Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Large elections with multiple alternatives: a Condorcet Jury Theorem and inefficient equilibria

We investigate whether the plurality rule aggregates information efficiently in large elections with multiple alternatives, in which voters have common interests. Voters’ preferences depend on an unknown state of nature, and they receive imprecise private signals about the state of nature prior to the election. Similar to two-alternative elections (e.g., Myer- son (1998)), there always exists an informationally efficient equilibrium in which the correct alternative is elected. However, we identify new types of coordination failures in elections with more than two alternatives that lead to new types of inefficient equilibria. These can have interesting new properties: Voters may vote informatively, but the correct alternative is not elected.
Discrimination or Motivation? Black Coaches and College Basketball Polls

From 2005 to 2015, when ranked teams in the college basketball Media and Coaches Polls played each other, the better-ranked team ceteris paribus won more often when its head coach was Black and the opposing coach was White. This suggests pollsters underrated—discriminated against—highly ranked Black coaches. Coach race did not affect game outcome in the computer-based Sagarin Poll. Black-coached teams lost more often to unranked opponents, though, which is inconsistent with discrimination against them. An alternative possibility is that Black coaches were particularly motivated to avoid upsets by White-coached Top 25 teams, especially in years after many prominent Black coaches had lost their jobs.
Deriving Business Intelligence from Unstructured Data

The bulk of an organization’s data is unstructured that is the information that doesn't nicely fit into the typical data-processing format. It remains stored, but unanalysed. The information hidden or stored in unstructured data can play a critical role in making decisions, understanding and complying with regulations, and conducting other business functions. Integrating data stored in both structured and unstructured formats can add significant value to an organization. Such integrated data will define the Total Data Warehouse infrastructure so an organization can derive a single version of truth. Analyzing and processing text can reformat this data and merge it with traditional structured data for greater corporate insight. We propose to use text tagging and annotation, to derive business intelligence from business invoices of a company. After the extraction of facts and dimensions from unstructured textual data of invoices, unstructured data is transformed into a relational form and can be stored in a data warehouse. These steps offer businesses an insight into the context, or true meaning, of the unstructured text.
Translation-invariant scene grouping

We present a new approach to the problem of grouping similar scene images. The proposed method characterizes both the global feature layout and the local oriented edge responses of an image, and provides a translation-invariant similarity measure to compare scene images. Our method is effective in generating initial clustering results for applications that require extensive local-feature matching on unorganized image collections, such as large-scale 3D reconstruction and scene completion. The advantage of our method is that it can estimate image similarity via integrating global and local information. The experimental evaluations on various image datasets show that our method is able to approximate well the similarities derived from local-feature matching with a lower computational cost.
Learning and Recognizing American Football Plays

surveillance, sports and other video domains, many scenes involve complex, multi-agent activities where the agents are interacting in a time-varying manner. In surveillance, people form into queues and others groups, and transfer baggage. Team sports involve multiple players acting in a coordinated effort. Our goal is to efficiently model and recognize such coordinated activities in video. In this paper, we focus on the domain of American football, as it presents significant challenges including difficult tracking; a large number of players; active deception; large intra-class variability; complex dynamics; and a variety of activity (play) types. All of these challenges are also common in surveillance video. Given a video clip of one play, our goal is to determine which offensive play from the team's playbook is being executed, as early as possible in the play. An example is shown in Figure 1.1. We formulate the problem as supervised, dynamic model learning, following by model matching. Our approach automatically learns a model of each play type from several exemplars of the same play, for all play types of interest, thereby creating a computational playbook of models. We use a time-varying random field model, represented as a Non-Stationary Kernel Hidden Markov Model (NSKHMM) that couples a time-varying state transition matrix with a kernel-based probability distribution function for the observations in each state. Unknown plays are tested against the playbook as they develop and are classified as the most likely play given a specific set of extracted features. There are a variety of approaches for recognizing complex activities in video, including football plays [1,2]; our approach offers a few key contributions. Many methods assume that objects are tracked through the duration of the activity [1,4,5,9]. In general, however, the negative impact of tracking errors increases greatly with activity complexity. Some approaches use motion detections instead of tracks to avoid this problem [9,10], but this can lead to highly inefficient model learning, creates ambiguity when multiple objects are close together, and is a weaker representation as object identity is not preserved over time. Our method is a compromise, in that we use relatively short, high-confidence tracks for model learning, but do not assume complete tracks through an activity. This leads to efficient learning combined with robustness against tracking difficulties. To handle objects in close proximity, both the model learning and inference algorithms can ingest multiple inputs to the same observation node. A second contribution is the …
A Direct Comparison of Two Nonviral Gene Therapy Vectors for Somatic Integration: in Vivo Evaluation of the Bacteriophage Integrase Fc31 and the Sleeping Beauty Transposase

In this study we performed a head-to-head comparison of the integrase fC31 derived from a Streptomyces phage and the Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposase, a member of the TC1/mariner superfamily of transposable elements. Mouse liver was cotransfused with a vector containing our most robust human coagulation factor IX expression cassette and the appropriate recombinase recognition site and either a fC31-or a SB transposase-expressing vector. To analyze transgene persistence and to prove somatic integration in vivo we induced cell cycling of mouse hepatocytes and found that the transgene expression levels dropped by only 16 to 21% and 56 to 66% in mice that received fC31 and SB, respectively. Notably, no difference in the toxicity profile was detected in mice treated with either recombinase. Moreover we observed that with the integrase-mediated gene transfer, transgene expression levels were dependent on the remaining noncoding vector sequences, which also integrate into the host genome. Further analyses of a hot spot of integration after fC31-mediated integration revealed small chromosomal deletions at the target site and that the recombination process was not dependent on the orientation in which the fC31 recognition site attached to the pseudo-recognition sites in the host genome. Coupled together with ongoing improvements in both systems this study suggests that both nonviral vector systems will have important roles in achieving stable gene transfer in vivo.
Salient features of an executable specification language and its environment

The executable specification language PAISLey and its environment are presented as a case study in the design of computer languages. It is shown that PAISLey is unusual (and for some features unique) in having the following desirable features: (1) there is both synchronous and asynchronous parallelism free of mutual-exclusion problems, (2) all computations are encapsulated, (3) specifications in the language can be executed no matter how incomplete they are, (4) timing constraints are executable, (5) specifications are organized so that bounded resource consumption can be guaranteed, (6) almost all forms of inconsistency can be detected by automated checking, and (7) a notable degree of simplicity is maintained. Conclusions are drawn concerning the differences between executable specification languages and programming languages, and potential uses for PAISLey are given.
From self-awareness to self-identification with visual impairment: a qualitative study with working age adults at a rehabilitation setting

Objective: To explore the experience of vision loss, focusing on working age patients' self-awareness of impairment and self-identification with the impairment. Design: A cross-sectional and qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews. Setting: A specialized rehabilitation centre and a low vision unit at a public hospital. Participants: A convenience sample of 38 patients between the ages of 20 and 65, with sight loss caused by a serious ophthalmological condition acquired after the age of 18, and doing their rehabilitation. Main outcome measures: A semi-structured interview, addressing three core areas: the emotional impact of vision loss; adjustment; and social support. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed by two independent researchers. Results: Seven themes emerged from interviews. Changes in patients' identity, achievement and future life projection arose as being the main transformations caused by vision loss. Self-awareness of impairment appeared associated with the patients' first contact with their loss, while self-identification with the impairment arose connected with the later embodiment process of the vision loss. Conclusions: Patients’ self-awareness and self-perceptions of impairment appear to be two important milestones in the adjustment process to vision loss. Their assessment and monitoring over the rehabilitation period might help to promote impairment acceptance and rehabilitation outcomes.
Many‐body exchange‐repulsion in polarizable molecular mechanics. I. orbital‐based approximations and applications to hydrated metal cation complexes

We have quantified the extent of the nonadditivity of the short‐range exchange‐repulsion energy, Eexch‐rep, in several polycoordinated complexes of alkali, alkaline‐earth, transition, and metal cations. This was done by performing ab initio energy decomposition analyses of interaction energies in these complexes. The magnitude of Eexch‐rep(n‐body, n > 2) was found to be strongly cation‐dependent, ranging from close to zero for some alkali metal complexes to about 6 kcal/mol for the hexahydrated Zn2+ complex. In all cases, the cation–water molecules, Eexch‐rep(three‐body), has been found to be the dominant contribution to many‐body exchange‐repulsion effects, higher order terms being negligible. As the physical basis of this effect is discussed, a three‐center exponential term was introduced in the SIBFA (Sum of Interactions Between Fragments Ab initio computed) polarizable molecular mechanics procedure to model such effects. The three‐body correction is added to the two‐center (two‐body) overlap‐like formulation of the short‐range repulsion contribution, Erep, which is grounded on simplified integrals obtained from localized molecular orbital theory. The present term is computed on using mostly precomputed two‐body terms and, therefore, does not increase significantly the computational cost of the method. It was shown to match closely Ethree‐body in a series of test cases bearing on the complexes of Ca2+, Zn2+, and Hg2+. For example, its introduction enabled to restore the correct tetrahedral versus square planar preference found from quantum chemistry calculations on the tetrahydrate of Hg2+ and [Hg(H2O)4]2+. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011
Factors Affecting Rapid Turnover of Novice Nurses in University Hospitals

Factors Affecting Rapid Turnover of Novice Nurses in University Hospitals: Eiko Suzuki, et al. Department of Analytical Health Science, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University—Rapid turnover of novice nurses eventually results in a shortage of veteran nurses. This study aimed to clarify the factors affecting rapid turnover of novice nurses in a prospective manner. We carried out an investigation in 20 university hospitals whose directors of nursing service departments accepted our request to cooperate with our research program. These hospitals were selected from all of the 102 university hospitals listed in The Hospital Catalog of Japan. The subjects were 1,203 novice hospital nurses who gave their informed consent for participation in our study. The questionnaires, which dealt with burnout, assertiveness, stressful life events, reality shock, ward assignment preference, transfer preference, job satisfaction (workplace, salary, workload, and overtime), social support and coping mechanisms were completed by 923 novice nurses in June 2003. Then, their turnover was investigated in December 2003. Thirty‐seven novice nurses (4.0%) quit during this period. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the factors affecting rapid turnover were 1) graduation from vocational nursing schools, 2) dissatisfaction with assignment to a ward contrary to their desire, and 3) no peers for support. Assignment of novice nurses to wards they choose as far as possible, avoidance of assigning novice nurses to wards alone, and establishment of a support system for nurses who graduate from vocational nursing schools seem to be important for preventing rapid turnover of novice nurses.
GBP binds kinesin light chain and translocates during cortical rotation in Xenopus eggs

In Xenopus, axis development is initiated by dorsally elevated levels of cytoplasmic β-catenin, an intracellular factor regulated by GSK3 kinase activity. Upon fertilization, factors that increase β-catenin stability are translocated to the prospective dorsal side of the embryo in a microtubule-dependent process. However, neither the identity of these factors nor the mechanism of their movement is understood. Here, we show that the GSK3 inhibitory protein GBP/Frat binds kinesin light chain (KLC), a component of the microtubule motor kinesin. Upon egg activation, GBP-GFP and KLC-GFP form particles and exhibit directed translocation. KLC, through a previously uncharacterized conserved domain, binds a region of GBP that is required for GBP translocation and for GSK3 binding, and competes with GSK3 for GBP. We propose a model in which conventional kinesin transports a GBP-containing complex to the future dorsal side, where GBP dissociates and contributes to the local stabilization of β-catenin by binding and inhibiting GSK3.
HOW DOES SMOOTHING ESTIMATED MONTHLY CONTROL TOTALS AFFECT SIPP ESTIMATION ?

This series contains research reports, written by or in cooperation with staff members of the Statistical Research Division, whose content may be of interest to the general statistical research community. The views reflected in these reports are not necessarily those of the Census Bureau nor do they necessarily represent Census Bureau statistical policy or practice. Inquiries may be addressed to the author(s) or the SRD Report Series Coordinator, Statistical Research Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. 20233.
Geographical recommender system based on interaction between map operation and category selection

We propose a geographical information recommender system based on interaction between user's map operation and category selection. The system has three interfaces, the layered category interface, the geographical object interface and the digital map interface. Our system interactively updates each interface based on the category interest model and the region interest model. This paper describes each interface and each model, and how to update them by our system.
National frameworks' survey on standardization of e-Government documents and processes for interoperability

e-Government can be defined as Internet applications for public administration processes and decision making on local, regional, national as well as cross-national level. Therefore, the strong necessity to ensure vertical and horizontal interoperation of administrative units is arrived. The main goal of the paper is to reveal how interoperability is built into the public administration engineering process. The paper covers explanations how interoperability is important for e-governmental processes covering documents flows and what activities have been realized with EU agencies to ensure interoperability development. The first part of the paper comprises explanation of e-Government document engineering and administrative process development. The second part covers consideration on interoperability for e-Business and public administration. The third part includes analysis of what standardization is demanded for interoperability of e-Government agencies and how different countries' governments are prepared to ensure such interoperability in public administration in the light of documents, institutional norms and open standards.
Cyanobacterial community composition in Arctic soil crusts at different stages of development

Cyanobacterial diversity in soil crusts has been extensively studied in arid lands of temperate regions, particularly semi-arid steppes and warm deserts. Nevertheless, Arctic soil crusts have received far less attention than their temperate counterparts. Here, we describe the cyanobacterial communities from various types of soil crusts from Svalbard, High Arctic. Four soil crusts at different development stages (ranging from poorly-developed to well-developed soil crusts) were analysed using 454 pyrosequencing of the V3-V4 variable region of the cyanobacterial 16S rRNA gene. Analyses of 95 660 cyanobacterial sequences revealed a dominance of OTUs belonging to the orders Synechococcales, Oscillatoriales and Nostocales. The most dominant OTUs in the four studied sites were related to the filamentous cyanobacteria Leptolyngbya sp. Phylotype richness estimates increased from poorly- to mid-developed soil crusts and decreased in the well-developed lichenized soil crust. Moreover, pH, ammonium and organic carbon concentrations appeared significantly correlated with the cyanobacterial community structure.
University of Groningen Data-driven identification of fixed expressions and their modifiability

This thesis originated from the need for a description of the linguistic behavior of Dutch fixed expressions in a computational model. This work addresses the following problems: (i) which criteria determine that an expression in language use has to be described as a fixed expression, (ii) how (automatic) identification models can capture such criteria and (iii) how to predict whether such expressions allow variation and modification. The properties and the behavior of fixed expressions are still poorly understood. The type and number of irregularities vary across expressions. The author argues that the idiosyncratic behavior affecting one or more levels of linguistic analysis suffices to establish that an expression qualifies as a fixed expression. To identify fixed expressions, Villada Moiron proposes the use of hybrid models that combine statistics and linguistic nowledge. In order to be successful, the identification models need to capture irregularities that affect the morphology, syntactic distribution and meaning, in addition to the lexical associations between the word components. To establish the potential for variation and modification, a corpus-based method extracts relevant evidence from anannotated corpus. The evidence allows us distinguish various types of support verb constructions. Villada Moiron observes that the presence of certain determiner changes correlate with a potential for modification, albeit less than perfectly. The methods need to be tested further with other types of fixed expressions but it seems that their design features are appropriate for the task. Such methods are crucial to improve the description of fixed expressions in lexical and computational resources.
CONSTRAINT ON THE COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT FROM GRAVITATIONAL LENSING IN AN EVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF GALAXIES

We study the effect of the cosmological constant on the statistical properties of gravitational lenses in flat cosmologies (Ω0+λ0=1). It is shown that some of the lens observables are strongly affected by the cosmological constant, especially in a low-density universe, and its existence might be inferred by a statistical study of the lenses. In particular, the optical depth of the lens distribution may be used best for this purpose without depending much on the lens model. We calculate the optical depth (probability of a beam encountering a lens event) for a source in a new picture of galaxy evolution based on number evolution in addition to pure luminosity evolution. It seem that present-day galaxies result from the merging of a large number of building blocks. We have tried to put a limit on the cosmological constant in this new picture of galaxy evolution. This evolutionary model of galaxies permits a larger value of the cosmological constant.
Handwritten text recognition in Odia script using Hidden Markov Model

This paper presents a system for unconstrained handwritten Odia text recognition using Hidden Markov Model (HMM) framework. Existing literature for Odia text recognition works primarily with individual isolated characters. In this study we introduce a Odia dataset of word samples collected from different professionals. Concavity feature from each word image is extracted in our approach. Next, the features are fed to HMM-based sequential classifier for recognition. The experiment has been performed on a large dataset consisting of 4000 words and results obtained are encouraging.