Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scratch iridescence

The surface of metal, glass and plastic objects is often characterized by microscopic scratches caused by manufacturing and/or wear. A closer look onto such scratches reveals iridescent colors with a complex dependency on viewing and lighting conditions. The physics behind this phenomenon is well understood; it is caused by diffraction of the incident light by surface features on the order of the optical wavelength. Existing analytic models are able to reproduce spatially unresolved microstructure such as the iridescent appearance of compact disks and similar materials. Spatially resolved scratches, on the other hand, have proven elusive due to the highly complex wave-optical light transport simulations needed to account for their appearance. In this paper, we propose a wave-optical shading model based on non-paraxial scalar diffraction theory to render this class of effects. Our model expresses surface roughness as a collection of line segments. To shade a point on the surface, the individual diffraction patterns for contributing scratch segments are computed analytically and superimposed coherently. This provides natural transitions from localized glint-like iridescence to smooth BRDFs representing the superposition of many reflections at large viewing distances. We demonstrate that our model is capable of recreating the overall appearance as well as characteristic detail effects observed on real-world examples.
The X model – a tool for describing and assessing individual projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the X model, which is an inputs – processes – outputs (IPO) model well suited to describing and assessing individual projects. It argues and illustrates that this kind of model is appropriate for project control. It shows that X models can be used on the macro level by presenting the typical Norwegian project of 2008 based on several X models.Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical justifications (systems and socio‐technical theories) for IPO models, and the X model in particular, are presented. Empirical data in the form of X models from 54 Norwegian projects are used to illustrate the application of X models.Findings – The findings are on two levels. For the single project, the paper demonstrates that the X model provides an insight into the situation of a project and causal relationships usually not available with other forms of project control. On the macro level based on the sample of X models, the paper presents the situation for the typical No.
Discovering protein similarity using natural language processing

Extracting protein interaction relationships from textual repositories, such as MEDLINE, may prove useful in generating novel biological hypotheses. Using abstracts relevant to two known functionally related proteins, we modified an existing natural language processing tool to extract protein interaction terms. We were able to obtain functional information about two proteins, Amyloid Precursor Protein and Prion Protein, that have been implicated in the etiology of Alzheimer's Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, respectively.
Valinomycin and excitation‐contraction coupling in skeletal muscle fibres of the frog.

1. Experiments were carried out on intact frog skeletal muscle fibres to study the role of H+ and K+ as counter‐ions during the release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). A specific focus was to test whether valinomycin, a potassium ionophore, markedly reduces or abolishes H+ counter‐ions fluxes across the SR membrane in response to electrical stimulation. 2. Single twitch fibres, mounted on an optical bench apparatus and stretch to long sarcomere length (3.6‐4.0 microns), were activated by single action potentials (16 degrees C). Two optical signals related to excitation‐contraction coupling were measured: (i) the 'second component' of the intrinsic birefringence signal, which is closely related to the myoplasmic free [Ca2+] transient, and (ii) the transient myoplasmic alkalization (delta pH) detectable from the pH indicator Phenol Red, a signal thought to reflect the movement of protons from the myoplasm into the SR in partial electrical exchange for released Ca2+. 3. Exposure of a fibre to 5 microM‐valinomycin produced a slight, progressive decrease in the amplitude of the birefringence signal, approximately 5‐6% per hour. This result suggests that, if anything, the peak rate at which Ca2+ is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum is slightly decreased by valinomycin. 4. The amplitude of the Phenol Red delta pH signal, measured after exposure of a fibre to valinomycin for a period of at least 60 min, averaged 0.0020 +/‐ 0.0002 (+/‐ S.E.M.); this value is slightly smaller than, but not significantly different from (P greater than 0.05; two‐tailed t test) that measured in fibres not exposed to valinomycin (0.0025 +/‐ 0.0002). This result does not support the idea that valinomycin, but virtue of increasing the flux of K+ into the SR, markedly reduces the flux of protons during Ca2+ release. 5. Our findings of minimal changes in the birefringence and delta pH signals are consistent with the idea that, at the time of Ca2+ release, the potassium conductance of the SR membrane is large and not substantially increased by the addition of valinomycin to Ringer solution.
Are Today′s Executives Meeting with Success?

Meetings called/attended by US business people in the course of their duties are examined in the light of: time spent, productiveness or otherwise, theoretical and actual productiveness, functional group differences, comparison of male and female attitudes, comparative weakness of finance groups in achieving productive meetings, the need for training to inculcate meeting skills, the cost in wasted money of ineffective meetings, the correlation between managing meetings and personal advancement/self‐perception, the need for subordinates, not just managers, to learn meeting skills. The implications of these factors are seen to be that meetings are important to any organisation; managed effectively, they increase productivity and, managed poorly, they cost American business a fortune.
Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent serum assay specific for the 7S domain of Collagen Type IV (P4NP 7S): A marker related to the extracellular matrix remodeling during liver fibrogenesis

Aim: The present study describes the ability of a newly developed N‐terminal pro‐peptides of type IV collagen 7S domain (P4NP 7S) competitive enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for describing liver fibrosis. The assay applies a monoclonal antibody specific for a PIVNP 7S epitope 100% homologous in the human, rat, and mouse species.
Including Parents in the Continuum of School-Based Mental Health Services: A Review of Intervention Program Research From 1995 to 2010

In this study, the authors reviewed journal articles published between 1995 and 2010 that described student mental health interventions involving parents delivered in school settings. Their review identified 100 articles describing 39 interventions. On the basis of participant selection criteria provided by the authors of the reviewed articles, the authors of this study grouped interventions into universal (Tier 1), selected (Tier 2), targeted or indicated (Tier 3), or multitier programs. Interventions were identified across Tiers 1, 2, and 3, although interventions involving all three tiers were rare (n = 2). Common intervention goals were prevention of substance abuse and reduction of externalizing behavior problems. The majority of programs involved parents through group parent training. Example programs were selected at each tier to provide a description of how parents were recruited, how services were delivered to families, and outcomes for participants. Implications for school psychologists who wish to promote greater parent involvement in interventions at their schools and directions for future research are noted.
Demographic responses to weather fluctuations are context dependent in a long‐lived amphibian

Weather fluctuations have been demonstrated to affect demographic traits in many species. In long‐lived organisms, their impact on adult survival might be buffered by the evolution of traits that reduce variation in interannual adult survival. For example, skipping breeding is an effective behavioral mechanism that may limit yearly variation in adult survival when harsh weather conditions occur; however, this in turn would likely lead to strong variation in recruitment. Yet, only a few studies to date have examined the impact of weather variation on survival, recruitment and breeding probability simultaneously in different populations of the same species. To fill this gap, we studied the impact of spring temperatures and spring rainfall on survival, on reproductive skipping behavior and on recruitment in five populations of a long‐lived amphibian, the yellow‐bellied toad (Bombina variegata). Based on capture–recapture data, our findings demonstrate that survival depends on interactions between age, population and weather variation. Varying weather conditions in the spring result in strong variation in the survival of immature toads, whereas they have little effect on adult toads. Breeding probability depends on both the individual's previous reproductive status and on the weather conditions during the current breeding season, leading to high interannual variation in recruitment. Crucially, we found that the impact of weather variation on demographic traits is largely context dependent and may thus differ sharply between populations. Our results suggest that studies predicting the impact of climate change on population dynamics should be taken with caution when the relationship between climate and demographic traits is established using only one population or few populations. We therefore highly recommend further research that includes surveys replicated in a substantial number of populations to account for context‐dependent variation in demographic processes.
Revenue Management for Cloud Providers--A Policy-Based Approach under Stochastic Demand

Competition on global markets forces enterprises to make use of new applications, reduce process times and cut the costs of their IT-infrastructure. To achieve this commercial users harness the benefits of Cloud computing as they can outsource data storage and computation facilities, while saving on the overall cost of IT ownership. Cloud services can be accessed on demand at any time in a pay-as-you-go manner. However, it is this flexibility of customers that results in great challenges for Cloud service providers. They need to maximize their revenue in the presence of limited fixed resources and uncertainty regarding upcoming service requests while contemporaneously considering their SLAs. To address this challenge we introduce models that can predict revenue and utilization achieved with admission-control policy based revenue management under stochastic demand. This allows providers to significantly increase revenue by choosing the optimum policy.
Factors that impact solution run times of arc-based formulations of the Vehicle Routing Problem ∗

It is well known that the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) becomes more difficult to solve as the problem size increases. However little is known about what makes a VRP difficult or easy to solve for problems of the same size. In this paper we investigate the effect of the formulation and data parameters on the efficiency with which we can obtain exact solutions to the VRP with a general IP solver. Our results show that solution run times for arc-based formulations with exponentially many constraints are mostly insensitive to problem parameters, whereas polynomial arc-based formulations, which can solve larger problems because of the smaller memory requirement, are sensitive to problem parameters. For instance, we observe that solution times for polynomial formulations significantly decrease for larger capacities and number of vehicles. ∗Research supported by NSF under grant CMS-0409887 †Corresponding author
People's assumptions about robots: investigation of their relationships with attitudes and emotions toward robots

People's assumptions about robots are an important factor affecting their construction and change of attitudes and emotions toward robots. The assumptions should be measured not only to investigate psychological factors determining reactions toward robots but also to study crosscultural attitudes toward robots. As far as measurement of people's attitudes and emotions can contribute to the design of human-robot interaction, questionnaire items measuring assumptions of robots should be prepared. To develop these items measuring individuals' assumptions about robots, a pilot research was administered in Japan. The results implied the possibility that Japanese people assume "humanoids" as a representative robots, though this assumption still remains unconnected to realistic assumptions about situations where and tasks that these robots perform; the classical views of robots that physically act for humans remains. These implications present some problems for the administration of the survey. This paper reports detailed results of the pilot survey, discusses implications of the results and problems with them, and suggests possible future works based on the results.
Inhibition of return following instructions to remember and forget

Inhibition of return (IOR) refers to slowed responding to a target that appears in the same rather than in a different location as a preceding peripheral onset cue. This study examined IOR as a function of whether the peripheral onset cue was a word that participants were directed to remember or forget. Using a modified item-method directed forgetting paradigm, words appeared one at a time to the left or right, followed by a remember or forget instruction. A target dot was then presented either in the same peripheral location as the preceding word or in a different location; participants made a speeded response to localize this target. Confirming compliance with the memory instructions, recall tests that alternated with blocks of IOR trials (Experiment 1) revealed few intrusions of to-be-forgotten words, and a final recognition test (Experiments 1 and 3) revealed more hits for to-be-remembered words than for to-be-forgotten words. Reaction times to the target dot revealed greater magnitude IOR following to-be-forgotten words than following to-be-remembered words (Experiments 1 and 3). Moreover, when compared to baseline IOR values (Experiment 2), it appeared that this difference resulted from a magnification of IOR following forget instructions and a reduction in IOR following remember instructions. These results demonstrate the usefulness of IOR as an index of memorial processes and suggest that attentional orienting may play a role in the remembering and forgetting of words presented in peripheral visual locations.
The assessment of ethnic sensitivity among Northern Ireland schoolchildren

The utility of the release from proactive interference paradigm as a technique for the indirect assessment of ethnic sensitivity was explored. Children in Northern Ireland, aged 7 and 11, recalled sets of names that changed in religious affiliation between the third and fourth sets. Only the older age group demonstrated the predicted improvement in recall following change in name type, findings consistent with studies that have taken approaches to the assessment of ethnic sensitivity.
Adaptability in an agent-based virtual organisation

In this paper we consider the adaptability in an agent-based Virtual Organisation (VO). After introducing the system and the need for adaptive behaviours, human resource adaptability in particular, we discuss how the goal of 'agent adaptation' can be implemented. Specifically, we propose how agent behaviours can be added into/removed from/replaced in an agent skeleton, and, in this way, agent functionality modified.
Effect of a Third Party Observer on Neuropsychological Test Performance Following Closed Head Injury

Abstract The effect of a third party observer on neuropsychological test performance was examined within the framework of social facilitation. Social facilitation refers to the influence of an observer's presence on human behavior. Previous studies of social facilitation have demonstrated that an observer improves performance on easy or well-learned tasks and diminishes performance on complex or novel tasks. To examine social facilitation effects on neuropsychological testing, the Trail Making Test, Verbal Paired Associates subtest from the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R), Finger Tapping Test, Grip Strength, and the Grooved Pegboard were administered to 60 individuals with a self-reported history of mild to severe closed head injury. Half of the participants received a standard test administration, and the other half were tested in the presence of a third party observer. A statistically significant difference between groups was found on the Verbal Paired Associates delayed recall from the WMS-R with.
Distributed denial of service is a scalability problem

Distributed denial of service attacks are often considered just a security problem. While this may be the way to view the problem with the Internet of today, perhaps new network architectures attempting to address the issue should view it as a scalability problem. In addition, they may need to approach the problem based on a rigorous foundation.
Once more with feeling: Utterance and social structure

Abstract In this paper, I examine three theoretical sources on the relationship between language use and social structure. I identify common themes which link the concepts of symbolic capital (Bourdieu), social semiotic (Halliday), and ideologeme (Medvedev) and which lead to a critique of the structuralist tradition of semiotic theory. I explore the significance of speech prosody as an integral part of speech communication, and suggest that the utterance needs to be seen as a complex whole in which the structural and dynamic elements of speech are functionally combined. I illustrate this position through the analysis of a sequence of naturalistic dialogue, highlighting aspects of prosodic orientation between speakers and discussing its semiotic significance. I suggest that the mediating concept of speech genre can be used to understand how fluent conversation has both a structured and an improvisatory character. I conclude by suggesting that the activity of producing an utterance in everyday speech may be seen in terms of a musical analogy as performing a variation on a traditional theme. In closing, I identify a number of topics in this field on which our knowledge remains underdeveloped and indicate lines of enquiry for future research.
Corporate culture change: adaptive culture structuration and negotiated practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present adaptive culture structuration, a new approach for theorizing and analyzing culture change and for creating an “adaptive cultural structurated learning environment”. Design/methodology/approach – Incorporating a case study in the financial sector the paper explores 12 employees' narrated accounts of living through a culture change initiative. A constructivist, interpretive, qualitative research study followed grounded theory principles. Organizational documentation provided secondary data. Semi structured interview data were analyzed using content analysis, constant comparison and theoretical sensitivity and were managed by ATLAS.ti software. Findings – Three themes emerged: respondents' investment of self, accepting the culture change initiative and its values; employees' epistemic analyses of the embedded value promises including experiencing a critical incident that interrupted managers' enactment of values; employees' resulting “received practice” whic.
Analysis of the occurrence of laughter in meetings

Automatic speech understanding in natural multiparty conversation settings stands to gain from parsing not only verbal but also non-verbal vocal communicative behaviors. In this work, we study the most frequently annotated non-verbal behavior, laughter, whose detection has clear implications for speech understanding tasks, and for the automatic recognition of affect in particular. To complement existing acoustic descriptions of the phenomenon, we explore the temporal patterning of laughter over the course of conversation, with a view towards its automatic segmentation and detection. We demonstrate that participants vary extensively in their use of laughter, and that laughter differs from speech in its duration and in the regularity of its occurrence. We also show that laughter and speech are quite dissimilar in terms of the degree of simultaneous vocalization by multiple participants, and in terms of the probability of transitioning into and out of vocalization overlap states. Index Terms: laughter, vocal interaction, multiparty meetings, Markov models.
New flowers—New gardens: Residential gardens designed by Karl Foerster, Hermann Mattern and Herta Hammerbacher (1928–c. 1943)

The publication entitled Neue Blumen-Neue Garten-Bornimer Wegweiser by Karl Foerster, one of the greatest plant breeders and authors on the subject in this century, appeared in 1938. It is an annotated guide through the realm of perennials-a perennial catalogue. It was chosen as the title of this article because it clearly indicates the main points of discussion: the introduction of "new flowers" such as perennials, grasses and ferns into gardens, but especially the reforms in content and design of the garden which took place after the turn of the century. These reforms resulted in the 1930s and 1940s in the development of a distinctly different style of garden by the designers, Herta Hammerbacher and Hermann Mattern, and the perennial specialist, Karl Foerster. It was a new type of landscape garden which still has a substantial influence on garden design in Germany today.
Ieee Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 1 Fast Detection of Transformed Data Leaks

—The leak of sensitive data on computer systems poses a serious threat to organizational security. Statistics show that the lack of proper encryption on files and communications due to human errors is one of the leading causes of data loss. Organizations need tools to identify the exposure of sensitive data by screening the content in storage and transmission, i.e., to detect sensitive information being stored or transmitted in the clear. However, detecting the exposure of sensitive information is challenging due to data transformation in the content. Transformations (such as insertion, deletion) result in highly unpredictable leak patterns. In this work, we utilize sequence alignment techniques for detecting complex data-leak patterns. Our algorithm is designed for detecting long and inexact sensitive data patterns. This detection is paired with a comparable sampling algorithm, which allows one to compare the similarity of two separately sampled sequences. Our system achieves good detection accuracy in recognizing transformed leaks. We implement a parallelized version of our algorithms in graphics processing unit that achieves high analysis throughput. We demonstrate the high multithreading scalability of our data leak detection method required by a sizable organization.