Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Moffitt Cancer Center: Leadership, Culture and Transformation

v Chapter 1: Introduction and Motivation . 1 Significance of Study . 4 Aims of Study . 5 Organization of Chapters . 6 Chapter 2: Research Methodology . 8 Research Design . 8 Data Collection . 9 Methods of Analysis . 10 Chapter 3: Literature Review . 12 Introduction to Literature Review . 12 Founder . 14 Visionary Leadership . 16 Culture . 18 Transformational Organizations and Societal Benefit . 20 Chapter 4: The Founder . 28 Introduction: The Founder . 28 Personal Insights . 29 The Hon. Ralph H. Haben, Jr., Esq. 29 Jennifer (Jenny) L. Moffitt, PhD . 36 L. David de la Parte, Esq. 39 Theodore (Ted) J. Couch, Sr. . 42 Professional Insights . 44 The Hon. Connie Mack III . 44 Timothy (Tim) J. Adams . 46 Edward (Ed) C. Droste . 48 Alan F. List, MD . 49 William (Bill) S. Dalton, PhD, MD . 50 G. Douglas (Doug) Letson, MD . 51 John (Jack) A. Kolosky, CPA, MBA . 53 Yvette Tremonti, CPA, MBA . 53 The Hon. William (Will) W. Weatherford. 54 ii Chapter 5: Transformational Events . 58 Introduction: Transformational Events . 58 A Brief Case Study . 59 Setting the Course: People and Decisions . 61 People . 61 Decisions . 62 Leaders, Culture and Imprinted DNA . 62 1990 Legislative Initiative . 71 The Legislative Process . 71 Passing of a Bill. 73 A Defining Moment . 77 The Bill(s). 81 Conflict . 82 Interdisciplinary Care . 88 Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC). 96 Moving Faculty to MCC (MMG and MRI) . 104 Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusion . 109 Summary of Major Findings . 109 Key Findings . 110 Explanation of Model . 113 Discussion . 114 Foundational Factors . 116 Transformational Events . 117 Limitations . 121 Contributions . 122 Conclusion . 123 References . 126 Appendix A: Florida Statue 240.299 . 133 Appendix B: Interview Questions. 136 Appendix C: Interviewee Bios . 138 Appendix D: Florida Constitution, Article iii . 160 Appendix E: 1990 Legislation . 162 Appendix F: Materials from MCC Board Meeting . 178 Appendix G: Summary Table of Themes – 1990 Legislation . 207
Integrated Optimization of Procurement, Processing, and Trade of Commodities

We consider the integrated optimization problem of procurement, processing, and trade of commodities in a multiperiod setting. Motivated by the operations of a prominent commodity processing firm, we model a firm that procures an input commodity and has processing capacity to convert the input into a processed commodity. The processed commodity is sold using forward contracts, while the input itself can be traded at the end of the horizon. We solve this problem optimally and derive closed-form expressions for the marginal value of input and output inventory. We find that the optimal procurement and processing decisions are governed by price-dependent inventory thresholds. We use commodity markets data for the soybean complex to conduct numerical studies and find that approximating the joint price processes of multiple output commodities using a single, composite output product and using the approximate price process to determine procurement and processing decisions is near optimal. Compared to a myopic spread-option-based heuristic, the optimization-based dynamic programming policy provides significant benefits under conditions of tight processing capacities and high price volatilities. Finally, we propose an approximation procedure to compute heuristic policies and an upper bound to compare the heuristic against, when commodity prices follow multifactor processes.
Environmental Liability, Marine Insurance and An Optimal Risk Sharing Strategy for Marine Oil Transport

Recent changes in the U.S. liability regime for oil pollution damage are precipitating a potential insurance crisis for oil carriers operating in U.S. waters. While liability rules can be useful in causing the oil transport industry to internalize the costs of oil pollution, unlimited liability combined with uncertainty in damage valuation can result in great costs to society, including the possible disruption of oil supplies. We formulate a model to determine an optimal level of risk-sharing for oil pollution damage between the public and the foreign tanker industry, and show how a socially optimal limit to liability can be determined.
Approximating Martingales for Variance Reduction in Markov Process Simulation

"Knowledge of either analytical or numerical approximations should enable more efficient simulation estimators to be constructed. " This principle seems intuitively plausible and certainly attractive, yet no completely satisfactory general methodology has been developed to exploit it. The authors present a new approach for obtaining variance reduction in Markov process simulation that is applicable to a vast array of different performance measures. The approach relies on the construction of a martingale that is then used as an internal control variate.
LIP movement generation using restricted Boltzmann machines for visual speech synthesis

This paper proposes methods of using restricted Boltzmann machines (RBM) to generate the sequence of lip images for visual speech synthesis. The aim of our proposed methods is to alleviate the over-smoothing effect of the conventional hidden Markov model (HMM) based statistical approach for lip synthesis. Two model structures using RBMs to model and generate lip movements are investigated in this paper. First, RBMs are adopted to replace Gaussian distributions as the density functions of HMM states. Second, a deep belief network (DBN) is constructed by stacking up multiple RBMs to model the joint distribution between the lip image of each frame and its corresponding context features. Experimental results show that our proposed methods can improve the quality of generated lip images significantly. The method of using DBN model structure and raw pixel features achieves the best performance in our experiments.
A New Isoflavonoid from Seeds of Lepidium sativum L. and Its Protective Effect on Hepatotoxicity Induced by Paracetamol in Male Rats

A new isoflavonoid, 5,6-dimethoxy-2',3'-methylenedioxy-7-C-β-d-gluco-pyranosyl isoflavone was isolated from the seeds of Lepidium sativum L. along with two known isoflavonoids, 7-hydroxy-4',5,6-trimethoxyisoflavone and 7-hydroxy-5,6-dimethoxy-2',3'-methylenedioxyisoflavone. The structures of all compounds were elucidated with NMR spectrometry. Compounds 1, 2 and the new isoflavonoid 3 were evaluated for their ability to reduce the hepatotoxicity induced by paracetamol in male rats by reducing the damage and toxicity effects on liver cells with a significant improvement of total antioxidant capacity, normalizing the levels of liver enzymes GSH, SOD, GPX, CAT and GST compared to control group.
Identification of yeast cell cycle transcription factors using dynamic system model

To understand the cell cycle process, it is important to identify the cell cycle transcription factors (TFs) that regulate the expression of cell cycle-regulated genes. We developed a method to identify cell cycle TFs in yeast by integrating current ChIP-chip, mutant, transcription factor binding site (TFBS), and cell cycle gene expression data. We identified 17 cell cycle TFs, 12 of which are known cell cycle TFs, while the remaining five (Ash1, Rlm1, Ste12, Stp1, Tec1) are putative novel cell cycle TFs. Several lines of evidence are provided to verify our predictions. Besides, a high confidence TF-gene regulatory matrix is derived as a byproduct of our method. Moreover, we show that our method performs better than four existing methods for identifying yeast cell cycle TFs. Finally, an application of our method to different cell cycle gene expression datasets suggests that our method is robust.
An Back-Projection Algorithm for SAR Image Formation

We proposea fast algorithm for far-field SAR imaging basedon a new fast back-projectionalgorithm developed for tomography. We also modify the algorithm for thenear-field scenario.Thefastback-projectionalgorithm for SARhascomputationalcomplexity . Comparedto traditionalFFT-basedmethods, our new algorithm haspotentialadvantages: thenew algorithmdoesnot need frequency-domaininterpolation, which becomescomplex for the wide-anglecase; the new approach is applicable to the near-field scenario, taking into accountwavefront curvature; andtheback-projectionalgorithmcanbeeasily adaptedto parallel computingarchitectures.For somescenariosof interest,the computationalcostof the new backprojectionapproach is similar to or lessthanthat for FFTbasedalgorithms.
Fiscal decentralisation and its effects on the health sector in Pakistan

Education and health sectors are known to have massive impact on the quality of human life. In this context, the health sector is discussed in this study to analyse the impact of fiscal decentralisation on basic health infrastructure in Pakistan. Provincial datasets (1980-2001) from three provinces were used for the analysis of provincial health indicators. It was learnt that the health sector remained neglected both at the national and provincial level. The provincial analysis suggests that federal transfers improved hospital beds availability in the economically active provinces, which were presumably more efficient. Provincial autonomy, on the other hand, failed to play a role in the improvement of the health sector. The analysis highlights the social implications of federal transfers. Differences in results for economically distinct provinces hint towards the efficiency aspect of resource utilisation.
First step towards an efficient admission control: A complete analytical model for 802.11e EDCA for throughput and delay prediction

Extensive research addressing IEEE 802.11e Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) performance analysis, by means of analytical models, exist in the literature. It started mainly with the famous Bianchi's model and still continues today as several aspects have not been covered yet. Unfortunately, the currently proposed models, even though numerous, do not reach the required accuracy due to the great number of simplifications that have been done. Particularly, none of these models considers the 802.11e Contention Free Burst (CFB) mode which allows a given station to transmit a burst of frames without contention during a given Transmission Opportunity Limit (TXOPLimit) time interval. To fill in this gap, we develop in this paper a new and complete analytical model that: (i) reflects the correct functioning of EDCA, (ii) includes all the 802.11e EDCA differentiation parameters, (iii) takes into account all the features of the protocol, and (iv) does not assume saturation conditions. This model is validated by both calculations and simulations.
Just-in-time signaling for WDM optical burst switching networks

We describe the architecture, design, and implementation of a novel just-in-time (JIT) signaling protocol for optical burst switching (OBS) in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical networks. The JIT-OBS paradigm is designed for ultra-low-latency unidirectional transport of data-bursts across an optical network. It combines the desirable features of circuit-switching and packet-switching. It features out-of-band control signal processing that eliminates buffering of data-burst at intermediate nodes, while minimizing the setup time, and maximizing the cross-connect bandwidth efficiency. We motivate and describe the architecture of JIT signaling, and analyze its basic performance. We present the detailed signaling message design and discuss the rationale and considerations that went into this design. We describe and examine various scenarios that illustrate the operations of the JIT signaling protocol (JIT-SP) in connection establishment and teardown. Finally, we describe and summarize the JIT signaling software prototype in the Washington, DC Testbed network implemented under the MONET project.
Admissibility Conditions in Risk Adjustment of Momentum Strategies

There are still ongoing debates on pro tability of momentum strategies mainly due to its sensitivity to the choice of benchmark asset pricing model in its risk adjustment. In this paper, we explore admissibility conditions for the benchmark asset pricing model which should be met, so they could be used as diagnostic tool in risk adjustment of momentum strategies. Under this benchmark, high/low risk assets should have relatively higher frequency of being included in the winners/losers group and the risk of a momentum strategy rises with respect to the positive market wide average risk premium. Empirically, we examined if each risk measure satis es our admissibility conditions and we found that non-parametric risk measures satisfy our rationality condition, while market betas do not. This simple but important result may be one explanation regarding the di¤erence in the pro tability assessment of momentum trading strategies.
Simulated Versus Observed Cluster Eccentricity Evolution

The rate of galaxy cluster eccentricity evolution is useful in understanding large-scale structure. Rapid evolution for z < 0.13 has been found in two different observed cluster samples. We present an analysis of projections of 41 clusters produced in hydrodynamic simulations augmented with radiative cooling and 43 clusters from adiabatic simulations. This new, larger set of simulated clusters strengthens the claims of previous eccentricity studies. We find very slow evolution in simulated clusters, significantly different from the reported rates of observational eccentricity evolution. We estimate the rate of change of eccentricity with redshift and compare the rates between simulated and observed clusters. We also use a variable aperture radius to compute the eccentricity, r200. This method is much more robust than the fixed aperture radius used in previous studies. Apparently, radiative cooling does not change cluster morphology on scales large enough to alter eccentricity. The discrepancy between simulated and observed cluster eccentricity remains. Observational bias or incomplete physics in simulations must be present to produce halos that evolve so differently.
Collaborative Decision Making: A Promising but Underused Strategy for Middle School Improvement

Collaboration can involve various school stakeholders in making significant decisions about their school and its programs. "With its emphasis on collegial environments and involvement in significant decisions, collaboration reinforces the importance of each teacher, administrator, parent, and community member in the process of providing responsive programs for young adolescents" (Clark & Clark, 1994, p. 207). Collaboration has broad support as an appropriate vehicle for bringing about school reform (Brost, 2000; Carlson, 1996; Clark & Clark, 1996; George & Shewey, 1994; Jackson & Davis, 2000; Liontos, 1994; Wheelock, 1998). Jackson and Davis (2000) stated, "We believe that teams, leadership committees, inquiry groups and other structures that shape the collaborative culture of Turning Points 2000-based schools at least offer the opportunity for teachers to solve the kinds of problems inevitably brought by policy shifts, such as the press for greater accountability, and to do so in powerfully creative ways that can actually produce differ-
Identi fi cation of an orthologous clade of peroxidases that respond to feeding by greenbugs ( Schizaphis graminum ) in C 4 grasses

Knowledge of specific peroxidases that respond to aphid herbivory is limited in C4 grasses, but could provide targets for improving defence against these pests. A sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) peroxidase (SbPrx-1; Sobic.002G416700) has been previously linked to biotic stress responses, andwas the starting point for this study. Genomic analyses indicated that SbPrx-1 was part of a clade of five closely related peroxidase genes occurring within a ~30 kb region on chromosome 2 of the sorghum genome. Comparison of this ~30-kb region to syntenic regions in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) identified similar related clusters of peroxidases. Infestation of a susceptible sorghum cultivar with greenbugs (Shizaphis graminum Rondani) induced three of the five peroxidases. Greenbug infestation of switchgrass and foxtail millet plants showed similar inductions of peroxidases. SbPrx-1 was also induced in response to aphid herbivory in a greenbug-resistant sorghum line, Cargill 607E. These data indicate that this genomic region of C4 grasses could be valuable as a marker to assess potential insect resistance in C4 grasses. Additional keywords: defense, defence, foxtail millet, greenbugs, plant resistance, sorghum, switchgrass, synteny. Received 17 March 2016, accepted 29 July 2016, published online 26 August 2016
What works for whom, where, when, and why? On the role of context in empirical software engineering

Context is a central concept in empirical software engineering. It is one of the distinctive features of the discipline and it is an indispensable part of software practice. It is likely responsible for one of the most challenging methodological and theoretical problems: study-to-study variation in research findings. Still, empirical software engineering research is mostly concerned with attempts to identify universal relationships that are independent of how work settings and other contexts interact with the processes important to software practice. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of how context affects empirical research and how empirical software engineering research can be better `contextualized' in order to provide a better understanding of what works for whom, where, when, and why. We exemplify the importance of context with examples from recent systematic reviews and offer recommendations on the way forward.
A new state-space approach for super-resolution image sequence reconstruction

Super-resolution imaging is to overcome the inherent limitations of image acquisition to create high-resolution images from their low-resolution counterparts. In this paper, a novel state-space approach is proposed to incorporate the temporal correlations among the low-resolution observations into the framework of the Kalman filtering. The proposed approach exploits both the temporal correlations information among the high-resolution images and the temporal correlations information among the low-resolution images to improve the quality of the reconstructed high-resolution sequence. Experimental results show that the proposed framework is superior to bi-linear interpolation, bi-cubic spline interpolation and the conventional Kalman filter approach, due to the consideration of the temporal correlations among the low-resolution images.
Experimental evaluation of alternative congestion control algorithms for Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP)

The wide range of IoT applications creates a demand for various types of communication. While both types of communication, unreliable and reliable, are important, it is crucial to extend scalable congestion control in the Internet to cover IoT communication also. Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), a web transfer protocol for constrained devices and networks proposed by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), has optional reliability based on retransmission timeout (RTO) together with exponential RTO backoff to implement a simple basic congestion control mechanism. While the CoAP basic congestion control is simple, it is relatively conservative and potentially inefficient. Hence, there is a need for a more efficient congestion control alternative and CoCoA has been proposed as an option. In this paper we experimentally evaluate the efficiency and scalability of alternative congestion control algorithms for CoAP, including CoCoA and two TCP-based mechanisms. Our results show that while all the alternatives are scalable, they are more aggressive than the default congestion control mechanism of CoAP resulting in more efficient operation particularly at higher congestion level(s).
A Multi-step Strategy for Shape Similarity Search in Kamon Image Database

Similarity search in image databases relies on comparing the query with a set of images based on features like shape, colour, texture, and spatial locations. As the size of database grows, query processing strategies were proposed to increase performance by reducing the number of distance calculations. Most strategies are two-step, with the initial “prune” step based on a high-dimensional spatial index followed by a “refine” step performing expensive computation. They work well with metric similarity models where lower bounding distance functions exist for pruning. In this work, similarity search in a Japanese Kamon Image Database is attempted. The choice of shapes as features is deliberate because kamons are in black and white, and their meanings are conveyed by shapes. Further, a three-step “prune-filter-refine” strategy targeting models with non-metric distance functions is described. Compared to the two-step approach, this strategy achieves a further reduction in number of distance calculations needed but with close to no change in the precision figure.
Randomizing polynomials: A new representation with applications to round-efficient secure computation

Motivated by questions about secure multi-party computation, we introduce and study a new natural representation of functions by polynomials, which we term randomizing polynomials. "Standard" low-degree polynomials over a finite field are easy to compute with a small number of communication rounds in virtually any setting for secure computation. However, most Boolean functions cannot be evaluated by a polynomial whose degree is smaller than their input size. We get around this barrier by relaxing the requirement of evaluating f into a weaker requirement of randomizing f: mapping the inputs of f along with independent random inputs into a vector of outputs, whose distribution depends only on the value of f. We show that degree-3 polynomials are sufficient to randomize any function f, relating the efficiency of such a randomization to the branching program size of f. On the other hand, by characterizing the exact class of Boolean functions which can be randomized by degree-2 polynomials, we show that 3 is the minimal randomization degree of most functions. As an application, randomizing polynomials provide a powerful, general, and conceptually simple tool for the design of round-efficient secure protocols. Specifically, the secure evaluation of any function can be reduced to a secure evaluation of degree-3 polynomials. One corollary of this reduction is that two (respectively, three) communication rounds are sufficient for k parties to compute any Boolean function f of their inputs, with perfect information-theoretic [k-1/3]-privacy (resp., [k-1/2]-privacy), and communication complexity which is at most quadratic in the branching program size of f (with a small probability of one-sided error).
A Large mass hierarchy from a small extra dimension

We propose a new higher-dimensional mechanism for solving the hierarchy problem. The weak scale is generated from the Planck scale through an exponential hierarchy. However, this exponential arises not from gauge interactions but from the background metric (which is a slice of ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{5}$ spacetime). We demonstrate a simple explicit example of this mechanism with two 3-branes, one of which contains the standard model fields. The phenomenology of these models is new and dramatic. None of the current constraints on theories with very large extra dimensions apply.