Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of distributed concurrent development for large scale software systems

The article discusses a new software process model, distributed concurrent development, and its experience in developing a family of large-scale communication software systems. We have experienced an evolutionary change of our software development process. The change is spread into two dimensions, that is, from sequential to concurrent, and from centralized to distributed. With the concurrent development process model, multiple functions to a single software system are concurrently developed from the beginning of the development process, i.e. requirement specification, to system testing. In the distributed development process model, the development organization is decentralized into multiple development sites which are geographically distributed. The two dimensional changes require a fundamental re-think of our software process and brought about a significant impact on every aspect of software development activities ranging from individual developers to the entire project. We discuss the model, the issues in implementing the model, and our total system of managing the process, project and products.
ctive suppression of salient-but-irrelevant stimuli does not underlie esistance to visual interference

In visual search for a shape target, interference from salient-but-irrelevant color singletons can be resisted in feature search mode, but not in singleton detection mode. In singleton detection mode, we observed a contralateral positivity (PD) after 260–340 ms, suggesting that the salient distractor was suppressed. Because RTs in singleton detection mode increased when a distractor was present, we conclude that active suppression of distractors takes time. In feature search mode, no increase in RTs and no PD to the distractor was observed, showing that resistance to interference was not accomplished by suppression. Rather, the smaller N2pc to the target in feature search than in singleton detection mode suggests that enhancement of target features avoided interference. Thus, the strong top-down set in feature search ttentional selection
Cloning and characterization of the eae gene of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7

The eae (Escherichia collattaching and effacing) gene from enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) was previously shown to be essential for production of the ‘attaching and effacing’ histopathology characteristic of EPEC infections (Jerse et al., 1990). We have now cloned the eae gene from enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) which, in addition to producing Shiga‐like cytotoxins, also produces the attaching and effacing effect. The sequence homology between the EPEC and EHEC sequences was 86% and 83% at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. The predicted amino acid sequence of the EHEC eae gene shared 31% identity and 51 % similarity with invasin of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Alignment of the EPEC and EHEC Eae proteins and the Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocoltica invasins shows striking regions of identity with the greatest divergence at the C‐terminal end, the putative receptor‐binding portion of invasin.
Certification of Computational Results

We describe a conceptually novel and powerful technique to achieve fault detection and fault tolerance in hardware and software systems. When used for software fault detection, this new technique uses time and software redundancy and can be outlined as follows. In the initial phase, a program is run to solve a problem and store the result. In addition, this program leaves behind a trail of data which we call a certification trail. In the second phase, another program is run which solves the original problem again. This program however, has access to the certification trail left by the first program. Because of the availability of the certification trail, the second phase can be performed by a less complex program and can execute more quickly. In the final phase, the two results are compared and if they agree the results are accepted as correct; otherwise an error is indicated. An essential aspect of this approach is that the second program must always generate either an error indication or a correct output even when the certification trail it receives from the first program is incorrect. We formalize the certification trail approach to fault tolerance and illustrate realizations of it by considering algorithms for the following problems: convex hull, sorting, and shortest path. We compare the certification trail approach to other approaches to fault tolerance. >
Do Consumers Trust Mobile Service Advertising

ABSTRACT Mobile services have rapidly become an important way for consumers to communicate, encounter services and exchange information. Marketers are increasingly using this channel for brand related advertising communications. However they have found that consumers are reluctant to try and adopt new mobile services and/or other products/services in response to advertising, unless the consumer has established trust. This research investigates whether consumers trust advertising communications sent by marketers through mobile service channels. To answer this question we measure trust-related factors that are antecedent to the consumer‟s overall trust in these advertising communications and their relationship to the consumer‟s willingness to buy the advertised brand. Our model was tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that the reputation of the vendor, disposition to trust, structural assurance, perceived ease of use, third party assurance and perceived privacy have the highest impact on consumer trust and willingness to buy. Keywords: Consumer, Trust, Mobile, SEM, Service, Advertising
A guide to social media emergency management analytics: Understanding its place through Typhoon Haiyan tweets

Social media can play a critical role in the dissemination of the information as well as collection of relevant data during natural disasters. The idea of leveraging social media data such as Twitter is intuitively attractive, given their natural ties to mobile devices with obvious disaster response implications. However, as with any data analysis, the design of the analysis, from the objective definition, the data collection specifics, data management, valuation of the data contents, and analysis methodologies, can determine the ultimate effectiveness and validity of the analysis activities. This is exasperated in the context of disaster response given its time-sensitive nature. The disaster response resources and the analytical resources must work closely together to ensure that the analysis is fit for purpose and meets the ultimate objective. This study discusses the key considerations for such collaboration through an analysis of Twitter data surrounding the 2013 landfall of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Coordinating New Product Development in Strategic Alliances

I develop a theory of coordination for joint new product development projects conducted in strategic alliances. This theory identifies coordination gaps or mismatches between required and actual coordination that lead to performance problems. An evaluation of these gaps leads to specifying conditions under which coordination is easier for a project done in an alliance than for the same project done by one company. I also discuss what alliance managers can do to control the size of a project's gaps.
Hughes research laboratories Trainable Text Skimmer: MUC-4 test results and analysis

Table 1 shows the official template-by-template score results for the Hughes Trainable Text Skimmer used for MUC-4 (TTS-MUC4) on TST3. TTS is a largely statistical system, using a set of Bayesian classifiers with the output of a shallow parser as features. (See the System Summary section of this volume for a detailed description of TTS-MUC4).
Somatic complaints in adolescence: Prevalence patterns across gender and age

The aim of the study was to determine the age- and gender-specific prevalence, at symptom level and cluster level, of somatic symptoms in a sample of 1512 participants (52.7% females) aged 10 to 25 years old.Somatic complaints were measured with the Psychosomatic Symptoms Scale (PSS), a 35-item scale that inquires about 35 somatic symptoms and sensations in the last 3 months. PSS shows acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach alpha=.89), and factor analysis resulted in 5 meaningful factors: Pain-Musculoskeletal, Pseudoneurological, Gastrointestinal, Cardiovascular-Respiratory and Dermatological. The most commonly reported symptoms were upper respiratory symptoms, lack of energy and fatigue, headaches and back pain. Gender differences were found in 22 of the 35 symptoms, with males having only one symptom (pain in the joints) more prevalent than females.Four age-specific prevalence patterns were established: increasing, decreasing, curvilinear and stable shape. Most of the somatic symptoms show stable shape across different age groups. At the cluster level, females achieved significantly higher scores on all five somatic symptom clusters. With regard to age-specific pattern shape, mostly stable and curvilinear patterns are observed in the various clusters.The article emphasizes the necessity of taking a multilevel view of somatic symptoms.
Singapore stock broking service quality: fifteen percent gap

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to adapt the SERVQUAL instrument and provide a unique analysis of service quality, value, customer satisfaction and loyalty of Singapore stock investors. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses results from a mail survey with 300 copies of a self‐administrated questionnaire utilising the SERVQUAL instrument with experienced stock investors using stockbroker (remisier) services in Singapore. Altogether, 169 useable returns (56 percent response rate) were analyzed.Findings – Investors expect high quality service from brokers, particularly in terms of reliability. There was a 15 percent gap in service quality, and a 20 percent gap in service value. Customers who relied on brokers' advice perceived higher service quality. Brokers need more empathy with customers. SERVQUAL translated to Singapore stock broking customers with good reliability.Research limitations/implications – Results may not generalize beyond Singapore or to other financial services.Practical implica.
Stochastic Control in Optimal Insurance and Investment with Regime Switching

Motivated by the financial crisis of 2007-2009 and the increasing demand for portfolio and risk management, we study optimal insurance and investment problems with regime switching in this thesis. We incorporate an insurable risk into the classical consumption and investment framework and consider an investor who wants to select optimal consumption, investment and insurance policies in a regime switching economy. We allow not only the financial market but also the insurable risk to depend on the regime of the economy. The objective of the investor is to maximize his/her expected total discounted utility of consumption over an infinite time horizon. For the case of hyperbolic absolute risk aversion (HARA) utility functions, we obtain the first explicit solutions for simultaneous optimal consumption, investment and insurance problems when there is regime switching. Next we consider an insurer who wants to maximize his/her expected utility of terminal wealth by selecting optimal investment and risk control policies. The insurer’s risk is modeled by a jump-diffusion process and is negatively correlated with the capital gains in the financial market. In the case of no regime switching in the economy, we apply the martingale approach to obtain optimal policies for HARA utility functions, constant absolute risk aversion (CARA) utility functions, and quadratic utility functions. When there is regime switching in the economy, we apply dynamic programming to derive the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. Optimal investment and risk control policies are then obtained in explicit forms by solving the HJB equation. ii We provide economic analyses for all optimal control problems considered in this thesis. We study how optimal policies are affected by the economic conditions, the financial and insurance markets, and investor’s risk preference.
Role of IT in HRM: Opportunities and Challenges

Technology in the present era has shoot up over all the essential business activities. Technological innovations are shaping a new world towards swift advancement. One may utilize the full potential of human resource of the organization by introducing the concept of information technology in their HRM system. This paper encloses the role of IT in major dimensions of the HRM function of the organization. It also focuses on the opportunities and challenges faced by the organizations in implementing IT across HRM function. Several critical areas of HR function are also highlighted where IT has been implemented by various organizations successfully.
5S IMPLEMENTATION AND ITS EFFECT ON PHYSICAL WORKLOAD

This article presents a case study on the implementation of the 5S methodology. Analysis of time and energy expenditure of two subjects in a paper conversion machinery manufacturing plant was carried out before and after the implementation. Two subjects were chosen for the analysis. A device which measures physical energy expenditure helped evaluate the effectiveness of this methodology. Initially the subjects perceived the work to be physically stressful and the morale of the workplace was low. The study indicated that the time consumed and energy expenditure was drastically reduced after the implementation of this methodology, which in turn had a positive effect on productivity.
Quantitative biokinetics of titanium dioxide nanoparticles after intravenous injection in rats: Part 1

Abstract Submicrometer TiO2 particles, including nanoparticulate fractions, are used in an increasing variety of consumer products, as food additives and also drug delivery applications are envisaged. Beyond exposure of occupational groups, this entails an exposure risk to the public. However, nanoparticle translocation from the organ of intake and potential accumulation in secondary organs are poorly understood and in many investigations excessive doses are applied. The present study investigates the biokinetics and clearance of a low single dose (typically 40–400 μg/kg BW) of 48V-radiolabeled, pure TiO2 anatase nanoparticles ([48V]TiO2NP) with a median aggregate/agglomerate size of 70 nm in aqueous suspension after intravenous (IV) injection into female Wistar rats. Biokinetics and clearance were followed from one-hour to 4-weeks. The use of radiolabeled nanoparticles allowed a quantitative [48V]TiO2NP balancing of all organs, tissues, carcass and excretions of each rat without having to account for chemical background levels possibly caused by dietary or environmental titanium exposure. Highest [48V]TiO2NP accumulations were found in liver (95.5%ID after one day), followed by spleen (2.5%), carcass (1%), skeleton (0.7%) and blood (0.4%). Detectable nanoparticle levels were found in all other organs. The [48V]TiO2NP content in blood decreased rapidly after 24 h while the distribution in other organs and tissues remained rather constant until day-28. The present biokinetics study is part 1 of a series of studies comparing biokinetics after three classical routes of intake (IV injection (part 1), ingestion (part 2), intratracheal instillation (part 3)) under identical laboratory conditions, in order to test the common hypothesis that IV-injection is a suitable predictor for the biokinetics fate of nanoparticles administered by different routes. This hypothesis is disproved by this series of studies.
1MDB: The Background

The 1MDB stands for 1Malaysia Development Berhad. It is a company formed in 2009 by the federal government of Malaysia. 1MDB had become such a problem for many by late 2014. And today a year later the sad and debilitating saga continues unabated. The case of the 1MDB should be of a particular interest for students and scholars of auditing, accounting and corporate governance since it involves the following: the alleged disappearance of a huge amount of company’s funds; the apparent hiding of significant amount of real losses year after year with the accounting of paper profits originated from repeated fair revaluations of properties or other assets; the possibility of repeated cases of audit failure; the probe conducted by various parties locally which include the Office of the Auditor General; and, the lack of evidence of best practices in corporate governance being implemented since its formation. Each of these five areas of concern is laid bare in a series of five case studies where the materials come mainly from three news portals which are based inside the country: MalaysiaKini , The Malaysian Insider and Free Malaysia Today . All the published materials of concern are dated up to the end of June 2015. It is also notable that following the completion of these case studies, the work on another series of case studies shall be embarked upon. The new series shall give focus upon what has taken place since early July 2015. The intention behind the writing of these cases is to have them used in classroom discussions to help towards the emergence ofMalaysia tomorrow that so many inside the country has embarked upon so that history is given as little chance as possible in repeating itself!
It Takes a Village: Municipal Condemnation Proceedings and Public/Private Partnerships for Mortgage Loan Modification, Value Preservation, and Local Economic Recovery

Respected real estate analysts now forecast that the U.S. is poised to experience a renewed round of home mortgage foreclosures over the coming 6 years. Up to 11 million underwater mortgages will be affected. Neither our families, our neighborhoods, nor our state and national economies can bear a resumption of crisis on this order of magnitude. I argue that ongoing and self-worsening slump in the primary and secondary mortgage markets is rooted in a host of recursive collective action challenges structurally akin to those that brought on the real estate bubble and bust themselves. Collective action problems of this sort require duly authorized collective agents for their solution. At present, the optimally situated such agents for purposes of mortgage market clearing are municipal governments exercising their traditional eminent domain authority. I sketch a plan pursuant to which municipalities, in partnership with investors, can condemn underwater mortgage notes, pay mortgagees fair market value for the same, and systematically write down principal. Because in so doing they will be doing what parties themselves would do voluntarily were they not challenged by structural impediments to collective action, municipalities acting on this plan will be rendering all better off. They will also be leading the urgently necessary project of eliminating debt overhang nationwide and thereby at last ending our ongoing debt deflation.
Attenuation of inflammation and cellular stress‐related pathways maintains insulin sensitivity in obese type I interleukin‐1 receptor knockout mice on a high‐fat diet

The development of insulin resistance in the obese is associated with chronic, low‐grade inflammation. We aimed to identify novel links between obesity, insulin resistance and the inflammatory response by comparing C57BL/6 with type I interleukin‐1 receptor knockout (IL‐1RI−/−) mice, which are protected against diet‐induced insulin resistance. Mice were fed a high‐fat diet for 16 wk. Insulin sensitivity was measured and proteomic analysis was performed on adipose, hepatic and skeletal muscle tissues. Despite an equal weight gain, IL‐1RI−/− mice had lower plasma glucose, insulin and triacylglycerol concentrations, compared with controls, following dietary treatment. The higher insulin sensitivity in IL‐1RI−/− mice was associated with down‐regulation of antioxidant proteins and proteasomes in adipose tissue and hepatic soluble epoxide hydrolase, consistent with a compromised inflammatory response as well as increased glycolysis and decreased fatty acid β‐oxidation in their muscle. Their lower hepatic triacylglycerol concentrations may reflect decreased flux of free fatty acids to the liver, decreased hepatic fatty acid‐binding protein expression and decreased lipogenesis. Correlation analysis revealed down‐regulation of classical biomarkers of ER stress in their adipose tissue, suggesting that disruption of the IL‐1RI‐mediated inflammatory response may attenuate cellular stress, which was associated with significant protection from diet‐induced insulin resistance, independent of obesity.
Rethinking Consumer Perception of Food Quality

Abstract On the basis of a review of previous attempts to model the quality perception process, this paper presents a new model for understanding the consumer food quality perception process. It is argued that previous models suffer from two major shortcomings: (1) they focus too narrowly on the material quality dimensions of the product; in connection with food products in particular, it could be claimed that immaterial quality dimensions could have at least the same influence on consumers' quality perception; and (2) with a few exceptions, the models do not include the significance of the usage situation for consumer quality perception to any sufficient extent.
Design for Usability: Process, Skills, and Tools

Usability is a system attribute that results when users can accomplish their tasks effectively, efficiently, and with a high level of satisfaction. i¾ i¾ A system with poor usability can result in long task times, high error counts, large support costs, long training times, and user dissatisfaction. i¾ i¾ Consequently, usability is of increasing importance in the marketplace. i¾ i¾ This paper explores the process, skills, and tools required for an organization to produce usable systems. i¾ i¾ User-centered design is a development process that identifies and ensures that end user needs are met through an iterative cycle of prototyping and evaluation. i¾ i¾ The paper discusses skills (human factors engineering and multimedia interaction designers) and tools (usability laboratories and design guidelines) that support a user-centered design process. i¾ i¾ The paper also identifies factors to consider when justifying the expenses associated with developing usable systems. i¾ i¾ Throughout the paper, the author includes examples of his own experiences in managing a usability organization.
Prognostic significance of mast cell number and microvascular density for the survival of patients with primary colorectal cancer

Background and Aim: The prognostic relevance of tumor‐related angiogenesis and mast cell presence in colorectal cancer remains controversial. The aim of the current study was to assess the mast cell and microvessel densities (MCD and MVD) in the invasive front of colorectal cancers and to determine their prognostic relevance for survival of the patient with colorectal carcinoma.
Currency Crises And Export Behavior Of Foreign Affiliates

This paper argues that following a currency crisis, foreign firms may increase their exports and reduce their local sales to mitigate the effect of the crisis. In so doing, foreign firms escape the effect of the crisis on local demand and capitalize on increased competitiveness due to currency devaluation and lower domestic input prices. Using data on sales by US majority owned affiliates in 41 countries spanning over 19 years, we show that US firms redirect their sales from domestic markets to exports. We also find that currency crises have a positive effect on developing countries merchandise exports.