Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Graph Ranking for Collective Named Entity Disambiguation

Named Entity Disambiguation (NED) refers to the task of mapping different named entity mentions in running text to their correct interpretations in a specific knowledge base (KB). This paper presents a collective disambiguation approach using a graph model. All possible NE candidates are represented as nodes in the graph and associations between different candidates are represented by edges between the nodes. Each node has an initial confidence score, e.g. entity popularity. Page-Rank is used to rank nodes and the final rank is combined with the initial confidence for candidate selection. Experiments on 27,819 NE textual mentions show the effectiveness of using Page-Rank in conjunction with initial confidence: 87% accuracy is achieved, outperforming both baseline and state-of-the-art approaches.
Detection of Strong Unstable Predicates in Distributed Programs

This paper discusses detection of global predicates in a distributed program. A run of a distributed program results in a set of sequential traces, one for each process. These traces may be combined to form many global sequences consistent with the single run of the program. A strong global predicate is true in a run if it is true for all global sequences consistent with the run. We present algorithms which detect if the given strong global predicate became true in a run of a distributed program. Our algorithms can be executed on line as well as off line. Moreover, our algorithms do not assume that underlying channels satisfy FIFO ordering.
COURSE IN NEW THINKING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: ENHANCING CREATIVITY THROUGH THE MEANS OF TRAINING, THEORY AND WORKSHOP

This paper presents a study on how a new (5 ECTS/2.5 American credit) stand-alone course for higher education in new thinking may influence key aspects of creative abilities. The course structure and content is based primarily on The Creative Platform with a focus on training, theory and workshop. The study uses the Torrance Test for Creative Thinking and a Reflection Report for Creativity Teaching to identify effects from the course. The results from the Torrance Test for Creative Thinking showed a significant increase in students’ ability in figural and verbal fluency, flexibility, figural and verbal originality, and elaboration as well as in resistance to premature closure. The results show no significant increase in students’ ability in the abstractness of titles. The results from the Reflection Report for Creativity Teaching showed that the majority of students experienced that they were capable of both developing understanding of creativity theory, becoming better at participating in a creative process as well as becoming better at generating and developing new ideas, thoughts and new knowledge. However, some students experienced problems especially related to creativity training. Implications and potentials of a combined focus on training, theory and workshop in creativity courses for higher education is discussed. Key words: creative method, creativity training, the creative platform, university curriculum.
Comparison of heart rate variability measures for mental stress detection

Mental stress is one of the well known major risk factors for many diseases such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart attack, etc. Conventionally, detecting mental stress in an individual is performed by interviews and/or questionnaires. In this study, we have investigated various heart rate variability (HRV) measures for detecting mental stress by using ultra short term HRV analysis. A number of HRV measures were investigated, e.g, Mean of heart rates (mHR), Mean of RR intervals (mRR), Power spectra in Very Low (VLF), Low (LF), and High (HF) frequency ranges, Symphatovagal balance index (SVI), etc. Experiments involved 60 segments of RR interval time series signals during mental stress state and normal state. Results revealed that the following HRV measures: mRR, mHR, normalized LF, difference between normalized LF and normalized HF, and SVI were effective measures for mental stress state and normal state classification.
Darcy’s law in one-dimensional isentropic porous medium flow

We study the asymptotic behavior of compressible isentropic flow through porous medium with general L∞ initial data. The model system is the compressible Euler equation with frictional damping. As t → ∞, the density is conjectured to obey to the well-known porous medium equation and the momentum is expected to be formulated by Darcy’s law. Recent progress gives a definte answer to this conjecture for one-dimenstional isentropic flow through the important entropy dissipation principle.
The Cell Wall Sensors Mtl1, Wsc1, and Mid2 Are Required for Stress-Induced Nuclear to Cytoplasmic Translocation of Cyclin C and Programmed Cell Death in Yeast

Mtl1 is a member of a cell wall sensor family that monitors cell wall integrity in budding yeast. In response to cell wall stress, Mtl1 activates the cell wall integrity (CWI) MAP kinase pathway which transmits this signal to the nucleus to effect changes in gene expression. One target of the CWI MAP kinase is cyclin C, a negative regulator of stress response genes. CWI activation results in cyclin C relocalization from the nucleus to the cytoplasm where it stimulates programmed cell death (PCD) before it is destroyed. This report demonstrates that under low oxidative stress conditions, a combination of membrane sensors, Mtl1 and either Wsc1 or Mid2, are required jointly to transmit the oxidative stress signal to initiate cyclin C destruction. However, when exposed to elevated oxidative stress, additional pathways independent of these three sensor proteins are activated to destroy cyclin C. In addition, N-glycosylation is important for Mtl1 function as mutating the receptor residue (Asn42) or an enzyme required for synthesis of N-acetylglucosamine (Gfa1) reduces sensor activity. Finally, combining gfa1-1 with the cyclin C null allele induces a severe synthetic growth defect. This surprising result reveals a previously unknown genetic interaction between cyclin C and plasma membrane integrity.
AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC INTERNET FIRM SURVIVAL

More than 5,000 Internet firms have failed since the beginning of 2000. One common perception is that the downturn in the economy drove many firms out of business. But then, why have some firms survived? In this research, we provide an empirical analysis on Internet firm survival by examining the impact of various market, firm and e-commerce-related drivers from the multiple perspectives of finance, information systems (IS), economics, and organizational theory research. We analyze a panel data set of 130 public Internet firms using two different techniques: nonparametric survival analysis, and the semiparametric Cox proportional hazards model. We characterize the survival rates throughout the lifetimes of the public Internet firms in our sample. Our results reveal that competing in a breakthrough market, the selling of digital products or services, avoiding being an early entrant into the digital marketplace, avoid going IPO right before or after a market downturn, abundant financial capital, and a smaller firm size are associated with a lower likelihood of bankruptcy or failure. In addition, the detrimental effects on survival of operating in a re-formed market, going IPO right before or after a market downturn, and a larger firm size diminish over time as Internet firms mature and the weaker ones are forced out of the marketplace. JEL Codes: G33, L11, L81, L86.
New Constructions of Zero-Correlation Zone Sequences

In this paper, we propose three classes of systematic approaches for constructing zero-correlation zone (ZCZ) sequence families. In most cases, these approaches are capable of generating sequence families that achieve the upper bounds on the family size and the ZCZ width for a given sequence period. Our approaches can produce various binary and polyphase ZCZ families with desired parameters and alphabet size. They also provide additional tradeoffs amongst the above four system parameters and are less constrained by the alphabet size. Furthermore, the constructed families have nested-like property that can be either decomposed or combined to constitute smaller or larger ZCZ sequence sets. We make detailed comparisons with related works and present some extended properties. For each approach, we provide examples to numerically illustrate the proposed construction procedure.
Radio synchrotron spectra for a leaky box approximation

The synchrotron emission observed from many astrophysical objects is commonly modelled as arising from relativistic electrons in an emission region occupied by a spatially homogeneous, but tangled, magnetic field. However, we know that magnetic fields embedded in ionized gases tend to form flux ropes interspersed with regions of much lower magnetic field strengths. Here we develop a full description of the evolution of the energy distribution of relativistic electrons in a plasma divided into two distinct regions with different strengths of the magnetic field. Electrons are able to leak continuously from the low-field region into the high-field region. The model becomes fully analytic for physically reasonable assumptions. We show that such a leaky box model produces two distinct breaks in the electron energy distributions which give rise to three breaks in the resulting synchrotron spectrum. The spectral slopes in between the breaks are in general not constant and thus allow for significant curvature of the spectrum. These spectra are consistent with spatially resolved observations of the radio spectra of the lobes of radio galaxies. The exact form of the spectra depends on the adopted diffusion rate. The leaky box model significantly extends the time over which synchrotron emission can be detected at a given frequency compared to the usually assumed case of homogeneous magnetic fields. The spectral ages inferred for the electron population from standard techniques for the leaky box model are considerably younger than their real age.
elative quantity judgments in the beluga whale ( Delphinapterus eucas ) and the bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus )

Numerous studies have documented the ability of many species to make relative quantity judgments using an analogue magnitude system. We investigated whether one beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, and three bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, were capable of selecting the larger of two sets of quantities, and analyzed if their performance matched predictions from the object file model versus the analog accumulator model. In Experiment 1, the two sets were presented simultaneously, under water, and they were visually (condition 1) or echoically (condition 2) available at the time of choice. In experiment 2, the two sets were presented above the water, successively (condition 1) or sequentially, item-by-item (condition 2), so that they were not visually available at the time of choice (condition 1)
Feasibility of Using an Augmented Immersive Virtual Reality Learning Environment to Enhance Music Conducting Skills

Acquiring nonverbal skills necessary to appropriately communicate and educate members of performing ensembles is essential for wind band conductors. Virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs) provide a unique setting for developing these proficiencies. For this feasibility study, we used an augmented immersive VRLE to enhance eye contact, torso movement, and gestures of novice wind band conductors. Ten undergraduates randomly assigned to no VRLE (n = 3), VRLE with head tracking (n = 4), or VRLE without (n = 3) head tracking received eight treatment sessions over a 4-week period. While participants conducted a live ensemble, their eye contact, torso movements, and gestures were measured. A comparison of pretest and posttest scores showed that students using the augmented immersive VRLE with head tracking demonstrated greater conducting skill improvement than those not using virtual reality.
RADAR : Really low-level Aspects for Dynamic Analysis and Reasoning

Support for dynamic analysis must be lightweight both efficient and minimally invasive with respect to the labour related to the implementation. This paper makes the case for using aspects for dynamic analysis in OS code. We propose to leverage low-level aspects to provide customizable run-time trace data collection, designed to enhance understanding of systems infrastructure software.
A methodology for creating fast wait-free data structures

Lock-freedom is a progress guarantee that ensures overall program progress. Wait-freedom is a stronger progress guarantee that ensures the progress of each thread in the program. While many practical lock-free algorithms exist, wait-free algorithms are typically inefficient and hardly used in practice. In this paper, we propose a methodology called fast-path-slow-path for creating efficient wait-free algorithms. The idea is to execute the efficient lock-free version most of the time and revert to the wait-free version only when things go wrong. The generality and effectiveness of this methodology is demonstrated by two examples. In this paper, we apply this idea to a recent construction of a wait-free queue, bringing the wait-free implementation to perform in practice as efficient as the lock-free implementation. In another work, the fast-path-slow-path methodology has been used for (dramatically) improving the performance of a wait-free linked-list.
A Direct Descending Pathway Informing Locomotor Networks about Tactile Sensor Movement

Much like visually impaired humans use a white-cane, nocturnal insects and mammals use antennae or whiskers for near-range orientation. Stick insects, for example, rely heavily on antennal tactile cues to find footholds and detect obstacles. Antennal contacts can even induce aimed reaching movements. Because tactile sensors are essentially one-dimensional, they must be moved to probe the surrounding space. Sensor movement is thus an essential cue for tactile sensing, which needs to be integrated by thoracic networks for generating appropriate adaptive leg movements. Based on single and double recordings, we describe a descending neural pathway comprising three identified ON- and OFF-type neurons that convey complementary, unambiguous, and short-latency information about antennal movement to thoracic networks in the stick insect. The neurons are sensitive to the velocity of antennal movements across the entire range covered by natural movements, regardless of movement direction and joint angle. Intriguingly, none of them originates from the brain. Instead, they descend from the gnathal ganglion and receive input from antennal mechanoreceptors in this lower region of the CNS. From there, they convey information about antennal movement to the thorax. One of the descending neurons, which is additionally sensitive to substrate vibration, feeds this information back to the brain via an ascending branch. We conclude that descending interneurons with complementary tuning characteristics, gains, input and output regions convey detailed information about antennal movement to thoracic networks. This pathway bypasses higher processing centers in the brain and thus constitutes a shortcut between tactile sensors on the head and the thorax.
Development of a Novel Pneumatic Power Assisted Lower Limb for Outdoor Walking by the Use of a Portable Pneumatic Power Source

In our previous research, a novel portable pneumatic power source, called a dry ice power cell, was proposed. In this paper, a novel pneumatic power assisted lower limb is developed by the use of the power of dry ice power cell. For those people whose muscle and balance remains in good condition but who have joint pain (hip or knee joint) in their leg and are unable to walk outdoors for long, the developed device can partially lift the patient in a comfortable way by pneumatic cylinder when the affected leg touches the floor, reducing the loads to which it is subject as well as the pain joint forces, thus relieving pain during walking. The developed device has the characteristics of a simple structure, low weight, easy to put on and take off and with sufficient capability to bear about 40% of the body weight during about 1000 steps of outdoor walking, using the power of dry ice power cell. The developed device can assist with outdoor walking not only over flat ground but also sloped and stair areas. In this paper, the structure and function and experiments involving the developed pneumatic power assisted lower limb are described in detail.
Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Depletion Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Resistance to Antimetabolites in Human Carcinoma Cell Lines

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a multifunctional protein that acts at the intersection of energy metabolism and stress response in tumor cells. To elucidate the role of GAPDH in chemotherapy-induced stress, we analyzed its activity, protein level, intracellular distribution, and intranuclear mobility in human carcinoma cells A549 and UO31 after treatment with cytarabine, doxorubicin, and mercaptopurine. After treatment with cytosine arabinoside (araC), enzymatically inactive GAPDH accumulated in the nucleus. Experiments on fluorescence recovery after photobleaching with green fluorescent protein-GAPDH fusion protein in the live cells treated with araC demonstrated reduced mobility of green fluorescent protein-GAPDH inside the nucleus, indicative of interactions with nuclear macromolecular components after genotoxic stress. Depletion of GAPDH with RNA interference stopped cell proliferation, and induced cell cycle arrest in G1 phase via p53 stabilization, and accumulation of p53-inducible CDK inhibitor p21. Neither p21 accumulation nor cell cycle arrest was detected in GAPDH-depleted p53-null NCI-H358 cells. GAPDH-depleted A549 cells were 50-fold more resistant to treatment with cytarabine (1.68 ± 0.182 μM versus 0.03 ± 0.015 μM in control). Depletion of GAPDH did not significantly alter cellular sensitivity to doxorubicin (0.05 ± 0.023 μM versus 0.035 ± 0.0154 μM in control). Induction of cell cycle arrest in p53-proficient carcinoma cells via GAPDH abrogation suggests that GAPDH-depleting agents may have a cytostatic effect in cancer cells. Our results define GAPDH as an important determinant of cellular sensitivity to antimetabolite chemotherapy because of its regulatory functions.
SLO-2 Is Cytoprotective and Contributes to Mitochondrial Potassium Transport

Mitochondrial potassium channels are important mediators of cell protection against stress. The mitochondrial large-conductance “big” K+ channel (mBK) mediates the evolutionarily-conserved process of anesthetic preconditioning (APC), wherein exposure to volatile anesthetics initiates protection against ischemic injury. Despite the role of the mBK in cardioprotection, the molecular identity of the channel remains unknown. We investigated the attributes of the mBK using C. elegans and mouse genetic models coupled with measurements of mitochondrial K+ transport and APC. The canonical Ca2+-activated BK (or “maxi-K”) channel SLO1 was dispensable for both mitochondrial K+ transport and APC in both organisms. Instead, we found that the related but physiologically-distinct K+ channel SLO2 was required, and that SLO2-dependent mitochondrial K+ transport was triggered directly by volatile anesthetics. In addition, a SLO2 channel activator mimicked the protective effects of volatile anesthetics. These findings suggest that SLO2 contributes to protection from hypoxic injury by increasing the permeability of the mitochondrial inner membrane to K+.
Image and Video Processing for Visually Handicapped People

This paper reviews the state of the art in the field of assistive devices for sight-handicapped people. It concentrates in particular on systems that use image and video processing for converting visual data into an alternate rendering modality that will be appropriate for a blind user. Such alternate modalities can be auditory, haptic, or a combination of both. There is thus the need for modality conversion, from the visual modality to another one; this is where image and video processing plays a crucial role. The possible alternate sensory channels are examined with the purpose of using them to present visual information to totally blind persons. Aids that are either already existing or still under development are then presented, where a distinction is made according to the final output channel. Haptic encoding is the most often used by means of either tactile or combined tactile/kinesthetic encoding of the visual data. Auditory encoding may lead to low-cost devices, but there is need to handle high information loss incurred when transforming visual data to auditory one. Despite a higher technical complexity, audio/haptic encoding has the advantage of making use of all available user's sensory channels.
GARCH coefficients as feature for speech recognition in Persian isolated digit

This paper describes a new technique that gives high performance based on GARCH (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic) time series modeling incorporating past variances to predict future variances. This is particularly suitable since no transformation on the speech signal is performed, rather we have a new statistical feature extraction, moreover, the speech signals are among nonstationary processes whose variances are heteroskedastic; e.g., time varying. Therefore, we provide a new parametric speech modeling using GARCH coefficients. The features resulting from GARCH modeling are used for recognition of isolated digits 1 to 10 in the Persian language. The results show a significant improvement in the recognition accuracy compared to results based on Mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCC).
The Role of Organizational Culture in Organizational Change - Idenfying a Realistic Position for Prospective IS Research

Organizational culture – a popular but also a very complex concept – has been identified as an influential factor affecting the successes and failures of organizational change efforts. Many empirical organizational culture studies have been carried out in information systems (IS) research. However, culture is a very versatile concept, and there are many controversies in both defining and applying it. Therefore, this paper reviews different conceptions of organizational culture in the existing literature – in anthropology, organizational studies and in IS research. Also recent criticism on the existing conceptions is presented. Furthermore, organizational change is also a complex concept, due to which this paper discusses also differing conceptions of organizational change and conceptions of change employed in the empirical IS literature. Finally, a framework for the analysis of organizational culture and change is developed. The framework identifies three positions on organizational culture and change: optimist, pessimist and relativist, and discusses their implications. The optimist position is criticized of relying on very naive notions of culture and change. The pessimist position can be criticized of lacking relevance to practice. Finally, the relativist position is recommended as the most realistic position for the prospective IS research on organizational culture and change.
SIMULATION OF THE MALELANE AND KOMATI MILLS WITH SUGARSTM SIMULATION SOFTWARE IN STOLZ

The Malelane and Komati mills were modelled using the Sugars' simulation software package. Application of the program is illustrated by comparison of predicted outputs with actual mill performance. A processmodification at the Komati mill wasfirst simulated with the programand the actualperformance after implementation compared favourably with the simulation. Material and energybalanceoutputs obtainedfrom all the simulations closelymatchthe observed performances of the mills. The Sugars' software has proven to be a suitable program to achieve modelling goals within reliable limits. Implementation ofthe process economics facility of theprogram in the near future will further enhance the evaluation of envisaged plant modifications.