Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Spectral Properties of Sunlit and Shaded Components in Rice Canopies with Near-Ground Imaging Spectroscopy Data

Monitoring the components of crop canopies with remote sensing can help us understand the within-canopy variation in spectral properties and resolve the sources of uncertainties in the spectroscopic estimation of crop foliar chemistry. To date, the spectral properties of leaves and panicles in crop canopies and the shadow effects on their spectral variation remain poorly understood due to the insufficient spatial resolution of traditional spectroscopy data. To address this issue, we used a near-ground imaging spectroscopy system with high spatial and spectral resolutions to examine the spectral properties of rice leaves and panicles in sunlit and shaded portions of canopies and evaluate the effect of shadows on the relationships between spectral indices of leaves and foliar chlorophyll content. The results demonstrated that the shaded components exhibited lower reflectance amplitude but stronger absorption features than their sunlit counterparts. Specifically, the reflectance spectra of panicles had unique double-peak absorption features in the blue region. Among the examined vegetation indices (VIs), significant differences were found in the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) between leaves and panicles and further differences in the transformed chlorophyll absorption reflectance index (TCARI) between sunlit and shaded components. After an image-level separation of canopy components with these two indices, statistical analyses revealed much higher correlations between canopy chlorophyll content and both PRI and TCARI of shaded leaves than for those of sunlit leaves. In contrast, the red edge chlorophyll index (CIRed-edge) exhibited the strongest correlations with canopy chlorophyll content among all vegetation indices examined regardless of shadows on leaves. These findings represent significant advances in the understanding of rice leaf and panicle spectral properties under natural light conditions and demonstrate the significance of commonly overlooked shaded leaves in the canopy when correlated to canopy chlorophyll content.
Model-Based Security Verification and Testing for Smart-cards

Model-Based Testing (MBT) is a widely used methodology for generating tests aiming to ensure that the system behaviour conforms to its specification. Recently, it has been successfully applied for testing certain security properties. However, for the success of this approach, it is an important prerequisite to consider the correctness of test models with respect to the given security property. In this paper we present an approach for smart-card specific security properties that permits to validate the system with MBT from test schemas. We combine this MBT approach with UMLsec security verification technique, by using UMLsec stereotypes to verify the model w.r. t. given security properties and gain more confidence in the model. We then define an automatic procedure to generate security test from the UMLsec model via so-called "test schemas". We validate this approach on a fragment of the Global Platform specification and report on available tool support.
Study on Age Invariant Face Recognition System

At present the Computer automated Face recognition systems are used for personal identification, but the Age variations of an individual poses a serious problem for it. Designing an appropriate feature representation and an effective matching framework for age invariant face recognition remains an open problem. In this paper we have focused on the use of appropriate Pre processing techniques for improving the quality of the input image and the use of Periocular region as the template for recognition as this region remains unchanged or stable for the lifetime in an individual. The modified PCA algorithm called the Self-PCA is used for creating the Eigen Face for feature extraction for the recognition process. The Self-PCA can be used in order to consider distinctiveness of the effects of aging of a person for age invariant face recognition. KeywordsBiometrics, Eigen Space, Face Recognition, Illumination Normalization, Periocular, Preprocessing, Pose correction, Self-PCA.
Domestic violence and alcohol: what is known and what do we need to know to encourage environmental interventions?

This paper reviews evidence regarding alcohol and domestic violence, including cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys, experimental studies of aggression and marital conflict, event-based research, and intervention studies with alcoholics. Based on this review, it is concluded that alcohol is a contributing cause in domestic violence, but neither a necessary nor sufficient cause. In addition, the evidence suggests that intoxication in the perpetrator of violence does not appear to excuse his aggression, but that intoxication in the victim is often viewed as an excuse for the perpetrator's behavior. Based on this review, several tentative policy implications are discussed. In general, policies that reduce drinking, aggressive tendencies and conflict should have beneficial effects. Alcohol intervention/prevention should focus on men in the early stages of aggressive behavior and should include goals of reduced intoxication and management of anger/conflict. For more severe populations, alcohol interventions might have a beneficial impact, but they must be included as additional requirements in the overall criminal justice response, not as an alternative for other requirements. Finally, it is critical that research regarding alcohol and domestic violence move beyond simple studies of association and begin to frame these questions with an eye toward policy implications.
Information Media and Source Patterns Across Management Levels: A Pilot Study

Abstract:This paper reports a pilot study designed to investigate media and source patterns for managerial information systems across three hierarchical levels of management. Our basic hypothesis is that media and source patterns will differ by management level. Eight executives in a large energy company were used to investigate the hypothesis: three senior executives, three middle-level executives, and two lower-level executives.Portions of an earlier version of this paper were presented at the 1986 annual meeting of the Decision Sciences Institute.Findings from this pilot study indicate that information media and source patterns do vary across management level. Specifically, it is reported that (1) lower-level managers favor the use of such information-rich media as observation tours, meals, and social activities and depend on external sources more than originally suspected, (2) mid-level managers depend on such media as the telephone and written, addressed documents to discharge their responsibilities,.
Antecedents and Consequences of Teacher Organizational and Professional Commitment

The purpose of the present study was to examine the distinctive relationships of teacher professional and organizational commitment with participation in decision making and with organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The data were collected through questionnaires from a sample of 983 teachers at 25 middle schools and 27 high schools in Israel. The results of the structural equation model confirmed the main hypotheses and depicted distinctive patterns of relationships regarding professional commitment and organizational commitment in schools. First, whereas participation in the managerial domain was positively associated with both the professional and the organizational commitment, participation in the technical domain was positively related with only teachers’ professional commitment. Second, professional commitment was positively associated with OCBtoward the student, whereas organizational commitment was positively associated with all three dimensions of OCB(toward the student, the team, and the organization). Implications of the study findings are discussed in relation to teachers and administrators in schools.
An uncertainty decoding approach to noise- and reverberation-robust speech recognition

The generic REMOS (REverberation MOdeling for robust Speech recognition) concept is extended in this contribution to cope with additional noise components. REMOS originally embeds an explicit reverberation model into a hiddenMarkov model (HMM) leading to a relaxed conditional independence assumption for the observed feature vectors. During recognition, a nonlinear optimization problem is to be solved in order to adapt the HMMs' output probability density functions to the current reverberation conditions. The extension for additional noise components necessitates a modified numerical solver for the nonlinear optimization problem. We propose an approximation scheme based on continuous piecewise linear regression. Connected-digit recognition experiments demonstrate the potential of REMOS in reverberant and noisy environments. They furthermore reveal that the benefit of an explicit reverberation model, overcoming the conditional independence assumption, increases with increasing signal-to-noise-ratios.
The influence of teacher education on preservice development: beyond a custodial orientation.

Of increasing interest to educational researchers is the process of learning to teach and the role that teacher education plays. The teacher-socialization program of research has provided the most inclusive theoretical structure for such investigation. Unfortunately, this program has been discouraging. The outcomes indicate (a) a survival-oriented approach to teaching of the preservice student and (b) limited positive influence of teacher education on this development. Fortunately, evidence has emerged that poses a more encouraging, progressive view. This evidence stems from classroom research on the development of preservice students' perspectives on teaching. The purpose of this article is to review the outcomes from this literature and to identify possible implications for physical education teacher education (PETE). This paper focuses on four dimensions: (a) an overview of the construct of teacher perspectives, (b) the characteristics of the more progressive perspectives of the teacher education stude.
Grounded Action Transformation for Robot Learning in Simulation

Robot learning in simulation is a promising alternative to the prohibitive sample cost of learning in the physical world. Unfortunately, policies learned in simulation often perform worse than hand-coded policies when applied on the physical robot. This paper proposes a new algorithm for learning in simulation — Grounded Action Transformation — and applies it to learning of humanoid bipedal locomotion. Our approach results in a 43.27% improvement in forward walk velocity compared to a state-of-the art hand-coded walk.
Minimizing Content Reorganization and Tolerating Imperfect Workload Prediction for Cloud-Based Video-on-Demand Services

Video-on-demand (VoD) services historically rely on commercial content distribution networks (CDNs) for on-demand capacity provisioning. Content providers gradually prefer a self-managed content infrastructure because of its full control and customization. However, such a dedicated physical infrastructure could be costly in initial capital investment, and complex in management. It has become a promising alternative to host VoD services on pay-as-you-go cloud platforms, on which using dynamic server provisioning to reduce server rental cost is the key objective of content providers. In this paper we address two major challenges to reducing cost: to minimize content reorganization and to tolerate imperfect workload prediction. We first present a practical VoD servicing system design based on a pay-as-you-go cloud. We prove that previous works, focusing exclusively on cost savings, cause significant content reorganization and are vulnerable to imperfect workload prediction. To address such issues, we propose a novel idea called workload absorber, and design a provisioning algorithm called Absorb Window based on the idea. Workload absorbers eliminate the bandwidth wastage and significantly reduce content reorganization. We conduct extensive evaluations with real VoD access traces, and demonstrate the superior scalability of the proposed algorithm by producing highly optimized provisioning in seconds for thousands of servers.
Beyond Neopositivists, Romantics, and Localists: A Reflexive Approach to Interviews in Organizational Research

In this article I develop a framework for thinking about the research interview, and I critique dominating neopositivist and romantic views on the interview. I suggest eight metaphors that offer reconceptualizations of the interview, drawing upon recent theoretical trends on language, the subject, and discourse, and develop a reflexive theoretical framework. The article provides new ways of dealing with interviews, along with implications for fieldwork interaction with subjects, interpretations of empirical material, and research questions possible or suitable to address based on interviews.
BUDAPESTACAD at TAC 2010

The following paper will describe the systems we have created for the Knowledge Base Population (KBP) and Recognizing Textual Entailment (RTE) tracks of TAC. Sections 2 and 3 will describe a set of tools used to perform the entity-linking and slot-filling tasks of the KBP track respectively. Section 4 will give an overview of a complex tool for recognizing textual entailment. Each section describes the various modules created, provides an overview of the process of performing the task at hand, and discusses the results obtained.
The dyadic level of conceptualization and analysis: a missing link in multilevel OB research?

Despite burgeoning multilevel research in organizational behavior over the past two decades, our understanding of dyadic relationships at work remains underdeveloped. Focusing on leader–member exchange, we discuss conceptual and methodological challenges that have hampered research at this level and illustrate how and why such analysis might provide new insights.
On the Horns of a Dilemma

The author draws from a qualitative study of 30 Black, gay-identified, urban men to capture the intersection of race and sexuality in their life histories. He finds that Black gay men encounter a disruptive, deep-cutting “push” out of local community institutions—including the family and church—but a highly conflicted and ambiguous “pull” into urban gay communities—including the predominantly White, urban, gay institutions of downtown Manhattan. These conditions situate Black gay men on the horns of a dilemma, alienated from Black communities because of their homosexual desires and unevenly integrated into urban gay communities because of their race. Consequently, these men experience protracted struggles over their sexual identities, found it difficult to develop socially supportive gay networks, and experienced problems with psychological adjustment and repair in urban gay communities. The author underscores the importance of capturing the nexus of race and homosexuality through analysis of changing institutional dimensions over the life history.
Model structure on projective systems of $C^*$-algebras and bivariant homology theories

Using the machinery of weak fibration categories due to Schlank and the first author, we construct a convenient model structure on the pro-category of separable $C^*$-algebras $\mathrm{Pro}(\mathtt{SC^*})$. The opposite of this model category models the $\infty$-category of pointed noncommutative spaces $\mathtt{N}\mathcal{S_*}$ defined by the third author. Our model structure on $\mathrm{Pro}(\mathtt{SC^*})$ extends the well-known category of fibrant objects structure on $\mathtt{SC^*}$. We show that the pro-category $\mathrm{Pro}(\mathtt{SC^*})$ also contains, as a full coreflective subcategory, the category of pro-$C^*$-algebras that are cofiltered limits of separable $C^*$-algebras. By stabilizing our model category we produce a general model categorical formalism for triangulated and bivariant homology theories of $C^*$-algebras (or, more generally, that of pointed noncommutative spaces), whose stable $\infty$-categorical counterparts were constructed earlier by the third author. Finally, we use our model structure to develop a bivariant $\mathrm{K}$-theory for all projective systems of separable $C^*$-algebras generalizing the construction of Bonkat and show that our theory naturally agrees with that of Bonkat under some reasonable assumptions.
Cause and Experiment in Introductory Psychology: An Analysis of R.S. Woodworth's Textbooks

This article analyzes the emerging notion of experimental method and its relationship to causality in the various editions of R. S. Woodworth's (1921, 1929, 1934, 1940; Woodward & Marquis, 1947) widely used introductory psychology textbook. Beginning with the 1934 edition, experiment was defined as manipulating an independent variable, while holding all other variables constant, and observing the effects on a dependent variable. By the 1940 edition, Woodworth implied that experiments of this type reveal causes, but other methods of inquiry do not. Woodworth's view of experiment and cause and his use of the terms independent and dependent variables appear to be the prototype for later textbooks. The context and implications of these changes are briefly discussed.
Progress and Politics in the Intersex Rights Movement: Feminist Theory in Action

Since 1990, when Suzanne Kessler published her foundational feminist critique of the modern-day medical treatment of children with intersex, much has changed in intersex politics, practice, and theory. This essay traces some key points of progress and considers in particular the relationship of academic feminism and intersex advocacy; proof of and reasons for success in intersex medical advocacy; and intersex identity politics, especially with regard to the nature-nurture debate and terminology (intersex versus hermaphroditism versus disorders of sex development). The authors are university-based academic feminists who have worked intensively as volunteers and as paid directors at the Intersex Society of North America, the longest-running and best-known intersex advocacy and policy organization. In this work, they draw on the published literature as well as their own activist and academic experiences. They argue that, in the last fifteen years, much progress has been made in terms of improving the medical and social attitudes toward people with intersex, but that significant work remains to be done to ensure that children born with sex anomalies will be treated in a way that privileges their long-term well-being over societal norms. They also argue that, while feminist scholars have been critically important in developing the theoretical underpinnings of the intersex rights movement and sometimes in carrying out the day-to-day political work of that movement, there have been intellectual and political problems with some feminists’ approaches to intersex.
The networked union? The internet as a challenge to trade union identity and roles

Purpose – The article aims to look at the development of the internet in terms of its implications for the labour movement and its international activities.Design/methodology/approach – The paper brings together conclusions and findings based on the previous work of the two individual authors who have studied the role of the internet from a national and international perspective, using a range of methodologies.Findings – The impact of the internet in terms of facilitating communication and renewal strategies has been highly significant. However, the authors argue that such developments are also mediated by trade union structures and organisational traditions/ideologies at the national level where there is still a considerable degree of variety. It also looks and focuses on some of the challenges of international labour co‐ordination through the use of the internet, noting some of the difficulties faced by trade unionists. The paper therefore brings together insights into the way organisations such as trad.
Statistical Learning as a Tool for Rehabilitation in Spatial Neglect

We propose that neglect includes a disorder of representational updating. Representational updating refers to our ability to build mental models and adapt those models to changing experience. This updating ability depends on the processes of priming, working memory, and statistical learning. These processes in turn interact with our capabilities for sustained attention and precise temporal processing. We review evidence showing that all these non-spatial abilities are impaired in neglect, and we discuss how recognition of such deficits can lead to novel approaches for rehabilitating neglect.
EXAMINING THE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS OF SOCIOTROPY AND AUTONOMY IN OLDER PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA: THEIR RELEVANCE TO PERSON CENTRED CARE

The aim of the study was to examine whether the personality dimensions of sociotropy and autonomy (Beck, Epstein, Harrison, & Emery, 1983) remained stable in older people with dementia. Sociotropy is characterized by the need for social reassurance, approval and contact. Autonomy reflects the need for control, self-determination and task-orientated achievement. A non-clinical normative sample (aged 17–87) confirmed Beck's theoretical dimensions of sociotropy and autonomy. This sample was used to determine cut-points for the two dimensions on the Sociotropy Autonomy Scale (SAS). The SAS was then used with 63 people with dementia to determine whether their personality profiles, in terms of sociotropy and autonomy, were similar to the earlier sample. Data obtained in the personality profiling were examined against mood and behavioural measures for people with dementia. Profiles for both samples were found to be similar, i.e. there were distinct minority sub-sets of high scoring sociotropic and autonomous individuals. Consistent with Beck's theoretical position, high scoring autonomy and sociotropy individuals with dementia were more likely to display mood and behaviour difficulties. It was therefore concluded that aspects of personality (i.e. temperament) remain stable in dementia. The SAS can identify older people with dementia who are vulnerable to mood and behaviour problems. This has direct clinical relevance to the targeting of effective care practices in residential settings.
Application-Driven Development of an Integrated Tool Environment for Distributed-Memory Parallel Processors

The Joint CSCS-ETH/NEC Collaboration in Parallel Processing comprises the development of an integrated tool environment together with applications and algorithms for distributed-memory parallel processors (DMPPs). Tool and application developers interact closely: the requirements of the tools are defined by the needs of the application developers, and once an application requirement becomes an integral part of the tool environment, the tools ease parallelization of similar applications and whole application classes. Additional features of the project are the use of a standardized DMPP high-level programming language (HPF) and low-level message-passing interface (MPI). The tool environment integrates parallelization support, a parallel debugger, and a performance monitor and analyzer. Applicationsalready investigated include unstructured problems. In this paper we summarize the tool and application development efforts and show preliminary performance results of three applications effectively parallelized on two DMPP platforms with the assistance of our tool environment.