Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fairness as a constraint

Purpose - The purpose of this short paper is to provide an alternative method to explain the reason why the outcome of the ultimatum game based on the well-known self-interest model is not feasible in real life. Design/methodology/approach - Contrary to traditional models which treat fairness as a variable of the utility function, the paper takes fairness as a constraint to the utility function. The problem is solved through the standard incentive theory and bargaining theory. Findings - It was found that fairness constraints play an important role in determining the eventual outcome of the ultimatum game. Research limitations/implications - The paper's approach may set up a useful framework for incorporating fairness into economics, and bridge the gaps between the fairness approach and the standard incentive theory and bargaining theory. Practical implications - When tackling the problem of distribution based on fairness, the paper shows that the cultural background and special situation should be taken seriously. Originality/value - In this paper, the concept of the fairness constraint is introduced into a formal framework.
Discriminant Projection Representation-based Classification for Vision Recognition

Representation-based classification methods such as sparse representation-based classification (SRC) and linear regression classification (LRC) have attracted a lot of attentions. In order to obtain the better representation, a novel method called projection representation-based classification (PRC) is proposed for image recognition in this paper. PRC is based on a new mathematical model. This model denotes that the "ideal projection" of a sample point x on the hyper-space H may be gained by iteratively computing the projection of x on a line of hyper-space H with the proper strategy. Therefore, PRC is able to iteratively approximate the "ideal representation" of each subject for classification. Moreover, the discriminant PRC (DPRC) is further proposed, which obtains the discriminant information by maximizing the ratio of the between-class reconstruction error over the within-class reconstruction error. Experimental results on five typical databases show that the proposed PRC and DPRC are effective and outperform other state-of-the-art methods on several vision recognition tasks.
Framewise approach in multimodal emotion recognition in OMG challenge

In this report we described our approach achieves $53\%$ of unweighted accuracy over $7$ emotions and $0.05$ and $0.09$ mean squared errors for arousal and valence in OMG emotion recognition challenge. Our results were obtained with ensemble of single modality models trained on voice and face data from video separately. We consider each stream as a sequence of frames. Next we estimated features from frames and handle it with recurrent neural network. As audio frame we mean short $0.4$ second spectrogram interval. For features estimation for face pictures we used own ResNet neural network pretrained on AffectNet database. Each short spectrogram was considered as a picture and processed by convolutional network too. As a base audio model we used ResNet pretrained in speaker recognition task. Predictions from both modalities were fused on decision level and improve single-channel approaches by a few percent
Innovative behaviour in the workplace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the manner in which HR system’s flexibility, in combination with employees’ individual flexibility (IF) and their positive character traits, such as: optimism, hope, resistance or self-efficacy (which comprise psychological capital (PsychCap)), allow to predict employees’ readiness to display innovative behaviors in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative research methodology was adopted which resulted in the development of a both self-administered online survey instrument (n=166) and employees students in the postgraduate program at the Warsaw School of Economics (n=70). Using a national database of service companies, a random sample of 700 e-mail addresses was generated and respondents were invited to participate in the online survey. This resulted in the completion of 166 online surveys, representing a response rate of 26 percent. The second group of respondents consisted of 70 employees from different organizations in P.
Increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio up-regulates caspase-3 and increases apoptosis in the thymus of patients with myasthenia gravis.

BACKGROUND In this study the possible relation of Bax (an apoptosis promoter) to Bcl-2 (an apoptosis inhibitor) ratio with the apoptosis co-ordination enzyme, caspase-3, in the thymus of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) was investigated in correlation with long-term clinical prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 46 patients (17M/29F, mean age 36.60 +/- 16.09 yr) with MG, who underwent thymectomy for treatment. The clinical staging (Osserman classification) included: stage 1-5, IIA-21, IIB-17, III-3. The pathology of the thymus showed: hyperplasia-26, atrophy-8, thymoma B1 and B2 type-9, thymoma B3 type (well differentiated thymic carcinoma)-3. The patients were evaluated 39-166 (mean 91.87 +/- 38.38) months after thymectomy. At the end of the follow-up period, the patients were classified as follows: group A: complete stable remission, group B: pharmacological remission + minimal manifestations + improvement + deterioration. Paraffin sections of thymic tissue were subjected to: a) immunohistochemistry (bax, bcl-2, caspase-3 protein); b) in situ hybridization (bax, bcl-2 mRNA); and c) TUNEL-stain (apoptotic cells). Bax to bcl-2 mRNA and protein ratio was determined for each sample by dividing the % bax (+) cells by the % bcl-2 (+) cells. RESULTS Follow-up data were available for 39/46 patients: 13/39 patients belonged to group A and 26/39 to group B. The Bax/Bcl-2 mRNA and protein ratios were increased towards advanced disease stages (+370% for mRNA and +391% for protein, from MG stage I to stage III). These ratios were correlated with caspase-3 expression (r = 0.782 and 0.583, p < 0.01) and apoptosis (r = 0.591 and 0.358 p < 0.01 and p < 0.05). All the 13 cases in group A had a Bax/Bcl-2 ratio < 1 (mean +/- SD: 0.58 +/- 0.04 for mRNA and 0.62 +/- 0.03 for protein), whereas all the 26 cases of group B had a ratio > 1 (1.47 +/- 0.07 for mRNA and 1.52 +/- 0.18 for protein). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed higher, free of disease, survival in group A (p = 0.0082). Cox regression analysis revealed that the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was an independent prognostic factor, however the p-value was marginally significant (95% CI: 1.078-44.073, p = 0.041). CONCLUSION This study has demonstrated that in patients with MG who underwent thymectomy: a) the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio may up-regulate caspase-3 expression and modulate apoptosis associated with progress of the disease; b) the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio < 1 was associated with complete stable remission after thymectomy; and c) Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was an independent predictive marker for therapeutic response after thymectomy.
Dark age economics : the origins of towns and trade, A.D. 600-1000

It was in the second half of the first millennium A.D. that northern Europe took on the basic configuration that it now presents. Recently a wealth of new archaeological evidence has emerged to enable historians to assess the growth of international trade and the evolution of towns in this crucial period. This book analyses models of economic evelopment in the light of this new evidence to evaluate not only the changing character of the first post-Roman urban centers but also the organization of the countryside which supported them. Boat remains, coins and trade artifacts are all examined. Finally, a general account is offered of the role of towns and trade in the creation of Western Europe. This is the first synthesis of its kind for the medieval period, and confirms the importance of archaeology as a major source of evidence for an understanding of the economic history of the Dark Ages.
Flexible, Secure, and Reliable Data Sharing Service Based on Collaboration in Multicloud Environment

Due to the abundant storage resources and high reliability data service of cloud computing, more individuals and enterprises are motivated to outsource their data to public cloud platform and enable legal data users to search and download what they need in the outsourced dataset. However, in “Paid Data Sharing” model, some valuable data should be encrypted before outsourcing for protecting owner’s economic benefits, which is an obstacle for flexible application. Specifically, if the owner does not know who (user) will download which data files in advance and even does not know the attributes of user, he/she has to either remain online all the time or import a trusted third party (TTP) to distribute the file decryption key to data user. Obviously, making the owner always remain online is too inflexible, and wholly depending on the security of TTP is a potential risk. In this paper, we propose a flexible, secure, and reliable data sharing scheme based on collaboration in multicloud environment. For securely and instantly providing data sharing service even if the owner is offline and without TTP, we distribute all encrypted split data/key blocks together to multiple cloud service providers (CSPs), respectively. An elaborate cryptographic protocol we designed helps the owner verify the correctness of data exchange bills, which is directly related to the owner’s economic benefits. Besides, in order to support reliable data service, the erasure-correcting code technic is exploited for tolerating multiple failures among CSPs, and we offer a secure keyword search mechanism that makes the system more close to reality. Extensive security analyses and experiments on real-world data show that our scheme is secure and efficient.
Dynamic characterisation of a bistable laminate for vibrational energy harvesting

The performance of a vibrational energy harvester based on a piezoelectric film attached to a bistable laminate was characterised by measuring the power that it generates when it is shaken at different frequencies. Since this device has two stable states, it may oscillate chaotically in a wide range of frequencies, which represents an advantage over linear, narrow-bandwidth harvesting devices. This device was modelled with a modified version of the Duffing equation, to which a quadratic term was added to predict the asymmetry of the laminate. After comparing the simulations with the experimental results, it was found that this equation predicts the presence of chaotic oscillations but underestimates the amplitude of the generated voltage. By converting the vibration and voltage signals to dimensionless variables, an empirical relationship was found in which the output power can be related to the vibration characteristics, the properties of the piezoelectric material, and the resistive load.
Improved Bile Acid-binding Ability of Soybean Glycinin A1a Polypeptide by the Introduction of a Bile Acid-binding Peptide (VAWWMY)

We have previously identified a potential bile acid-binding peptide sequence (VAWWMY) in acidic polypeptide A1a of the soybean glycinin A1aB1b subunit (Choi, S. K., et al., Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 66, 2395–2401 (2002)). In this study, we introduced the nucleotide sequence encoding this peptide in the coding DNA which corresponds to amino acids between 251 and 256, and 282 and 287 into the A1a polypeptide by replacement to respectively give modified versions A1aM1 and A1aM2. A fluorescence analysis demonstrates that their bile acid-binding ability was improved compared to A1a. Moreover, modified proglycinin A1aB1b with the VAWWMY sequence at the same sites as those of A1aM1 and A1aM2 was judged to assume the correct conformation. These results suggest the possibility of developing transgenic crops to accumulate the modified glycinin.
A Material Flow Accounting Case Study of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area using the Urban Metabolism Analyst Model

This article describes a new methodological framework to account for urban material flows and stocks, using material flow accounting (MFA) as the underlying method. The proposed model, urban metabolism analyst (UMAn), bridges seven major gaps in previous urban metabolism studies: lack of a unified methodology; lack of material flows data at the urban level; limited categorizations of material types; limited results about material flows as they are related to economic activities; limited understanding of the origin and destination of flows; lack of understanding about the dynamics of added stock; and lack of knowledge about the magnitude of the flow of materials that are imported and then, to a great extent, exported.
Embodied conversational agents for multimodal automated social skills training in people with autism spectrum disorders

Social skills training, performed by human trainers, is a well-established method for obtaining appropriate skills in social interaction. Previous work automated the process of social skills training by developing a dialogue system that teaches social communication skills through interaction with a computer avatar. Even though previous work that simulated social skills training only considered acoustic and linguistic information, human social skills trainers take into account visual and other non-verbal features. In this paper, we create and evaluate a social skills training system that closes this gap by considering the audiovisual features of the smiling ratio and the head pose (yaw and pitch). In addition, the previous system was only tested with graduate students; in this paper, we applied our system to children or young adults with autism spectrum disorders. For our experimental evaluation, we recruited 18 members from the general population and 10 people with autism spectrum disorders and gave them our proposed multimodal system to use. An experienced human social skills trainer rated the social skills of the users. We evaluated the system’s effectiveness by comparing pre- and post-training scores and identified significant improvement in their social skills using our proposed multimodal system. Computer-based social skills training is useful for people who experience social difficulties. Such a system can be used by teachers, therapists, and social skills trainers for rehabilitation and the supplemental use of human-based training anywhere and anytime.
Productivity, profitability and nutrient uptake of maize (Zea mays) as influenced by management practices in North-East India

A field experiment was conducted during the 2 winter (rabi) seasons of 201011 and 201112 at Jharnapani, Medziphema, Nagaland, to evaluate the best management practices, i.e. mulching, liming and farmyard manures for maximizing the productivity, profitability, nutrient uptake and quality of winter maize (Zea mays L.). The experi- ment was laid out in a split-split plot design, having 24 treatment combinations of mulching and lime along with farmyard manures and replicated thrice. Application of straw mulches significantly increased all the growth and yield attributes, grain yield, protein content and nutrient uptake by maize. Among the levels of lime, higher grain yield (3.91 t/ha) and stover yield (4.24 t/ha) were noted with application of lime @ 0.6 t/ha. Similarly, significantly higher grain (3.79 t/ha) and stover yields (4.17 t/ha), nutrient uptake, protein yield of maize were recorded with ap- plication of farmyard manures @ 12 t/ha. Application of straw mulch along with 0.6 t/ha lime and FYM @ 12 t/ha recorded markedly higher total rainfall and effective rainfall use efficiency. Hence, straw mulching with 0.6 t/ha fur- rows lime and 12 t FYM/ha should be adopted to obtain the maximum grain yield, net profit and nutrient uptake by winter maize.
Project management in the context of organizational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the Portuguese public sector organizations' familiarity with, and willingness to utilize, project management tools, as these organizations attempt to enhance their operational performance through carefully crafted organizational change.Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of 102 public officials, 30 project managers' characteristics, 23 project management variables, and information availability on these variables are studied and classified.Findings – In general, the results clearly showed the familiarity of the participants with the important characteristics and variables of effective project management practices. Some exceptions were attributed to the specific nature of public sector operational systems.Research limitations/implications – The sample used in this study is specific in nature. It consisted of Portuguese public sector officials at the middle‐level rank in the managerial hierarchy. Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly.Pr.
To What Extent Does Radiotherapy Improve the Quality of Life of Patients With Bone Metastasis?: A Prospective, Single-Institutional Study

Purpose/Objectives: Radiation therapy (RT) is an effective method of palliating painful bone metastases and improves the quality of life (QoL) of these patients. The purpose of this trial is 2-fold: to quantify the impact of RT in the QoL of patients with bone metastasis and to compare the QoL results between the most used schemes of RT at our Centre. Materials and Methods: A consecutive sample of patients with bone metastasis treated with RT in the Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Spain, was addressed between January 2011 and November 2012. The QoL was measured with the Quality of Life Questionnaire-C15-Palliative questionnaire, a short version of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 for palliative care. Two assessments were proposed for each patient: one on the first day of the treatment and the other one a month after the end of the radiotherapy sessions. One hundred and sixteen patients completed the first questionnaire and 75 completed the second one (65%). Results: Significant differences appeared in 9 domains, with better QoL in the second assessment. Five areas (physical functioning, global, fatigue, nausea, dyspnea, and constipation) showed little change (between 5 and 9 points), 3 (emotional functioning, insomnia, and appetite loss) showed moderate change (10 to 20 points), and 1 (pain) showed a very positive change (>30 points). When we compare the QoL scores between the 2 most used schemes of RT (30 Gy/10 fractions vs. 20 Gy/4 to 5 fractions), there are no significant differences in any QoL areas (and in 2 areas P was near 0.05). Conclusions: Palliative RT is a very active treatment for patients with bone metastasis regardless of age, location, primary tumor, or RT scheme. RT significantly improves the QoL, fundamentally by controlling pain and reducing analgesic use. Shorter schemes of RT produce at least—if not better—the same effect on QL than longer schemes (30 Gy).
Accounting and business economics : insights from national traditions

Part I: Introduction 1. The Genesis of an Academic Discipline: Accounting Theories of the First Half of the Twentieth Century Richard Mattessich Part II: At the Roots of National Traditions of Accounting and Business Economics 2. Accounting and the Business Economics Tradition in Germany Walther Busse von Colbe and Rolf U. Fuelbier 3. Accounting and Economia Aziendale in Italy, 1911 Afterward Arnaldo Canziani 4. The Accounting and Business Economics Traditions in Japan Masatoshi Kuroda and Ellie Okada 5. Accounting and Business Economics in the Netherlands Kees Camfferman 6. Development of Accounting and Business Economics in Finland: From a Practical Discipline to a Scientific Subject and Field of Research Salme Nasi and Juha Nasi 7. Accounting and Business Economics. Traditions in Sweden: A Pragmatic View Sten Jonsson 8. Accounting and Business Economics in Denmark Anne Loft, Jan Mouritsen, and Carsten Rohde 9. Accounting and Business Economics: Emergence and Consolidation as Autonomous Disciplines in Spain Vincente Montesinos 10. The Three Main Schools of the French Financial Accounting Doctrine: A Historical Survey Jacques Richard 11. Accounting and the Absence of a Business Economics Tradition in the United Kingdom Christopher Napier 12. Developments in Accounting and Business Economic Thought: Evidence from the United States Garen Markarian Part III: Comparative Analyses, Insights and Implications for Accounting and Business Economics 13. Insights on German Accounting Theory Michael Hommel and Stefanie Schmitz 14. Accounting, Economics and Law of the Enterprise Entity: A.C. Littleton and the German-American Connection Yuri Biondi 15. Accounting Relativism: The Unstable Relationship Between Income Measurement and Theories of the Firm: The Case of the Traditions of Italy and the United States Stefano Zambon and Luca Zan 16. Accounting and Business Economics Traditions in Italy Enrico Vigano 17. Portuguese and Spanish Languages Traditions Esteban Hernandez Esteve 18. Accounting and Business Economics: Understanding the Past to Face the Present and Prepare the Future Stefano Zambon
EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS OF SEXUAL SELECTION IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Several models for sexual selection, both by male‐male competition and female choice, predict that a character which covaries with mating success should be near an equilibrium where the intensity of sexual selection opposes viability selection. This prediction was used to design experiments for estimating the intensity of sexual and viability selection on wing length in a recently captured population of Drosophila melanogaster. Observations of matings by males color‐marked for wing length indicated that the standardized sexual selection differential on wing length was 0.24 under a wide range of effective sex ratios. After estimating the heritability of wing length to be 0.62, the expected standardized response due to sexual selection was calculated as 0.15 (SE = 0.15). The response due to viability selection was then estimated by comparing wing lengths of progeny of flies that had been randomly mated, thereby preventing sexual selection, with progeny of flies that had been allowed to acquire mates in a mass‐mating chamber. The results support an equilibrium model in that the standardized response due to viability selection (−0.31, SE = 0.08) was opposite in sign and similar in magnitude to the estimated response due to sexual selection.
An examination of the time variation in systematic risk on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius

This study estimates the systematic for the listed companies on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius using the capital asset pricing model and the market model. We then correct for thin trading. Finally, the Schwert and Seguin (1990) model is used to estimate the time variation in beta. The results indicate that the betas corrected for thin trading are quite different from the traditional beta estimates. It is therefore crucial to take thin trading into account when estimating systematic risk for markets characterized by thin trading. Moreover, when the time-variation in beta is taken into account, the empirical regularity that the spread between the systematic risk of small and large firms is higher as market volatility increases is confirmed by the data.
An outer-rotor flux-switching permanent magnet machine for traction applications

A flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machine with an outer-rotor configuration is proposed for traction applications. The effects of the pole and slot numbers on back-EMF and cogging torque are studied, and sizing equations are derived to determine the machine dimensions. Finite element analysis (FEA) models are developed to optimize the machine performance including flux-weakening capability, and core losses are also estimated. Performance predictions by the FEA models are validated by the experimental tests on the prototype built from the optimized design. The suitability of the proposed machine for in-wheel traction is demonstrated.