Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toward a Generic Model of Trust for Electronic Commerce

The authors present a generic model of trust for electronic commerce consisting of two basic components, party trust and control trust, based on the concept that trust in a transaction with another party combines trust in the other party and trust in the control mechanisms that ensure the successful performance of the transaction. This generic trust model can be used in designing trust-related value-added services in e-commerce. To illustrate its design use, two e-commerce activities that require trust are compared: electronic payment and cross-border electronic trade. The model shows that each of these activities requires a different type of trust, created by completely different services.
Investigating Spontaneous Facial Action Recognition through AAM Representations of the Face

The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) [Ekman et al., 2002] is the leading method for measuring facial movement in behavioral science. FACS has been successfully applied, but not limited to, identifying the differences between simulated and genuine pain, differences betweenwhen people are telling the truth versus lying, and differences between suicidal and non-suicidal patients [Ekman and Rosenberg, 2005]. Successfully recognizing facial actions is recognized as one of the “major” hurdles to overcome, for successful automated expression recognition. How one should represent the face for effective action unit recognition is the main topic of interest in this chapter. This interest is motivated by the plethora of work in existence in other areas of face analysis, such as face recognition [Zhao et al., 2003], that demonstrate the benefit of representation when performing recognition tasks. It is well understood in the field of statistical pattern recognition [Duda et al., 2001] given a fixed classifier and training set that how one represents a pattern can greatly effect recognition performance. The face can be represented in a myriad of ways. Much work in facial action recognition has centered solely on the appearance (i.e., pixel values) of the face given quite a basic alignment (e.g., eyes and nose). In our work we investigate the employment of the Active Appearance Model (AAM) framework [Cootes et al., 2001, Matthews and Baker, 2004] in order to derive effective representations for facial action recognition. Some of the representations we will be employing can be seen in Figure 1. Experiments in this chapter are run across two action unit databases. The CohnKanade FACS-Coded Facial Expression Database [Kanade et al., 2000] is employed to investigate the effect of face representation on posed facial action unit recognition. Posed facial actions are those that have been elicited by asking subjects to deliberately make specific facial actions or expressions. Facial actions are typically recorded under controlled circumstances that include full-face frontal view, good lighting, constrained head movement and selectivity in terms of the type and magnitude of facial actions. Almost all work in automatic facial expression analysis has used posed image data and the Cohn-Kanade database may be the database most widely used [Tian et al., 2005]. The RU-FACS Spontaneous Expression Database is employed to investigate how these same representations affect spontaneous facial action unit recognition. Spontaneous facial actions are representative of “real-world” facial
Novel insight into stem cell trafficking in dystrophic muscles

Recently published reports have described possible cellular therapy approaches to regenerate muscle tissues using arterial route delivery. However, the kinetic of distribution of these migratory stem cells within injected animal muscular dystrophy models is unknown. Using living X-ray computed microtomography, we established that intra-arterially injected stem cells traffic to multiple muscle tissues for several hours until their migration within dystrophic muscles. Injected stem cells express multiple traffic molecules, including VLA-4, LFA-1, CD44, and the chemokine receptor CXCR4, which are likely to direct these cells into dystrophic muscles. In fact, the majority of intra-arterially injected stem cells access the muscle tissues not immediately after the injection, but after several rounds of recirculation. We set up a new, living, 3D-imaging approach, which appears to be an important way to investigate the kinetic of distribution of systemically injected stem cells within dystrophic muscle tissues, thereby providing supportive data for future clinical applications.
Observing Resources in the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP)

The Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) is a RESTful application protocol for constrained nodes and networks. The state of a resource on a CoAP server can change over time. This document specifies a simple protocol extension for CoAP that enables CoAP clients to "observe" resources, i.e., to retrieve a representation of a resource and keep this representation updated by the server over a period of time. The protocol follows a best-effort approach for sending new representations to clients and provides eventual consistency between the state observed by each client and the actual resource state at the server.
The Sensitivity of Economic Statistics to Coding Errors in Personal Identifiers

In this article we describe the sensitivity of small-cell flow statistics to coding errors in the identity of the underlying entities. Specifically, we present results based on a comparison of the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators before and after correcting for such errors in Social Security Number-based identifiers in the underlying individual wage records. The correction used involves a novel application of existing statistical matching techniques. It is found that even a very conservative correction procedure has a sizable impact on the statistics. The average bias ranges from . 25% up to 15% for flow statistics, and up to 5% for payroll aggregates.
Does Fiscal Cooperation Increase Local Tax Rates in Urban Areas?

Charlot S. , Paty S. and Piguet V. Does fiscal cooperation increase local tax rates in urban areas? , Regional Studies. The main purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of fiscal cooperation on local taxation in a decentralized country using experience in French urban municipalities. A tax-setting model for local business tax is estimated, using spatial and panel econometric techniques, for the period 1993–2003. Controlling for population size, it is found that fiscal cooperation is likely to reduce tax competition and, as a consequence, to increase local business tax rates.
Observations of Sidewall Domain Structures in Magnetic Grating

In this paper, we demonstrate the direct observation of closure-type domain structures in Ni magnetic grating by employing conventional magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and tilt-scanning (TS) MFM. Through sidewall scanning, the TS-MFM operation enabled the detailed analysis of the spin configurations of head-to-head and tail-to-tail domains. As a result, the domains had the surface domain configurations of the closure-type structures, which was in accord with micromagnetic simulated results.
Normalization of the background independent open string field theory action

It has been shown recently that the background independent open string field theory provides an exact description of the tachyon condensation on unstable D-branes of bosonic string theory. In this analysis the overall normalisation of the action was chosen so that it reproduces the conjectured relations involving tachyon condensation. In this paper we fix this normalisation by comparing the on-shell three tachyon amplitude computed from the background independent open string field theory with the same amplitude computed from the cubic open string field theory, which in turn agrees with the result of the first quantised theory. We find that this normalisation factor is in precise agreement with the one required for verifying the conjectured properties of the tachyon potential.
Functional connectivity and cannabis use in high-risk adolescents

Abstract Background: Adolescence is a unique neurodevelopmental period when regions of the brain most able to assess risk and reward are still in development. Cannabis use during adolescence has been associated with persistent negative outcomes. Although measures of resting brain activity are useful in assessing functional connectivity, such measures have not been broadly applied in adolescent cannabis-users. Objectives: The goal of the present study was to analyze the associations between cannabis use and resting brain activity in a sample of high-risk adolescents. Methods: Eighty-two high-risk youth between 14–18 years old were recruited from a juvenile justice day program. Youth completed a brief neurocognitive battery including assessments of cannabis use and a 5-minute resting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. Intrinsic connectivity networks were extracted using the GIFT toolbox. Brain activity in a fronto-temporal network was compared in youth with high cannabis use vs. low cannabis use using an independent-samples t-test with alcohol use entered as a covariate. Results: Analysis revealed two elements within the fronto-temporal network related to cannabis use: one in middle frontal gyrus related to high cannabis use, and one in middle temporal gyrus related to low cannabis use. Only the frontal source survived application of a cluster size threshold and was significant at p < 0.005. Conclusions: These results are consistent with patterns of activity in adult cannabis-users. The observed effect may reflect either pre-existing risk factors or near-term consequences of cannabis use. Prevention and intervention strategies that address fronto-temporal functioning may be particularly helpful in this population.
Pneumocystis jirovecii and cystic fibrosis in France

Abstract We retrospectively investigated 76 patients with cystic fibrosis for the presence of Pneumocystis jirovecii, by performing real-time PCR and nested-PCR assays on 146 archival sputum specimens. P. jirovecii was detected in only 1 patient (1.3%) showing that in our region (Brest, France), the fungus is rarely involved in pulmonary colonization in patients with cystic fibrosis.
Gauging megadiversity with optimized and standardized sampling protocols: A case for tropical forest spiders

Abstract Characterizing and monitoring biodiversity and assessing its drivers require accurate and comparable data on species assemblages, which, in turn, should rely on efficient and standardized field collection. Unfortunately, protocols that follow such criteria remain scarce and it is unclear whether they can be applied to megadiverse communities, whose study can be particularly challenging. Here, we develop and evaluate the first optimized and standardized sampling protocol for megadiverse communities, using tropical forest spiders as a model taxon. We designed the protocol COBRA‐TF (Conservation Oriented Biodiversity Rapid Assessment for Tropical Forests) using a large dataset of semiquantitative field data from different continents. This protocol combines samples of different collecting methods to obtain as many species as possible with minimum effort (optimized) and widest applicability and comparability (standardized). We ran sampling simulations to assess the efficiency of COBRA‐TF (optimized, non‐site‐specific) and its reliability for estimating taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity, and community structure by comparing it with (1) commonly used expert‐based ad hoc protocols (nonoptimized, site‐specific) and (2) optimal protocols (optimized, site‐specific). We then tested the performance and feasibility of COBRA‐TF in the field. COBRA‐TF yielded similar results as ad hoc protocols for species (observed and estimated) and family richness, phylogenetic and functional diversity, and species abundance distribution. Optimal protocols detected more species than COBRA‐TF. Data from the field test showed high sampling completeness and yielded low numbers of singletons and doubletons. Optimized and standardized protocols can be as effective in sampling and studying megadiverse communities as traditional sampling, while allowing data comparison. Although our target taxa are spiders, COBRA‐TF can be modified to apply to any highly diverse taxon and habitat as long as multiple collecting techniques exist and the unit effort per sample is comparable. Protocols such as COBRA‐TF facilitate studying megadiverse communities and therefore may become essential tools for monitoring community changes in space and time, assessing the effects of disturbances and selecting conservation areas.
The Process of Habit Formation In IS Post-adoption

This paper proposes a process model for habit formation in IS post-adoption. On the basis of extant literature (in IS and other fields), we provide insights into five important constructs that play a role in the formation of IS-use habits: satisfaction, reinforcement, frequency, extent of use, and stability in context. Our proposed model is dynamic in nature and highlights the relative roles of habit and intention as antecedents of IS post-adoption use. The proposed model was developed in three phases. Phase I explains the initial interaction of users with the system, which may pave the way to habit formation. Phase II sheds light on the actual development of habits and highlights the balance between habits and intention as antecedents of IS use. Phase III provides insights on how a habit can crystallize. The paper closes with a discussion of implications for researchers and practitioners.
Context Dependent Benzodiazepine Modulation of GABAA Receptor Opening Frequency

The anxiolytic, hypnotic, and anti-convulsant properties of benzodiazepines (BDZs) require modulation of distinct GABAA receptor α-subtypes. BDZ modulation of GABAA receptors is often described in terms of increased opening frequency, and contrasted with the increased open durations occurring with barbiturate modulation. Several studies spanning single channel, rapid kinetic, and whole cell techniques have suggested that BDZs effect this observed change in frequency through increased affinity for GABA. BDZ-sensitive αβγ isoforms exist at extrasynaptic as well as synaptic locations, where they encounter markedly different concentration and time-course of GABA exposure. Interestingly, this affinity-based mechanism (specifically, decreasing the GABA unbinding rate) is only predicted to increase opening frequency under conditions that allow the unbinding and rebinding cycles typical of prolonged exposure to low GABA concentrations, which are more likely to occur at extrasynaptic GABAA receptors. In contrast, when rebinding is less likely, such as may occur in certain synaptic conditions, the number, but not the frequency, of channel openings increases in response to BDZ modulation. In conclusion, not only can multiple kinetic mechanisms alter channel opening frequency, but a single mechanism – increased affinity – impacts opening frequency differently under different contexts of GABAA receptor activation.
Perturbative analysis of gauged matrix models

We analyze perturbative aspects of gauged matrix models, including those where classically the gauge symmetry is partially broken. Ghost fields play a crucial role in the Feynman rules for these vacua. We use this formalism to elucidate the fact that nonperturbative aspects of [script N] = 1 gauge theories can be computed systematically using perturbative techniques of matrix models, even if we do not possess an exact solution for the matrix model. As examples we show how the Seiberg-Witten solution for [script N] = 2 gauge theory, the Montonen-Olive modular invariance for [script N] = 1*, and the superpotential for the Leigh-Strassler deformation of [script N] = 4 can be systematically computed in perturbation theory of the matrix model or gauge theory (even though in some of these cases an exact answer can also be obtained by summing up planar diagrams of matrix models).
A new approach for testing artificial neural networks

This paper presents progress on a new and novel testing approach for detecting interconnection deletion faults in electronic implementations of artificial neural networks (ANNs). The testing approach is based on an unusual transient behavior manifested by faulted ANNs showing better apparent performance than fault-free ANNs, when neurons are operated with low activation function gains. The result presented in this paper improves on prior results by requiring fewer test patterns.
Beta‐catenin signaling in murine liver zonation and regeneration: A Wnt‐Wnt situation!

Liver‐specific β‐catenin knockout (β‐Catenin‐LKO) mice have revealed an essential role of β‐catenin in metabolic zonation where it regulates pericentral gene expression and in initiating liver regeneration (LR) after partial hepatectomy (PH), by regulating expression of Cyclin‐D1. However, what regulates β‐catenin activity in these events remains an enigma. Here we investigate to what extent β‐catenin activation is Wnt‐signaling‐dependent and the potential cell source of Wnts. We studied liver‐specific Lrp5/6 KO (Lrp‐LKO) mice where Wnt‐signaling was abolished in hepatocytes while the β‐catenin gene remained intact. Intriguingly, like β‐catenin‐LKO mice, Lrp‐LKO exhibited a defect in metabolic zonation observed as a lack of glutamine synthetase (GS), Cyp1a2, and Cyp2e1. Lrp‐LKO also displayed a significant delay in initiation of LR due to the absence of β‐catenin‐TCF4 association and lack of Cyclin‐D1. To address the source of Wnt proteins in liver, we investigated conditional Wntless (Wls) KO mice, which lacked the ability to secrete Wnts from either liver epithelial cells (Wls‐LKO), or macrophages including Kupffer cells (Wls‐MKO), or endothelial cells (Wls‐EKO). While Wls‐EKO was embryonic lethal precluding further analysis in adult hepatic homeostasis and growth, Wls‐LKO and Wls‐MKO were viable but did not show any defect in hepatic zonation. Wls‐LKO showed normal initiation of LR; however, Wls‐MKO showed a significant but temporal deficit in LR that was associated with decreased β‐catenin‐TCF4 association and diminished Cyclin‐D1 expression. Conclusion: Wnt‐signaling is the major upstream effector of β‐catenin activity in pericentral hepatocytes and during LR. Hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, or macrophages are not the source of Wnts in regulating hepatic zonation. However, Kupffer cells are a major contributing source of Wnt secretion necessary for β‐catenin activation during LR. (Hepatology 2014;60:964–976)
Online Budgeted Truthful Matching

An online truthful budgeted matching problem is considered for a bipartite graph, where the right vertices are available ahead of time, and individual left vertices arrive sequentially. On arrival of a left vertex, its edge utilities (or weights) to all the right vertices and a corresponding cost (or bid) are revealed. If a left vertex is matched to any of the right vertices, then it has to be paid at least as much as its cost. The problem is to match each left vertex instantaneously and irrevocably to any one of the right vertices, if at all, to find the maximum weight matching that is truthful, under a payment budget constraint. Truthfulness condition requires that no left vertex has any incentive of misreporting its cost. Assuming that the vertices arrive in an uniformly random order (secretary model) with arbitrary utilities, a truthful algorithm is proposed that is 24ß- competitive (where ß is the ratio of the maximum and the minimum utility) and satisfies the payment budget constraint. Direct applications of this problem include crowdsourcing auctions, and matching wireless users to cooperative relays in device-to-device enabled cellular network.
“Avoiding Embodying the Negative”: the Dialectic Between Body Image and Negative Selves

We explore how the body is used as an important site for creating and maintaining identity in pursuit of the reflexive project of the visible self. We examine how consumers avoid „embodying‟ the negative images and feelings that they have about themselves by actively managing the visible and public images which they project of their possible selves. We use three narratives to illustrate the agency of women consumers as they articulate a range of possible (physical) selves; and describe the impact of their negative self on their choice or rejection of clothing and fashion products.
Cellular Cardiomyoplasty Using Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells

Skeletal muscle satellite cells (myoblasts) are the primary stem cells of skeletal muscle which contribute to growth, maintenance, and repair of the muscle. Satellite cells offer several advantages for cellular cardiomyoplasty: can be easily obtained without affecting one's function, vastly proliferated in culture, have high resistance to ischemic and hypoxic conditions, no identified risk for tumor generation, and more commitment to myogenic differentiation. Cellular cardiomyoplasty is a developing new therapy that use stem cells or progenitor cells for injured heart to improve cardiac function and mitigate heart failure. Since we first published cellular cardiomyoplasty in 1989, this procedure became one of the innovative methods to treat damaged myocardium other than heart transplantation. A significant improvement in cardiac function, metabolism, and perfusion is generally observed in experimental and clinical studies, but the improvement is mild and incomplete. Although safety, feasibility, and efficacy have been well documented for the procedure, the beneficial mechanisms remain unclear and optimization of the procedure requires further study. This paper briefly reviews the skeletal muscle stem cells used for cellular cardiomyoplasty and their clinical outcomes with possible improvements in future studies.
Combining in-situ and in-transit processing to enable extreme-scale scientific analysis

With the onset of extreme-scale computing, I/O constraints make it increasingly difficult for scientists to save a sufficient amount of raw simulation data to persistent storage. One potential solution is to change the data analysis pipeline from a post-process centric to a concurrent approach based on either in-situ or in-transit processing. In this context computations are considered in-situ if they utilize the primary compute resources, while in-transit processing refers to offloading computations to a set of secondary resources using asynchronous data transfers. In this paper we explore the design and implementation of three common analysis techniques typically performed on large-scale scientific simulations: topological analysis, descriptive statistics, and visualization. We summarize algorithmic developments, describe a resource scheduling system to coordinate the execution of various analysis workflows, and discuss our implementation using the DataSpaces and ADIOS frameworks that support efficient data movement between in-situ and in-transit computations. We demonstrate the efficiency of our lightweight, flexible framework by deploying it on the Jaguar XK6 to analyze data generated by S3D, a massively parallel turbulent combustion code. Our framework allows scientists dealing with the data deluge at extreme scale to perform analyses at increased temporal resolutions, mitigate I/O costs, and significantly improve the time to insight.