Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social networks spread rumors in sublogarithmic time

With the prevalence of social networks, it has become increasingly important to understand their features and limitations. It has been observed that information spreads extremely fast in social networks. We study the performance of randomized rumor spreading protocols on graphs in the preferential attachment model. The well-known random phone call model of Karp et al. (FOCS 2000) is a push-pull strategy where in each round, each vertex chooses a random neighbor and exchanges information with it. We prove the following. - The push-pull strategy delivers a message to all nodes within Θ(log n) rounds with high probability. The best known bound so far was O(log2 n). - If we slightly modify the protocol so that contacts are chosen uniformly from all neighbors but the one contacted in the previous round, then this time reduces to Θ(log n / log log n), which is the diameter of the graph. This is the first time that a sublogarithmic broadcast time is proven for a natural setting. Also, this is the first time that avoiding double-contacts reduces the run-time to a smaller order of magnitude.
Providing route directions: Design of robot's utterance, gesture, and timing

Providing route directions is a complicated interaction. Utterances are combined with gestures and pronounced with appropriate timing. This study proposes a model for a robot that generates route directions by integrating three important crucial elements: utterances, gestures, and timing. Two research questions must be answered in this modeling process. First, is it useful to let robot perform gesture even though the information conveyed by the gesture is given by utterance as well? Second, is it useful to implement the timing at which humans speaks? Many previous studies about the natural behavior of computers and robots have learned from human speakers, such as gestures and speech timing. However, our approach is different from such previous studies. We emphasized the listener's perspective. Gestures were designed based on the usefulness, although we were influenced by the basic structure of human gestures. Timing was not based on how humans speak, but modeled from how they listen. The experimental result demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach, not only for task efficiency but also for perceived naturalness.
Analytic and Simulation Results about a Compact, Reliable, and Unbiased 1-bit Physically Unclonable Constant

Physically unclonable constants (PUC) are circuits used to embed unique secret bit-words in chips. We propose a simple PUC, with a complexity comparable with an SRAM cell. The proposed scheme is studied both theoretically and by means of simulations and it is shown that the proposed PUC is both unbiased and very stable. In particular, its intra-distance is predicted to be from 10 to 100 times smaller than competitor schemes. Simulations allow to conclude that the advantages of the proposed scheme are relevant enough to make it competitive even if the actual performance of a real implementation, not considered in this paper, will turn out to be an order of magnitude worse than predicted.
Optimization on Impact Strength of Woven Kenaf Reinforced Polyester Composites using Taguchi Method

This paper focuses on the effect of weaving patterns and orientations on the energy absorption of woven kenaf reinforced polyester composites. Kenaf fiber in the form of yarn is weaved to produce different weaving patterns such as plain, twill and basket. Three woven mats are stacked together and mixed with polyester resin before it is compressed to squeeze out any excessive resin. There is nine different orientations are used during stacking processes by following Taguchi orthogonal arrays method. The hardened composites are cured for 24 hours before it is shaped according to specific dimensions for impact tests. The composites are perforated with 1m/s blunted projectile. According to the experimental findings, weaving pattern and orientation have distinct potential effects on value of energy absorption. The optimization using Taguchi method reveals preferable orientation of each weaving pattern composites. Based on the fracture observation, the fragmentations after optimization indicating lower distance surface fracture perforated obtained.
Mycobacterial persistence requires the utilization of host cholesterol

A hallmark of tuberculosis is the ability of the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to persist for decades despite a vigorous host immune response. Previously, we identified a mycobacterial gene cluster, mce4, that was specifically required for bacterial survival during this prolonged infection. We now show that mce4 encodes a cholesterol import system that enables M. tuberculosis to derive both carbon and energy from this ubiquitous component of host membranes. Cholesterol import is not required for establishing infection in mice or for growth in resting macrophages. However, this function is essential for persistence in the lungs of chronically infected animals and for growth within the IFN-γ-activated macrophages that predominate at this stage of infection. This finding indicates that a major effect of IFN-γ stimulation may be to sequester potential pathogens in a compartment devoid of more commonly used nutrients. The unusual capacity to catabolize sterols allows M. tuberculosis to circumvent this defense and thereby sustain a persistent infection.
Smart Radio Spectrum Management for Cognitive Radio

Today's wireless networks are characterized by fixed spectrum assignment policy. The limited available spectrum and the inefficiency in the spectrum usage necessitate a new communication paradigm to exploit the existing wireless spectrum opportunistically. Cognitive radio is a paradigm for wireless communication in which either a network or a wireless node changes its transmission or reception parameters to communicate efficiently avoiding interference with licensed or unlicensed users. In this work, a fuzzy logic based system for spectrum management is proposed where the radio can share unused spectrum depending on some parameters like distance, signal strength, node velocity and availability of unused spectrum. The system is simulated and is found to give satisfactory results.
Human recombinant truncated RNASET2, devoid of RNase activity; A potential cancer therapeutic agent

Human RNASET2 has been implicated in antitumorigenic and antiangiogenic activities, independent of its ribonuclease capacities. We constructed a truncated version of human RNASET2, starting at E50 (trT2-50) and devoid of ribonuclease activity. trT2-50 maintained its ability to bind actin and to inhibit angiogenesis and tumorigenesis. trT2-50 binds to cell surface actin and formed a complex with actin in vitro. The antiangiogenic effect of this protein was demonstrated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) by its ability to arrest tube formation on Matrigel, induced by angiogenic factors. Immunofluorescence staining of HUVECs showed nuclear and cytosolic RNASET2 protein that was no longer detectable inside the cell following trT2-50 treatment. This effect was associated with disruption of the intracellular actin network. trT2-50 co-localized with angiogenin, suggesting that both molecules bind (or compete) for similar cellular epitopes. Moreover, trT2-50 led to a significant inhibition of tumor development. Histological analysis demonstrated abundant necrotic tissue and a substantial loss of endothelial structure in trT2-50-treated tumors. Collectively, the present results indicate that trT2-50, a molecule engineered to be deficient of its catalytic activity, still maintained its actin binding and anticancer-related biological activities. We therefore suggest that trT2-50 may serve as a potential cancer therapeutic agent.
Selective Suppression of Plasticity in Amygdala Inputs from Temporal Association Cortex by the External Capsule

GABAergic neurons in the external capsule (EC) provide feedforward inhibition in the lateral amygdala (LA), but how EC affects synaptic transmission and plasticity in inputs from specific cortical areas remains unknown; this is because axonal fibers from different cortical areas are intermingled in the amygdala and cannot be activated selectively using conventional electrical stimulation. Here, we achieved selective activation of fibers from the temporal association cortex (TeA) or the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) by using channelrhodopsin-2. Long-term potentiation (LTP) in the TeA–LA pathway, which runs through EC, was enabled by cutting connections between EC and LA or by blocking GABAA receptor-mediated transmission. In contrast, LTP in the ACC–LA pathway, which bypasses EC, was GABAA receptor independent. The EC transection shifted balance between inhibitory and excitatory responses in the TeA–LA pathway toward excitation, but had no effect on the ACC–LA pathway. Thus, EC provides pathway-specific suppression of amygdala plasticity.
The Comprehensive Effects of Different Electric Field Intensity on Wheat Seed

In the evaluation of the comprehensive effects of electric field on plant growth, it is very difficult to tell how importance on 1 milligram/liter of chlorophyll comparing with 1 centimeter of root length. In addition, even if these two indexes' weight can be determined, but when these two indexes are synthesized into an index, the individual information of chlorophyll and root length will be lost too. So we proposed a non-parametric comprehensive analysis method for multi-index biological information. By applying this method to analyze the comprehensive effects of different electric field intensity on wheat seed, we find that this method can get rid of the above disadvantages, and have obviously excellent feature.
Comparison Of Document Management Systems By Meta Modelling And Workforce Centric Tuning Measures

Document management software are used widely for office paper management and related workflows. However, they have some differences from a flexibility perspective for the needs of workers. Moreover, they also differentiate in their underlying conceptual design. In this paper, a set (eight) of widely used document management systems are chosen from internet reviews [5] [6] and their conceptual models are analysed with meta modeling and flexibility tuning measures. The main objective is to compare these systems by analyzing their human-orientation and flexibility. This analysis provides useful information for organizations especially looking for document management systems which are more workforce centric.
Determining The Presence Of An Ignitable Liquid Residue In Fire Debris Samples Utilizing Target Factor Analysis

Current fire debris analysis procedure involves using the chromatographic patterns of total ion chromatograms, extracted ion chromatograms, and target compound analysis to identify an ignitable liquid according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E 1618 standard method. Classifying the ignitable liquid is accomplished by a visual comparison of chromatographic data obtained from any extracted ignitable liquid residue in the debris to the chromatograms of ignitable liquids in a database, i.e. by visual pattern recognition. Pattern recognition proves time consuming and introduces potential for human error. One particularly difficult aspect of fire debris analysis is recognizing an ignitable liquid residue when the intensity of its chromatographic pattern is extremely low or masked by pyrolysis products. In this research, a unique approach to fire debris analysis was applied by utilizing the samples’ total ion spectrum (TIS) to identify an ignitable liquid, if present. The TIS, created by summing the intensity of each ion across all elution times in a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) dataset retains sufficient information content for the identification of complex mixtures [1]. Computer assisted spectral comparison was then performed on the samples’ TIS by target factor analysis (TFA). This approach allowed rapid automated searching against a library of ignitable liquid summed ion spectra. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves measured how well TFA identified ignitable liquids in the database that were of the same ASTM classification as the ignitable liquid in fire debris samples, as depicted in their corresponding area under the ROC curve.
The prediction and precaution of financial risk in China: Evidence from the data during 1997–2007

Financial crisis in 2008 has uncovered the failure of financial risk management, while calculating and fighting back financial risks has been a widespread concern. This paper picks up financial data from 1997 to 2006 as sample data for empirical analysis, uses the methods of factor analysis and extracts three factors representing the risk of economic and financial environment, the risk of foreign investment, and the risk of people's actual living standard. It also builds the model based on the contribution rate, and calculates financial risk value and changing trends from 1997 to 2007 so as to put out some related suggestions and comments to prevent financial risks.
THE IMPACT OF THE PRESENCE ON GLOBAL MARKETS OF CALCIUM CARBIDE ORIGINATING FROM CHINA ON OTHER INDUSTRY ROLE PLAYERS: THE CASE OF SA CALCIUM CARBIDE (PTY) LTD.

How to cite this paper: Mazo, R. S. , & Munapo, E. (2017). The impact of the presence on global markets of calcium carbide originating from China on other industry role players: the case of sa calcium carbide (PTY) LTD. Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets & Institutions, 7(4-2), 234 245. http://doi.org/10.22495/rgc7i4c2art6 Copyright © 2017 The Authors This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b y-nc/4.0/ ISSN Online: 2077-4303 ISSN Print: 2077-429X Received: 28.06. 2017 Accepted: 20.09. 2017 JEL Classification: L11 DOI: 10.22495/rgc7i4c2art6 This research assesses how the presence of calcium carbide originating from China has impacted on the operations of other role players in the industry. SA Calcium Carbide (Pty) Ltd. located in Newcastle, South Africa, was used as a case study. The study spanned all markets where the company has a footprint meaning domestically, regionally and internationally. The aim of the study was to discern the extent to which companies like SA Calcium Carbide have been affected by the presence of products from China on the global market with special focus being put on the competitiveness in terms of pricing of products. The study used a survey strategy, and was exploratory in nature. The choice of the survey strategy was motivated by the need to collect both quantitative and qualitative data in order to meet the research objectives. The data was gathered, with an 80 percent response rate, using a questionnaire method from more than 70 current SA Calcium Carbide customers both from the domestic and the export side of the business. In order to consider the different perspectives of the whole scenario, 10 companies involved in either manufacturing or trading of Chinese manufactured calcium carbide were interviewed, some face to face and some telephonically. The study revealed that current customers, who are predominantly from the African continent, buy product from SA Calcium Carbide primarily because of its high quality. It also evident from the results that the export volumes of SA Calcium Carbide were on a gradual downward trend due to loss of market share to Chinese companies.
Vijay Deepak Dollu . Implicit Feedback in Information Retrieval : A Literature Analysis

This literature review provides an overview of the various topics related to using implicit feedback for information retrieval. Specific topics which are addressed are explicit relevance feedback for query expansion and its advantages and disadvantages, user behaviors that provide implicit information to a system, techniques to implement implicit feedback in systems and the advantages and disadvantages of using implicit feedback in information retrieval systems. For behaviors of users that were studied by researchers, this study provides a discussion on whether the researchers found them to be useful or not. A discussion on the techniques with which these behaviors are implemented in systems by researchers is presented to gain an understanding of how these behaviors could be used in a system to interpret the behaviors of users. It is concluded that information retrieval systems utilizing implicit feedback would help users find relevant documents.
Communicators: Object-Based Multiparty Interactions for Parallel Programming

Contemporary parallel programming languages often provide only few low-level primitives for pairwise communication and synchronization. These primitives are not always suitable for the interactions being programmed. Programming would be easier if it was possible to tailor communication and synchronization mechanisms to t the needs of the application, much as abstract data types are used to create application-speciic data structures and operations. This should also include the possibility of expressing interactions among multiple processes at once. Communicators support this paradigm by creating abstract communication objects that provide a framework for interprocess multiparty interactions. The behavior of these objects is deened in terms of interactions, in which multiple processes can enrole. Interactions are performed when all the roles are lled by ready processes. Nondeterminism is used when the order of interaction performance is immaterial. Interactions can also be disabled, thereby creating a uniform queueing mechanism where interactions may represent events.
A Spoonful of Sugar?: The Impact of Guidance and Feedback on Password-Creation Behavior

Users often struggle to create passwords under strict requirements. To make this process easier, some providers present real-time feedback during password creation, indicating which requirements are not yet met. Other providers guide users through a multi-step password-creation process. Our 6,435-participant online study examines how feedback and guidance affect password security and usability. We find that real-time password-creation feedback can help users create strong passwords with fewer errors. We also find that although guiding participants through a three-step password-creation process can make creation easier, it may result in weaker passwords. Our results suggest that service providers should present password requirements with feedback to increase usability. However, the presentation of feedback and guidance must be carefully considered, since identical requirements can have different security and usability effects depending on presentation.
Irradiation of Neurons with High-Energy Charged Particles: An In Silico Modeling Approach

In this work, a stochastic computational model of microscopic energy deposition events is used to study for the first time damage to irradiated neuronal cells of the mouse hippocampus. An extensive library of radiation tracks for different particle types is created to score energy deposition in small voxels and volume segments describing a neuron’s morphology that later are sampled for given particle fluence or dose. Methods included the construction of in silico mouse hippocampal granule cells from neuromorpho.org with spine and filopodia segments stochastically distributed along the dendritic branches. The model is tested with high-energy 56Fe, 12C, and 1H particles and electrons. Results indicate that the tree-like structure of the neuronal morphology and the microscopic dose deposition of distinct particles may lead to different outcomes when cellular injury is assessed, leading to differences in structural damage for the same absorbed dose. The significance of the microscopic dose in neuron components is to introduce specific local and global modes of cellular injury that likely contribute to spine, filopodia, and dendrite pruning, impacting cognition and possibly the collapse of the neuron. Results show that the heterogeneity of heavy particle tracks at low doses, compared to the more uniform dose distribution of electrons, juxtaposed with neuron morphology make it necessary to model the spatial dose painting for specific neuronal components. Going forward, this work can directly support the development of biophysical models of the modifications of spine and dendritic morphology observed after low dose charged particle irradiation by providing accurate descriptions of the underlying physical insults to complex neuron structures at the nano-meter scale.
A review of algorithms for audio fingerprinting

An audio fingerprint is a content-based compact signature that summarizes an audio recording. Audio fingerprinting technologies have recently attracted attention since they allow the monitoring of audio independently of its format and without the need of meta-data or watermark embedding. The different approaches to fingerprinting are usually described with different rationales and terminology depending on the background: pattern matching, multimedia (music) information retrieval or cryptography (robust hashing). In this paper, we review different techniques mapping functional parts to blocks of a unified framework.
Empathy in Negative and Positive Interpersonal Interactions. What is the Relationship Between Central (EEG, fNIRS) and Peripheral (Autonomic) Neurophysiological Responses?

Emotional empathy is crucial to understand how we respond to interpersonal positive or negative situations. In the present research, we aim at identifying the neural networks and the autonomic responsiveness underlying the human ability to perceive and empathize with others’ emotions when positive (cooperative) or negative (uncooperative) interactions are observed. A multimethodological approach was adopted to elucidate the reciprocal interplay of autonomic (peripheral) and central (cortical) activities in empathic behavior. Electroencephalography (EEG, frequency band analysis) and hemodynamic (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, fNIRS) activity were all recorded simultaneously with systemic skin conductance response (SCR) and heart rate (HR) measurements as potential biological markers of emotional empathy. Subjects were required to empathize in interpersonal interactions. As shown by fNIRS/EEG measures, negative situations elicited increased brain responses within the right prefrontal cortex (PFC), whereas positive situations elicited greater responses within the left PFC. Therefore, a relevant lateralization effect was induced by the specific valence (mainly for negative conditions) of the emotional interactions. Also, SCR was modulated by positive/negative conditions. Finally, EEG activity (mainly low-frequency theta and delta bands) intrinsically correlated with the cortical hemodynamic responsiveness, and they both predicted autonomic activity. The integrated central and autonomic measures better elucidated the significance of empathic behavior in interpersonal interactions.