic simulation approaches for generating observations from a posterior distribution depend on knowing a likelihood function. However, for many complex probability models, such likelihoods are either impossible or computationally prohibitive to obtain. Here we present a Markov chain Monte Carlo method for generating observations from a posterior distribution without the use of likelihoods. It can also be used in frequentist applications, in particular for maximum-likelihood estimation. The approach is illustrated by an example of ancestral inference in population genetics. A number of open problems are highlighted in the discussion.
The Role of Psychological Capital in Psychological Well-Being and Job Burnout of High Schools Principals in Saveh, Iran

Background: Job burnout is the main problem that a large number of organizations are facing and pertains to various factors. Psychological capital is among the main factors affecting individuals’ Psychological well-being and job burnout. Objectives: The present study aimed to explore the correlation between psychological capital and psychological well-being with job burnout of the management staff of high schools in Saveh, Iran, in 2015. Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive-correlative study. Statistical population of the study was the management staff working as managers and their assistants in high schools in Saveh in Markezi province of Iran. Almost all principals in high schools in Saveh (116 subjects) were selected as participants. Data were collected through the Luthans psychological capital, the Ryff psychological well-being, and the Maslach job burnout questionnaires. Then, data are analyzed step by step through Pearson correlation and regression analysis. Results: There was a significant association between psychological capital and psychological well-being at 0.01 as level of significance. There was also a significant negative correlation between psychological capital and job burnout at 0.05 as level of significance. Conclusions: The finding showed a negative correlation between psychological capital and job burnout among school managers and their assistants. It appears that psychological capital could increase psychological well-being and reduce job burnout, and paying enough attention to this issue could improve the instructional performance of schools.
Personalized user interfaces for product configuration

Configuration technologies are well established as a foundation of mass customization which is a production paradigm that supports the manufacturing of highly-variant products under pricing conditions similar to mass production. A side-effect of the high diversity of products offered by a configurator is that the complexity of the alternatives may outstrip a user's capability to explore them and make a buying decision. In order to improve the quality of configuration processes, we combine knowledge-based configuration with collaborative and content-based recommendation algorithms. In this paper we present configuration techniques that recommend personalized default values to users. Results of an empirical study show improvements in terms of, for example, user satisfaction or the quality of the configuration process.