Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interaction Value Analysis: When Structured Communication Benefits Organizations

We present a mathematical model that predicts and explains the circumstances under which a management-defined communication structure can add value to an organization. This model provides a game-theoretical basis for contingent organizational design by relating empirical observations of real organizations to the solution of a rational choice model based on game theory. We constructed a multiple-player, noncooperative game in which players have full knowledge of, and universal communication access to, each other. These players allocate the scarce resource of their attention among potential interaction partners. It struck us that this game sometimes did and sometimes did not have a "core," i.e., a confluence of individual optima (Nash equilibrium) that was also optimal for the whole group. Some circumstances allow the best structure to emerge from many individual decisions, whereas other circumstances require the imposition of structured communication channels by a central decision maker. Strong management control of communication structure adds no value in business environments where the game has a "core" i.e., where a centrally imposed optimum would dictate the same communications patterns as those defined by the Nash equilibrium that emerges spontaneously when each participant optimizes locally. Trade in an ideal market is the iconic example of such environments. In our model, other combinations of conditions fail to yield a core, even though a single stable Nash equilibrium always exists. The difference between aggregate effectiveness at the Nash equilibrium and the maximal feasible aggregate effectiveness that could be centrally dictated is the value that management can provide through enforcing the globally optimum communication regime. The predictions of this simple model about the conditions that favor more- or less-structured communications agree surprisingly well with accepted organizational contingency theory. Our simple model thus provides a sound theoretical foundation for many aspects of contingent organizational design.
RFID TAG READER SYSTEM EMULATOR TO SUPPORT TOUCHING , POINTING AND SCANNING

Integrated RFID readers are appearing in mobile phones, enabling the selection of tags and communication with physical objects in a user-friendly way by touching. We have built a system that emulates UHF tags and supports other physical selection paradigms in addition to touching: pointing by IR or visual light, and scanning of nearby tags. The emulator is based on RF communication and sensing units, SoapBoxes. The emulator is used to study the feasibility and usability of different selection paradigms in the context of physical browsing, in particular when the tag contains directly a URL to a web resource.
On optimal two sample homogeneity tests for finite alphabets

Suppose we are given two independent strings of data from a known finite alphabet. We are interested in testing the null hypothesis that both the strings were drawn from the same distribution, assuming that the samples within each string are mutually independent. Among statisticians, the most popular solution for such a homogeneity test is the two sample chi-square test, primarily due to its ease of implementation and the fact that the limiting null hypothesis distribution of the associated test statistic is known and easy to compute. Although tests that are asymptotically optimal in error probability have been proposed in the information theory literature, such optimality results are not well-known and such tests are rarely used in practice. In this paper we seek to bridge the gap between theory and practice. We study two different optimal tests proposed by Shayevitz [1] and Gutman [2]. We first obtain a simplified structure of Shayevitz's test and then obtain limiting distributions of the test statistics used in both the tests. These results provide guidelines for choosing thresholds that guarantee an approximate false alarm constraint for finite length observation sequences, thus making these tests easy to use in practice. The approximation accuracies are demonstrated using simulations. We argue that such homogeneity tests with provable optimality properties could potentially be better choices than the chi-square test in practice.
1 USE OF SYNCHRONIZED , INFRARED THERMOMETRY AND HIGH-SPEED VIDEO FOR GENERATION OF SPACE-AND TIME-RESOLVED HIGH-QUALITY DATA ON BOILING HEAT TRANSFER

Boiling heat transfer is a key thermal limit in nuclear systems. However, for decades, its modeling has relied on speculative hypotheses and a good dose of empiricism. As researchers now start to develop more mechanistic models, the need for high-quality high-resolution data on the bubble nucleation and growth cycle is increasing. Specifically, nucleation site density, bubble departure diameter and frequency data, are necessary input for and validation of the source terms in interfacial area transport models, CFD ‘multi-fluid’ models, as well as direct numerical simulation models of boiling based on interface tracking methods. In this paper we present an approach based on synchronized infrared thermometry and highspeed video ‘through’ the heater that enables simultaneous measurement of the nucleation site density, bubble growth rate (including bubble departure diameter), bubble departure frequency (including wait time), time-resolved 2D temperature distribution and phase distribution on the boiling surface, all in a relatively effortless manner.
Imperceptible printer dot watermarking for binary documents

In this paper we propose a new imperceptible yellow printer dot watermarking scheme for documents printed on a colour printer. The scheme takes advantage of the imperfections of the human visual system to hide thousands of yellow dots over the entire page. It takes inspiration from the methods used by laser printer manufacturers for printer identification. The novelty of our approach is in providing an automatic embedding and detection method that can survive the distortions of printing and scanning. In order to achieve this a new moving window detection method is proposed. An error correction code is employed to handle the errors that could be present following detection. The scheme is evaluated through embedding and detection experiments on different types of documents; including text, architectural drawings and a cartoon. Our scheme offers an embedding capacity of 26,190 bits per page. Experiments were conducted using error correction codes with rates of 1/2, 1/3 and 1/5, given payloads of 13,095, 8,730, and 5,238 bits per A4 page respectively. We are able to successfully recover the watermark in all documents at a rate of 1/2 and 1/5, and in all document except one at 1/3. Further experiments were conducted with a smaller dot size to evaluate the impact it has on our results. With the smaller dot size we were still able to recover the watermarks from all documents when using an error correction code with rate 1/5. The capacity offered by this approach far exceeds the capacity offered by existing binary watermarking schemes, which are robust to printing and scanning. The substantially larger capacity opens up a wider range of possible applications as well as the possibility of using more robust cryptographic techniques for authentication.
COMPETITION BETWEEN BANKS AND FINANCE COMPANIES: A CROSS SECTION STUDY OF PERSONAL LOAN DEBTORS

Consumer activism in recent years has resulted in numerous laws and regulations designed to protect the consumer in the market place. For example, in the consumer credit field, truth-in-lending was legislated, wage garnishment was restricted, holders' liability on credit cards was limited, disclosure of credit reports was required, and so on. Nevertheless, it still remains that competition is an important means of assuring the best possible terms to credit users. Because banks and finance companies are the largest suppliers of consumer credit, it follows that the degree of competition between the two will have an important influence on the competitiveness of consumer credit markets in general. Therefore, this paper examines the question of whether competition between banks and finance companies for consumer credit customers is limited by market segmentation on the basis of customer risk.1 This study of market risk segmentation will have important implications for the merger analysis conducted by the Federal Reserve Board which has responsibility for evaluating the competitive effects of mergers between bank holding companies and finance companies.
Resilient Transmission Grid Design: AC Relaxation vs. DC approximation

As illustrated in recent years (Superstorm Sandy, the Northeast Ice Storm of 1998, etc.), extreme weather events pose an enormous threat to the electric power transmission systems and the associated socio-economic systems that depend on reliable delivery of electric power. Besides inevitable malfunction of power grid components, deliberate malicious attacks can cause high risks to the service. These threats motivate the need for approaches and methods that improve the resilience of power systems. In this paper, we develop a model and tractable methods for optimizing the upgrade of transmission systems through a combination of hardening existing components, adding redundant lines, switches, generators, and FACTS and phase-shifting devices. While many of these controllable components are included in traditional design (expansion planning) problems, we uniquely assess their benefits from a resiliency point of view. More importantly, perhaps, we evaluate the suitability of using state-of-the-art AC power flow relaxations versus the common DC approximation in resilience improvement studies. The resiliency model and algorithms are tested on a modified version of the RTS-96 (single area) system.
Expression Pattern of the Alpha-Kafirin Promoter Coupled with a Signal Peptide from Sorghum bicolor L. Moench

Regulatory sequences with endosperm specificity are essential for foreign gene expression in the desired tissue for both grain quality improvement and molecular pharming. In this study, promoters of seed storage α-kafirin genes coupled with signal sequence (ss) were isolated from Sorghum bicolor L. Moench genomic DNA by PCR. The α-kafirin promoter (α-kaf) contains endosperm specificity-determining motifs, prolamin-box, the O2-box 1, CATC, and TATA boxes required for α-kafirin gene expression in sorghum seeds. The constructs pMB-Ubi-gfp and pMB-kaf-gfp were microprojectile bombarded into various sorghum and sweet corn explants. GFP expression was detected on all explants using the Ubi promoter but only in seeds for the α-kaf promoter. This shows that the α-kaf promoter isolated was functional and demonstrated seed-specific GFP expression. The constructs pMB-Ubi-ss-gfp and pMB-kaf-ss-gfp were also bombarded into the same explants. Detection of GFP expression showed that the signal peptide (SP)::GFP fusion can assemble and fold properly, preserving the fluorescent properties of GFP.
Efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy for lung adenocarcinoma patients with positive pleural lavage cytology findings.

OBJECTIVES Positive pleural lavage cytology (PLC) findings are considered to be predictive of a poor prognosis in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We investigated the clinical benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy for lung adenocarcinoma patients with positive PLC findings. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of lung adenocarcinoma patients who underwent tumour resection and had positive PLC findings between January 2000 and December 2009. RESULTS Fifty-three patients (4.8%) of 1114 patients with lung adenocarcinoma had positive PLC findings. The median follow-up period was 33.6 months. Adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 24 patients (adjuvant chemotherapy group); 7, 8 and 9 patients had pathological Stage I, II and III, respectively . The surgery-alone group comprised 29 patients; 12, 8 and 9 patients had pathological Stage I, II and III, respectively. The 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 34.6 and 15.7% (P < 0.01) in adjuvant chemotherapy and surgery-alone groups, respectively. The rate of distant recurrence was significantly reduced in the adjuvant chemotherapy group (25.0 and 58.6%; P = 0.01). Even for Stage I cases, adjuvant chemotherapy tended to improve the 5-year RFS rate compared with surgery alone (60.1 and 29%; P = 0.11). Multivariate analysis for RFS revealed that adjuvant chemotherapy [hazard ratio (HR), 0.45; P = 0.03], tumour size >30 mm (HR, 2.23; P = 0.02) and lymph node metastasis (HR, 2.67; P < 0.01) were significant independent prognostic factors for recurrence. CONCLUSIONS Adjuvant chemotherapy for lung adenocarcinoma patients with positive PLC findings significantly improved recurrence-free survival.
Estimating and modelling relative survival

Relative survival, the survival analogue of excess mortality, is the method of choice for estimating patient survival using data collected by populationbased cancer registries. The relative survival ratio is typically estimated from life tables as the ratio of the observed survival of the patients (where all deaths are considered events) to the expected survival of a comparable group from the general population. This article describes the command strs for life table estimatation of relative survival. Three methods of estimating expected survival are available and estimates can be made using either a cohort or period approach. Excess mortality can be modelled using a range of approaches including full likelihood (using the ml command) and Poisson regression (using the glm command with a user-specified link function).
Interactive Curriculum Based on Models of Mind & Brain

What does it mean for curriculum to be interactive? It encourages student engagement and active participation in both individual and group work. It offers teachers a coherent set of materials to choose from that can enhance their classes. It is the product of on-going development and continuous improvement based on research and feedback from the field. This paper will introduce work in progress from the Center for Excellence in Education, Science, and Technology (CELEST), an NSF Science of Learning Center. Among its many goals, CELEST is developing a unique educational curriculum, an interactive curriculum based upon models of mind and brain. Teachers, administrators, and governments are naturally concerned with how students learn. Students are greatly concerned about how minds work, including how to learn. CELEST aims to introduce curricula that not only meet current U.S. standards in mathematics, science, and psychology but also influence plans to improve those standards. Software and support materials are in development and available at http://cns.bu. edu/celest/private/. Interested parties are invited to contact the author for access. 1 is developing innovative curriculum based on models of how the brain learns to control behavior. How our minds work is a great interest to students of all ages as part of their self- discovery; however, models of mind and brain are not incorporated into science and mathematics curriculum for primary and secondary students. CELEST innovations are intended to create a long- term impact on knowledge, research, policy, and practice in the learning sciences. CELEST is solving fundamental problems of learning by integrating experimental and computational brain science, biologically inspired technology, and classroom innovation. A brief description of the Center has been
Toward BxDF display using multilayer diffraction

With a wide range of applications in product design and optical watermarking, computational BxDF display has become an emerging trend in the graphics community. In this paper, we analyze the design space of BxDF displays and show that existing approaches cannot reproduce arbitrary BxDFs. In particular, existing surface-based fabrication techniques are often limited to generating only specific angular frequencies, angle-shift-invariant radiance distributions, and sometimes only symmetric BxDFs. To overcome these limitations, we propose diffractive multilayer BxDF displays. We derive forward and inverse methods to synthesize patterns that are printed on stacked, high-resolution transparencies and reproduce prescribed BxDFs with unprecedented degrees of freedom within the limits of available fabrication techniques.
Stereo Video Retargeting with Representative Seams in a Group of Stereoscopic Frames

The important requirements for stereo video retargeting are threefold: keeping temporal coherence, preventing depth distortion, and minimizing shape distortions of the retargeted video. To meet these requirements, the left and right video sequences are divided into groups of frames (GoFs), where the GoF is a basic unit for the seam carving and we assign a set of fixed seams for all frames within the GoF. To determine the fixed seams for each GoF, we need to find the GoF boundary in the video first. Then, the representative frame for each GoF is generated by considering the spatial saliency and temporal coherence. Also, the confidence of the stereoscopic correspondence between the left and right frames is considered to prevent depth distortion.
Study on a cluster-chain routing protocol in wireless sensor networks

The energy constraint and the low power communication requirements amplify the significance of the energy efficient routing protocols in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The primary aim to design a routing protocol for WSN is to improve the energy efficiency and prolong the network lifetime. In this paper, we propose a cluster-chain routing protocol (CCRP), which adopts a more balanced cluster-head selection algorithm and an improved data transmission mechanism from the cluster-heads to the base station. Simulation results indicate that, for a 100 mtimes100 m network with the initial energy 0.5 J in each node, the proposed CCRP outperforms LEACH by about 78%, 150% and 130% in terms of rounds when 1%, 50%, and 100% of nodes die, respectively.
Using Computers to Assess Cognition in MS: Improving Tried and Tested Indices to Capture Real World Challenges

Cognitive dysfunction is common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and causes limitation in activities of daily living. Current cognitive screens are limited by time and cost requirements and they lack ecological validity. The objective of the present study was to develop an improved method of cognitive assessment using real-world distracters. A sample of 102 MS subjects and 69 healthy controls underwent testing with a modified computerized Symbol Digit Modalities Test (c-SDMT) and the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Functioning in MS battery. Half completed the distracter c-SDMT and half non-distracter. Relative to the traditional SDMT, significantly more MS subjects were impaired on the distracter c-SDMT, but not on the nondistracter test. The distracter test had a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 80% in detecting global cognitive impairment. The incorporation of distracters improves the sensitivity of the cSDMT and offers a quick and easy method for detecting cognitive dysfunction.
Visualization of Axonally Transported Horseradish Peroxidase Using Enhanced Immunocytochemical Detection: A Direct Comparison with the Tetramethylbenzidine Method

Visualization of the neuronal tract tracer horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is commonly achieved through the histochemical detection of its enzymatic activity using 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as a chromogen. However, the TMB product is unstable and is incompatible with tissue processing methods that render the enzyme inactive, or when a combination of HRP tract tracing with neuronal phenotype identification is required. In this study we evaluated the applicability of the immunocytochemical detection method for horseradish peroxidase (HRP) visualization using an enhanced detection method based on the Elite ABC peroxidase amplification protocol. The results provide evidence for the immunocytochemical visualization of both anterograde and transganglionic HRP transport in the rat spinal cord. This immunocytochemical method not only showed similar sensitivity to the TMB protocol in detecting HRP-labeled motor neuron perikarya but provided enhanced resolution in the identification of individual neuronal fibers compared to the TMB method. Immunodetection of the HRP tracer also allowed its co-localization with specific neuronal markers using double immunofluorescence techniques. These results offer the first demonstration that sensitive identification of axonally transported HRP can be achieved by immunocytochemistry and provides further support for its use in HRP tract tracing studies.
The Method of Component-based Image Retrieval in Document

A document or paper contains various types of images. This paper presents a new method for comparing images in documents or papers. This method consists of three main steps. At the first step, Images are extracted by converting a document into html format. In the second step, the extracted image is divided into subcomponents and the category of each component is labeled. In the final step, descriptive feature values are computed and such values are inserted into a database in the form of descriptors. Experimental results show that the proposed approach works very well in terms of retrieving similar images. It can even retrieve images which are partially similar to a query image.
A haptic shared control approach to teleoperation of mobile robots

In robot teleoperation, the fusion of human manual control and robot autonomy can greatly improve its ability to accomplish dynamic and complex operations and tasks. In this paper, an innovative haptic shared controller has been proposed for teleoperation of mobile robots. The robot autonomy and human intervention are both taken into account, and further, passivity from human operation to robot motion is guaranteed by the design of the impedance and admittance models. The control algorithm has been implemented on a versatile haptic interface omega.7, taking advantage of its force feedback capability that allows composite realization of impedance as well as admittance models, and the QBot mobile robot. Teleoperation experiments with omega.7 and the QBot robot has validated the algorithm.
Performance and reliability of widely tunable laser diodes

We are manufacturing widely tunable laser diodes based on an integrated single chip design. The sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflector (SG-DBR) laser is monolithically integrated with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). The continuous wave (cw) output power of the fully packaged device is more than 2OmW over the entire C-band with low noise figures and a high side-mode suppression ratio of over 40dB. Devices are made for L-band operation as well. The devices are well suited for long-haul and ultra-long-haul DWDM optical transport systems. For metro type applications we developed an EML-type device with a SG-DBR widely tunable laser monolithically integrated with an SOA and an electro-absorption modulator (EAM) based on the Franz-Keldysh effect. The operating speed is 2.7GbiVs for OC-48 systems including forward error correction (FEC). The time averaged output power is in excess of 5dBm over the 4Onm C-hand tuning range. The extinction ratio is larger than IOdJ3:Error free transmission over more than 350km of standard single mode fiber is demonstrated. Wavelength switching is accomblished in less than lOms which is limited by the control electronics. The monolithically integrated widely tunable SG-DBR lasers show excellent reliability and environmental stability results. After testings hundreds of devices over several thousands of hours a long wear-out lifetime of over 350 years has been inferred with a very low failure rate of less than IOOFITs over the normal operating lifetime. The results indicate no reliability penalty for wavelength tunability compared to standard fixed wavelength DFB lasers.