Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Search strategies for global optimization

Global optimizers are powerful tools for searching complicated function spaces such as those found in modern high-fidelity engineering models. These models provide increasingly detailed insights into system behaviors, but are often expensive to evaluate and difficult to search. While techniques exist for solving global optimization problems there is still room for developing faster, more reliable, and easier to implement algorithms. This thesis investigates the design of a global optimization algorithm, with a focus on the search strategies of gradient descent, memory, and multiresolution search. Major contributions presented in this thesis include the proposal of a regional gradient, the examination of the use of regional gradients in global search, and the proposal and development of a novel optimization algorithm. Additionally, a case study using the multiresolution estimated gradient architecture (MEGA) algorithm to solve a classification problem is presented.
[A clinical trial of acupuncture for treating chronic fatigue syndrome in Hong Kong].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in treating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in Hong Kong. METHODS A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial design was adopted. Participants meeting inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to a treatment and a control group according to 1:1 ratio, resulting in an effective sample size of 99, with 50 and 49 patients in treatment and control group respectively. The same set of acupuncture points, which were selected according to traditional Chinese medicine theories, was applied in both groups, while conventional needle acupuncture was applied in treatment group and sham acupuncture (without skin penetration) was applied in control group. Schedule of treatment was the same in both groups, i.e. twice a week for 4 weeks. Key outcome measures were Chalder's Fatigue Scale, diagnostic criteria for CFS of the US's Centre for Disease Control and SF-12 health-related quality of life (HQOL) questionnaire. Adverse events, if any, were recorded. RESULTS Improvements in physical and mental fatigue and HQOL in both groups were observed, but the improvements in treatment group were significantly bigger than in control group (P<0.01 or P<0.05). No adverse events occurred. CONCLUSION Acupuncture is a safe, effective treatment for CFS.
Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi: Developing a Three-Dimensional Model and Scale

We develop a three-dimensional concept of supervisor-subordinate guanxi. This concept includes affective attachment, personal-life inclusion, and deference to supervisor. Based on this concept, we conducted three studies to develop and validate a three-dimensional supervisor-subordinate guanxi measure and to examine its relationship with related constructs, such as leader-member exchange. Results from Study 1 and Study 2 provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity of the scale, while Study 3 demonstrates the scale's incremental validity and replicates results from Study 2. Furthermore, in Study 3, we found that the three dimensions of supervisor-subordinate guanxi had different significant effects on commitment, turnover intention, and procedural justice, providing further evidence of criterion-related validity. Overall, these empirical results provide support for our three-dimensional model of supervisor-subordinate guanxi.
Interpolation by Multivariate Splines

A general interpolation scheme by multivariate splines at regular sample points is introduced. This scheme guarantees the local optimal order of approximation to sufficiently smooth data functions. A discussion on numerical implementation is included. 1. Introduction. In this paper we introduce a very general interpolation scheme by multivariate splines. Based on the quasi-interpolation formulas devel- oped in (3), we show that the interpolating multivariate splines so obtained give the optimal order of approximation to sufficiently smooth functions. Let q be a nonnegative locally supported piecewise polynomial function sym- metric with respect to the origin, and S the linear span of all the translates q(. -j), j E Z8, of q. Hence, S is a multivariate spline space on a certain grid partition A, with certain smoothness joining conditions, and of certain total degree, induced by q. Denote by q the Fourier transform of q. We assume that q is normalized, that is,
A study on the factors influencing teachers' behaviour of internet teaching research

Teachers’ internet teaching research develops from the core idea of social media, and is now playing an increasingly important role in the development of teaching as a profession. Within the theoretical framework of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model (UTAUT) and from the perspective of individual technology acceptance, this study aims to construct an influencing factor model for internet teaching research. Results showed that the factor model helped in identifying the determinants influencing teachers’ behaviour of internet teaching research such as school environments, teachers’ subjective behavioural norms, system properties of the ITR platform, and teachers’ personal traits. The results of the study suggested that school environments and subjective behavioural norms both have a remarkable influence on teachers’ ITR behavioural intention, teachers’ PU and teachers’ attitude. System properties have a remarkable influence on teachers’ PU, teachers’ PEOU and teachers’ attitude. Also, teachers’ personal traits have a remarkable influence on teachers’ PU and teachers’ PEOU.
Galaxy: IBM Ontological Network Miner

Many applications of the semantic web and Web 2.0 aim to empower the knowledge worker. These applications however, do not allow the user to combine all of his/her social and semantic information into a single resource which allows data to be processed, managed and enhanced automatically. In our demo we will present a number of demo applications based on Galaxy, IBM’s ontological network miner, which was designed to work with such resources to enhance the capabilities of a number of applications in social semantic computing. Galaxy is a highly efficient, scalable system which can be easily built into an application and can be optimised to suit a user’s preferences or to take into account the needs of a particular task or application.
The Structure of Interorganizational Elite Cooptation: Interlocking Corporate Directorates

Interorganizational elite cooptation, in the form of interlocking corporate directorates, is viewed as a cooperative strategy between economic organizations for reducing sources of uncertainty in their environments. Specifically, corporate interlocking is a means of anticipating or controlling sources of uncertainty stemming from the potentially disruptive unilateral actions of other corporations. In order to examine the relevant hypotheses, two comparable samples are constructed comprising the 200 largest nonfinancial and the 50 largest financial corporations as ranked by their assets for the periods 1935 and 1970. As hypothesized, the size of a corporation is directly related to the frequency of interlocking in general, even controlling for the size of its directorate. Also, financial corporations maintain more interlocks in general than nonfinancial corporations due to the importance of capital as a resource. Contrary to the theory, there is no clear relationship between such organizational characteristics as capital intensity and growth and the frequency of interlocking with financial corporations; moreover, there is even a significant negative relationship between dependency on external debt obligations and frequency of financial interlocking. As hypothesized, corporations with local market environments maintain a greater proportion of their interlocks at the local level than other corporations. Also, the structure of corporate interlocking has become more diffuse through time with a smaller proportion of the interlocks being maintained at the local level. However, contrary to the theory, the frequency of interlocking with financial corporations has increased rather than decreased through time.
GazeCloud: A Thumbnail Extraction Method Using Gaze Log Data for Video Life-Log

We propose a method for information extraction and presentation using recorded eye gaze data, i.e., life-log video data. We call our method Gaze Cloud, which essentially uses gaze information for the generation of thumbnail images. One of the usages of wearable computing, personal life-logs are becoming increasingly possible. However, an aspect that needs to be addressed is information retrieval through different browsing methods. It is also well known that human memory recall is aided by effective presentation of information. Our propose method Gaze Cloud calculates the importance of information from gaze data that is consequently used for the generation of thumbnail images. This method performs the calculation using the eye gaze duration and hot spot information. Additionally, we construct a prototype daily-use wearable eye tracker system.
Performance of solid-state sensors for continuous, real-time measurement of soil CO2 concentrations.

Recent advances in sensor technology provide a robust capability for continuous measurement of soil gases. The performance of solid-state CO 2 sensors (Model GMM220 series, Vaisala, Inc., Helsinki, Finland) was evaluated in laboratory, greenhouse, and irrigated winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In ambient CO 2 concentration, the GMM222 sensor averaged 427 ± 8.3 μL L -1 . Under variable CO 2 concentrations, the sensor was slightly lower than concentrations measured with an infrared gas analyzer (IRGA). In greenhouse pots planted with triticale (Triticale bexaploide Lart.) and an agricultural field of irrigated winter wheat, soil CO 2 concentration exceeded the 10,000 μL L -1 limit of the GMM222. Alternatively, the GMM221 sensor, designed to measure between 0 and 20,000 μL L -1 , showed soil CO 2 concentrations were between 14,000 and 16,000 μL L -1 . The GMM222 accurately measures real-time soil CO 2 concentrations under field conditions that were within the sensor detection limit. However, periods of high biological soil activity require the GMM221 sensor with a higher detection limit.
Living related donor nephrectomy in transfusion refusing donors

Many transplant programs are averse to evaluate potential kidney donors with preferences against accepting human blood products. We examined the donor and graft outcomes between our transfusion‐consenting (TC) and transfusion‐refusing (TR) live kidney donors to determine whether a functional or survival disadvantage resulted from the disallowance of blood product transfusion during live donor (LD) nephrectomy. From July, 1999 to August, 2005, 82 live donor nephrectomies were performed, eight of who were TR donors (10%). Blood conservation techniques were utilized in TR donors. Demographics, surgical and functional outcomes, admission and discharge hematocrit, and creatinine were compared between TC and TR donors. No donor mortalities occurred. Two TC donors received blood transfusions (2.7%), and each study group experienced a single, <1‐year graft loss. Intra‐operative blood losses were significantly less in TR donors (298 ± 412 vs. 121 ± 91 ml, P < 0.03). No differences were noted between donor demographics, intra‐operative events, and graft and patient survival. Successful donor nephrectomy from TR patients has the potential to expand the kidney allograft pool to include the TR donor population. Precautionary blood conservation methods allow the informed and consenting TR individual to donate a kidney with acceptable risk and without compromise to donor or graft outcomes.
A detailed look into power consumption of commodity 60 GHz devices

The millimeter-wave technology is emerging as an alternative to legacy 2.4/5 GHz WiFi, offering multi-Gigabit throughput. While a lot of attention has been paid recently to analyzing the performance of the 60 GHz technology and adapting it for indoor WLAN usage, the power consumption aspect has largely been neglected. Given that mobile devices are the next target for 60 GHz, any discussion about this technology is incomplete without considering power consumption. In this work, we present the first, to our best knowledge, detailed study of the power consumption of 60 GHz commodity devices. We evaluate the power and energy consumption of two standard-compliant 60 GHz wireless adapters in different operating states and under a number of different configurations. We also compare our results against 802.11ac and discuss power-performance tradeoffs for the two technologies.
Inheritance Patterns of Transcript Levels in F1 Hybrid Mice

Genetic analysis of transcriptional regulation is a rapidly emerging field of investigation that promises to shed light on the regulatory networks that control gene expression. Although a number of such studies have been carried out, the nature and extent of the heritability of gene expression traits have not been well established. We describe the inheritance of transcript levels in liver tissue in the first filial (F1) generation of mice obtained from reciprocal crosses between the common inbred strains A/J and C57BL/6J. We obtain estimates of genetic and technical variance components from these data and demonstrate that shrinkage estimators can increase detectable heritability. Estimates of heritability vary widely from transcript to transcript, with one-third of transcripts showing essentially no heritability (<0.01) and one-quarter showing very high heritability (>0.50). Roughly half of all transcripts are differentially expressed between the two parental strains. Most transcripts show an additive pattern of inheritance. Dominance effects were observed for 20% of transcripts and a small number of transcripts were identified as showing an overdominance mode of inheritance. In addition, we identified 314 transcripts with expression levels that differ between the reciprocal F1 animals. These genes may be related to maternal effect.
Causation in the nature -nurture debate: The case of genotype -environment interaction

I attempt to resolve an aspect of the nature-nurture debate. Consider a typical nature-nurture question: Why do some individuals develop a complex trait such as depression, while others do not? This question incorporates an etiological query about the causal mechanisms responsible for the individual development of depression; it also incorporates an etiological query about the causes of variation responsible for individual differences in the occurrence of depression. Scientists in the developmental research tradition of biology investigate the former; scientists in the biometric research tradition of biology investigate the latter. So what is the relationship? The developmental and biometric research traditions, I argue, are united in their joint effort to elucidate what I call difference mechanisms. Difference mechanisms are regular causal mechanisms made up of difference-making variables that take different values in the natural world. On this model, individual differences are the effect of difference-makers in development that take different values in the natural world. I apply this model to the case of genotype-environment interaction (or G×E), showing that there have actually been two separate concepts of G×E: a biometric concept (or G×EB) and a developmental concept (or G×ED). These concepts also may be integrated via the difference mechanisms model: G×E results from the interdependence of difference-makers in development that take different values in the natural world.
Adaptive charging network for electric vehicles

We describe a snapshot of an adaptive charging network (ACN) for electric vehicles at Caltech. We overview the system design, from the power distribution system to advanced charger design to control and communication system and the software system that integrates the overall network. We present a simple mathematical formulation of the charging problem. We have collected three months' of baseline charging data from the Caltech ACN. We demonstrate, by simulating a charging algorithm on the baseline data, the large potential benefit of ACN in saving infrastructure costs.
Using optimal transport for estimating inharmonic pitch signals

In this work, we propose a novel multi-pitch estimation technique that is robust with respect to the inharmonicity commonly occurring in many applications. The method does not require any a priori knowledge of the number of signal sources, the number of harmonics of each source, nor the structure or scope of any possibly occurring inharmonicity. Formulated as a minimum transport distance problem, the proposed method finds an estimate of the present pitches by mapping any found spectral line to the closest harmonic structure. The resulting optimization is a convex and highly tractable linear programming problem. The preferable performance of the proposed method is illustrated using both simulated and real audio signals.
Novel roles for actin in mitochondrial fission

ABSTRACT Mitochondrial dynamics, including fusion, fission and translocation, are crucial to cellular homeostasis, with roles in cellular polarity, stress response and apoptosis. Mitochondrial fission has received particular attention, owing to links with several neurodegenerative diseases. A central player in fission is the cytoplasmic dynamin-related GTPase Drp1, which oligomerizes at the fission site and hydrolyzes GTP to drive membrane ingression. Drp1 recruitment to the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) is a key regulatory event, which appears to require a pre-constriction step in which the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondrion interact extensively, a process termed ERMD (ER-associated mitochondrial division). It is unclear how ER–mitochondrial contact generates the force required for pre-constriction or why pre-constriction leads to Drp1 recruitment. Recent results, however, show that ERMD might be an actin-based process in mammals that requires the ER-associated formin INF2 upstream of Drp1, and that myosin II and other actin-binding proteins might be involved. In this Commentary, we present a mechanistic model for mitochondrial fission in which actin and myosin contribute in two ways; firstly, by supplying the force for pre-constriction and secondly, by serving as a coincidence detector for Drp1 binding. In addition, we discuss the possibility that multiple fission mechanisms exist in mammals.
Organizational Learning Mechanisms and Managers’ Perceived Uncertainty

The present study examined the relations between perceived environmental/technological uncertainty among managers and intensity of use of organizational learning mechanisms. Confirming the research hypotheses, negative relations were found between the intensity of use of each of the five factors of organizational learning mechanisms (formal learning processes, information dissemination, training, information gathering, information storage and retrieval) and perceived environmental/technological uncertainty. These correlations were higher in the organizations that function under uncertain as opposed to certain environments. Finally, when perceived uncertainty was regressed on the five factors of organizational learning mechanisms, information gathering came out with a positive regression weight, that is, when organizational learning mechanisms like information dissemination, training or information storage and retrieval are held constant, information gathering is positively related to uncertainty.
Students’ Expectations of Teaching in Undergraduate Physics

This article reports on a phenomenographic‐based study of the expectations of teaching among undergraduate physics students. Data are drawn from a range of course‐contexts at each of two quite different universities — one South African and one Swedish — and five qualitatively different expectations of physics teaching are identified and exemplified. These range from presenting knowledge to facilitating personal development and agency. Implications of possible mismatches between students’ and lecturers’ expectations of physics teaching are discussed in relation to students’ learning experiences.
Using Space: Effect of Display Size on Users' Search Performance

Due to advances in technology large displays with very high resolution started to become affordable for daily work. Today it is possible to build display walls with a pixel density that is comparable to standard office screens. Previous work indicates that physical navigation enables a deeper engagement with the data set. In particular, the visibility of detailed data subsets on large screens supports the user's work and understanding of large data. In contrast to previous work we explore how users' performance scales with an increasing amount of large display space when working with text documents. In a controlled experiment, we determine participants' performance when searching for titles and images in large text documents using one to six 50" 4K monitors. Our results show that the users' visual search performance does not linearly increase with an increasing amount of display space.
Asymptotic Size Ramsey Results for Bipartite Graphs

We show that $\lim_{n\to\infty}\hat r(F_{1,n},\dots,F_{q,n},F_{q+1},\dots,F_{r})/n$ exists, where the bipartite graphs $F_{q+1},\dots,F_r$ do not depend on $n$ while, for $1\le i\le q$, $F_{i,n}$ is obtained from some bipartite graph $F_i$ with parts $V_1\cup V_2=V(F_i)$ by duplicating each vertex $v\in V_2$ $(c_v+o(1))n$ times for some real $c_v>0$. In fact, the limit is the minimum of a certain mixed integer program. Using the Farkas lemma we show how to compute it when each forbidden graph is a complete bipartite graph, in particular answering the question of Erdos, Faudree, Rousseau, and Schelp [Period. \ Math.\ Hungar. , 9 (1978), pp. 145--161], who asked for the asymptotics of $\hat r(K_{s,n},K_{s,n})$ for fixed $s$ and large $n$. Also, we prove (for all sufficiently large $n$) the conjecture of Faudree, Rousseau, and Sheehan in [Graph Theory and Combinatorics, B. Bollobas, ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1984, pp. 273--281] that $\hat r(K_{2,n},K_{2,n}) =18n-15$.
Estimating total body residues and baseline toxicity of complex organic mixtures in effluents and surface waters

Recently, a new procedure was developed to estimate total body residues (TBRs) in biota after exposure to complex mixtures of organic chemicals in water. The procedure is based on a simulation of bioconcentration using a hydrophobic phase and on the measurement of total molar concentrations on this hydrophobic phase via vapor pressure osmometry and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. In this paper, the results of the application of this procedure to effluents and surface water are presented. Estimated TBRs (TBRests) give information on the potential total bioaccumulation of complex mixtures. Moreover, using these estimated total body burdens, baseline toxicity effects can be predicted, including the contributions of chemicals with specific modes of action to the overall baseline toxicity. The advantage of the parameter TBRest is that it determines total molar concentrations of organic chemicals, including those chemicals that are usually not measured because they cannot be identified or because their concentrations are below the detection limits of individual compounds.