Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Hierarchical Approach to Automatic Stress Detection in English Sentences

This paper proposes a hierarchical framework, which consists of three layers of classifiers, for automatic stress detection in English speech utterances. The top two layers are a linguistic classifier, which assigns stressed labels to all content words and unstressed labels to all functions words, and an acoustic classifier, which assigns stressed and unstressed labels with HMM based models and using only acoustic features such as MFCC, energy and f0. When there is no manual stressed label available, only the top two layers are activated. The best performance we achieved is 92.9%. The third layer in the framework is an AdaBoost classifier that can improve the accuracy by using more features and manual labels. The best result we obtained is 94.1%, which is approaching to the self-agreement ratio (97.4%) of the same annotator, or the upper bound of the performance.
Dynamic Management of QoS for Multimedia Multicasting

The interaction between multicasting and real-time multimedia streams poses various new and interesting problems in research on communication protocols and architectures. For example, display systems of heterogeneous users in the same session may have different or even varying latency, display resolution, and/or processing capabilities. In this paper, we propose a receiver-oriented resource reservation mechanism, called dynamic management of QoS with priority (DMQP), for multimedia multicasting over the Internet that provides QoS guarantees with service differentiation for heterogeneous users. In the DMQP protocol, a real-time application requests QoS by specifying a range of acceptable bandwidth values and tolerable delay durations as opposed to rigid QoS criteria. The network strives to reserve resources for the application within its bandwidth range. In addition, service differentiation is achieved by classifying the real time applications (or end- users) into normal users and prioritized users. When the number of end-users increases, the new end-users are not simply rejected. Instead, all nodes, including receiver node(s), sender node(s) and intermediate node(s), readjust their reserved resources dynamically to admit more end-users, as long as their minimum bandwidth requirement is met. By treating the bandwidth requirements as ranges instead of a rigid value, DMQP provides the flexibility needed for operation in the dynamic Internet environment. It has the significant benefit of allowing more flexible sharing of available resources among applications. We have conducted simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed mechanism. Our simulation results strongly validate our claim.
Izvirni znanstveni prispevek DNA ISOLATION FROM EQUINE FAECAL EXCREMENTS

Sampling and extraction procedures were elaborated for DNA isolation suitable for subsequent PCR amplification and other molecular manipulation experiments from horse excrements. Eleven Lipizzaner horses were split into two age groups and faecal excrements were collected as soon as possible after defecation and the DNA was isolated immediately after arrival to the laboratory. The excrements collected from the group of younger horses yielded on average 3-4 fold higher amounts of DNA than from the group of older horses. The variability of the DNA yield isolated on successive days from the same horse remained within 15% of the average yield. The DNA yield isolated on successive days from the same faecal excrement increased gradually from 4.61 to 7.96 μg g faeces until 48 hrs after defecation and dropped only slightly to 7.51 μg g after further four days. Our results indicate, that substantial microbial growth is taking place in the faecal excrements at least until two days after defecation. It is of utmost importance therefore, that the sampling is done as soon as possible after defecation if microbial community structure analysis of the equine colon and faeces is to be performed.
Comparison of one-year clinical outcomes between intravascular ultrasound-guided versus angiography-guided implantation of drug-eluting stents for left main lesions: a single-center analysis of a 1,016-patient cohort

Background The importance of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided stenting of the unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) remains controversial and has not been fully studied in the subset of patients with ULMCA. This study evaluated the clinical outcome of IVUS-guided stenting using a drug-eluting stent for ULMCA. Methods A total of 1,016 consecutive patients with ULMCA stenosis who underwent drug-eluting stent implantation from January 2006 to December 2011 were prospectively registered. The primary endpoint of this nonrandomized registry was the rate of one-year major adverse cardiac events (MACE, including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization). Stent thrombosis served as the safety endpoint. Propensity score matching was used to calculate the adjusted event rate. Results The unadjusted one-year MACE rate was 14.8% in the IVUS-guided group (n=337, 33.2%), significantly different from the 27.7% (P<0.001) in the angiography-guided group (n=679, 66.8%). After propensity score matching, 291 paired patients were matched between the two groups, and the difference in one-year MACE between IVUS-guided (16.2%) versus angiography-guided (24.4%) groups was still significant (P=0.014), mainly driven by decreased rates of cardiac death (1.7%) and target vessel revascularization (3.4%) in the IVUS-guided group when compared with 5.2% (P=0.023) and 10.0% (P=0.002) in the angiography-guided group, respectively. Although it did not reach significance (P=0.075), the adjusted one-year rate of stent thrombosis in the angiography-guided group was higher than in the IVUS-guided group. Conclusion Compared with angiography guidance, IVUS-guided treatment of ULMCA using a drug-eluting stent was associated with a significant reduction of one-year cardiac death and target vessel revascularization, resulting in less frequent one-year MACE after propensity score matching.
International Journal of Physical Sciences a Tuneable Metamaterial Design Using Microelectromechanical System (mems) Based Split Ring Resonator (srr)

In this paper, we present a study of tuneable equilateral triangular shaped spilt ring resonator (ETSRR). In this ETSRR we rotate the inner and outer rings by varying the position of the splits in rings. For this we used radio frequency microelectromechanical system (RF MEMS) switches. By making MEMS switches ON/OFF, the positions of splits in the rings were varied which can be considered as rotation of rings. As we rotate the inner and outer rings (by varying the position of splits), the configuration is tuned to different frequency from its basic configuration, thus we get tunability.
Epstein–Barr virus–host cell interactions: an epigenetic dialog?

Here, we wish to highlight the genetic exchange and epigenetic interactions between Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and its host. EBV is associated with diverse lymphoid and epithelial malignancies. Their molecular pathogenesis is accompanied by epigenetic alterations which are distinct for each of them. While lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from B cells transformed by EBV in vitro are characterized by a massive demethylation and euchromatinization of the viral and cellular genomes, the primarily malignant lymphoid tumor Burkitt’s lymphoma and the epithelial tumors nasopharyngeal carcinoma and EBV-associated gastric carcinoma are characterized by hypermethylation of a multitude of cellular tumor suppressor gene loci and of the viral genomes. In some cases, the viral latency and oncoproteins including the latent membrane proteins LMP1 and LMP2A and several nuclear antigens affect the level of cellular DNA methyltransferases or interact with the histone modifying machinery. Specific molecular mechanisms of the epigenetic dialog between virus and host cell remain to be elucidated.
Performance of transport protocols over a multicasting-based architecture for Internet host mobility

IP multicasting provides a mechanism for location independent addressing and packet delivery to a group of hosts that belong to a multicast group. It also provides efficient mechanisms for hosts to join and leave multicast groups. The problem of supporting macro and micro level host mobility in the Internet involves similar issues of location independent addressing, address translation, packet forwarding and location management of mobile hosts. We have developed a new approach called MSM-IP for supporting host mobility using IP multicasting as the sole mechanism for addressing and routing packets to mobile hosts. In this paper, we present the performance of UDP and TCP over MSM-IP, and compare it with their performance over Mobile-IP. Our analysis shows that our approach is very effective in supporting seamless mobility for both handoffs and interface changes within and across networks. The performance of both UDP and TCP are better when used with MSM-IP than with Mobile-IP. We briefly explain our approach, and present performance results, and explain the results.
Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance and Earnings Quality: Evidence from Korea

Manuscript Type. Empirical. Research Question/Issue. How does corporate governance affect a manager's intention to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Is the relationship between financial transparency and CSR activities affected by the business group affiliation and ownership structure of firms? Research Findings/Insights. CSR ratings are negatively correlated with the level of earnings management when all firms are considered. However, the relationship is weaker for chaebol firms and firms with highly concentrated ownership, which suggests that CSR practices can be abusively used by those firms to conceal their poor earnings quality. The adverse use of CSR is discouraged if the fraction of shares owned by institutional investors is high. However, no evidence is found for a similar moderating effect for foreign investors. Theoretical/Academic Implications. This study suggests that the business group affiliation and the ownership structure of a firm are important factors in determining the managerial incentives to engage in CSR, which can explain the mixed results reported in previous research. In addition, the possibility of a simultaneous relationship between CSR and other key firm characteristics, such as earnings quality, should be considered when conducting research on CSR. Practitioner/Policy Implications. This study provides the insight to investors and other stakeholders that the managerial incentives behind CSR activities can differ depending on a firm's characteristics. Care must be taken when assessing the CSR activities, in particular, of firms with weak corporate governance. For policy makers, it is important to ensure that CSR‐related disclosures by firms are based on actual plans and are not intended to deceive stakeholders, especially when the firms are not actively monitored by external shareholders.
Quantifying ultrasound data from a tongue twister experiment using curve-to-curve distance

This study examined the production of four-word tongue twisters (e.g. top cap cop tab) by six English participants using ultrasound imaging of the tongue. Onset consonant closures for /t, d, k, ɡ/ in the contexts of /a/ and /ae/ were extracted from the video and traced using EdgeTrak software. Traces were analyzed using a mean minimum point-to-point distance measure between curves [12]. Curves were compared within allophonic group (e.g. [ka] in cop vs. [ka] in com) and across phoneme category (e.g. [ka] in cop vs. [ta] in top) to quantify similarity to the desired production and expected error. Perceived speech errors had greater within-group distance and smaller between-group distance, consistent with the production of the wrong target. Productions that deviate significantly from other productions within the group can be classified as gradient errors. By these measures both categorical errors and gradient errors were relatively rare.
Service Quality Measurement and Triadic Interaction

Abstract The authors recognise the importance of the service quality encounter and the critical roles played by three direct stakeholders: customers, front-line staff and operational managers, in the assessment of restaurant service quality. The paper therefore argues the merits of adopting a triadic perspective on restaurant service quality assessment and presents the details of a comparative analysis of stakeholder perceptions of service quality performance that was undertaken in three full-service restaurants in Manchester, U.K. The results showed that service providers tended to overrate the quality of service in full-service restaurants, if customer perceptions are used as the standard of comparison. Managers' ratings showed the least convergence with those of customers whilst there was a high degree of convergence between the perceptions of front-line service providers and customers on many of the dimensions. With the exception of the tangible dimension, there were statistically significant differences in service quality performance between the perceptions of stakeholders. Overall, the results have highlighted areas of particular concern and priority which require more in-depth research with qualitative methods; they therefore support the adoption of a triadic perspective in the assessment of restaurant service quality performance.
Changes in renal function associated with oral emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate use for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis

Objective:Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) pre-exposure prophylaxis decreases sexual acquisition of HIV infection. We sought to evaluate the renal safety of TDF in HIV-uninfected persons. Design and methods:The Iniciativa Profilaxis Pre-Exposición (iPrEx) study randomly assigned 2499 HIV-seronegative men and transgender women who have sex with men (MSM) to receive oral daily TDF coformulated with emtricitabine (FTC/TDF) or placebo. Serum creatinine and phosphorus during randomized treatment and after discontinuation were measured, and creatinine clearance (CrCl) was estimated by the Cockcroft–Gault equation. Indicators of proximal renal tubulopathy (fractional excretion of phosphorus and uric acid, urine protein, and glucose) were measured in a substudy. Results:There was a small but statistically significant decrease in CrCl from baseline in the active arm, compared to placebo, which was first observed at week 4 (mean change: −2.4 vs. −1.1 ml/min; P = 0.02), persisted through the last on-treatment visit (mean change: +0.3 vs. +1.8 ml/min; P = 0.02), and resolved after stopping pre-exposure prophylaxis (mean change: −0.1 vs. 0.0 ml/min; P = 0.83). The effect was confirmed when stratifying by drug detection. The effect of FTC/TDF on CrCl did not vary by race, age, or history of hypertension. There was no difference in serum phosphate trends between the treatment arms. In the substudy, two participants receiving placebo had indicators of tubulopathy. Conclusions:In HIV-seronegative MSM, randomization to FTC/TDF was associated with a very mild nonprogressive decrease in CrCl that was reversible and managed with routine serum creatinine monitoring.
Characterizing the Execution Dynamics of GPGPU Applications

General Purpose computing on Graphic Processing Unit (GPGPU) is rapidly gaining adoption in scientific and engineering applications. Considerable research efforts have been dedicated to improving the efficiency of GPU microarchitecture. It is thus essential to understand the execution characteristics of GPUs so as to identify clues for microarchitecture innovations. In this work, we performed detailed microarchitecture simulation for GPGPU workloads. A unique contribution of this work is the emphasis on whole program behaviors. A key observation of this work is that the execution characteristics of certain kernels exhibit repeated patterns. Such patterns are the results of GPU's thread block based execution model, but can only be identified when there are a sufficient number of blocks. We then show that this number of blocks can be used to accelerate microarchitecture simulation. Experimental results show that on average a 7.62X speedup is attained with an error level below 10%.
No 383 Testing for a Unit Root in a Random Coefficient Panel Data Model

This paper proposes a new unit root test in the context of a random autoregressive coefficient panel data model, in which the null of a unit root corresponds to the joint restriction that the autoregressive coefficient has unit mean and zero variance. The asymptotic distribution of the test statistic is derived and simulation results are provided to suggest that it performs very well in small samples. JEL Classification: C13; C33.
Entangled Polymers: From Universal Aspects to Structure Property Relations

Simulations are very versatile tools to study the relaxations and dynamics of polymer melts and networks. The fact that polymer chains cannot pass through each other poses special dif(cid:2)culties for analytic theories, while on the other hand many experiments are dominated by this fact. The paper discusses some basic concepts and conditions and ways to study such problems by computer simulations.
A new cryptosystem based on elliptic curves and polynomial matrices *

The system we propose is a mathematical problem with the necessary properties to define public key cryptosystems. It is based on the Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem (ECDLP) and polynomial matrices. In this way, we achieve to increase the possible number of keys and, therefore, we augment the resolution complexity of the system. Also, we make a cryptanalisys of the system detecting its weaknesses and verifying that, even so, it is harder to solve than the ECDLP. Key-Words: Public key cryptography, elliptic curves, finite fields, discrete logarithm problem, linear systems, Diffie-Hellman key agreement, multiple instances, polynomial matrices.
A Study of the MGBi-CGSTAB Method and its Parallelization

The multigrid preconditioned bi-conjugate gradient stabilized (MGBi-CGSTAB) method is an iterative method for solving sparse nonsymmetric linear equations such as discretized convection-di usion equations. We applied this method to problems with a stretched grid. We have experimentally shown that the MGBiCGSTAB method with additional coarse grid points is e ective for solving these problems. We implemented this method on the parallel computer AP1000. We also present the parallelizing of the MGBi-CGSTAB method. The redistribution of the data on each grid is e ective.
Web information systems

T hree years ago, when two of us guest edited a special section on hyperme-dia design for this magazine [1], the Web was a relatively nascent field. At that time, our focus was on the general principles for designing hypermedia applications. Since then, the scope of Web-based applications has grown enormously, now encompassing four general kinds of Web-based systems: Intranets, to support internal work, Web-presence sites that are marketing tools designed to reach consumers outside the firm, electronic commerce systems that support consumer interaction, such as online shopping, and a blend of internal and external systems to support business-to-business communication, commonly called extranets. Thus, a Web platform has transformed itself in the TERRY MIURA
Global Imbalances and Taxing Capital Flows

We study a monetary economy with two large open economies displaying net real and financial flows. If default on cross-border loans is possible, taxing financial flows can reduce its negative consequences. In doing so it can improve welfare unilaterally, in some cases in a Pareto sense, via altering the terms of trade and reducing the costs of such default.
The impact of village banking on dryland rural household poverty alleviation: Case of Kenya’s K-REP bank

The research on this paper investigated the impact of one village Bank: Kenya Rural Enterprise Programme Bank. A case study approach was used in which the K-REP programme was given ex post evaluation. The evaluation was conducted for the purpose of drawing best practice lessons on the impact of village banking on poverty alleviation. The research findings were expected to register a significant impact on the incomes of the participants considering the popularity of microfinance institutions in Kenya. The results however showed that even though the K-REP programme was effective in enhancing access to credit and development of small and medium-sized businesses, the chief objective of raising household incomes remained a distant mirage. Few of the community members held shares in the village bank owing to prolonged droughts and hence lack of savings from crop production. Similarly, access to credit facility was undermined by the droughts which eroded the borrowing confidence of households. Consequently, only the main business community in the area fully benefited from the programme. The results led to the conclusion that village banking has the potential to reduce poverty in rural areas of Kenya. However, their operations should be aligned with agricultural production calendar of the target community. Further, integration of strategies such as crop insurance schemes into the bank programme would be relevant towards mitigation of the effects of drought on agricultural production, and cushion farmers against unprecedented income shortfalls.
Catching Synchronized Behaviors in Large Networks

Given a directed graph of millions of nodes, how can we automatically spot anomalous, suspicious nodes judging only from their connectivity patterns? Suspicious graph patterns show up in many applications, from Twitter users who buy fake followers, manipulating the social network, to botnet members performing distributed denial of service attacks, disturbing the network traffic graph. We propose a fast and effective method, CatchSync, which exploits two of the tell-tale signs left in graphs by fraudsters: (a) synchronized behavior: suspicious nodes have extremely similar behavior patterns because they are often required to perform some task together (such as follow the same user); and (b) rare behavior: their connectivity patterns are very different from the majority. We introduce novel measures to quantify both concepts (“synchronicity” and “normality”) and we propose a parameter-free algorithm that works on the resulting synchronicity-normality plots. Thanks to careful design, CatchSync has the following desirable properties: (a) it is scalable to large datasets, being linear in the graph size; (b) it is parameter free; and (c) it is side-information-oblivious: it can operate using only the topology, without needing labeled data, nor timing information, and the like. , while still capable of using side information if available. We applied CatchSync on three large, real datasets, 1-billion-edge Twitter social graph, 3-billion-edge, and 12-billion-edge Tencent Weibo social graphs, and several synthetic ones; CatchSync consistently outperforms existing competitors, both in detection accuracy by 36% on Twitter and 20% on Tencent Weibo, as well as in speed.