Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Network Working Group Forward Rto-recovery (f-rto): an Algorithm for Detecting Spurious Retransmission Timeouts with Tcp and the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (sctp)

Spurious retransmission timeouts cause suboptimal TCP performance because they often result in unnecessary retransmission of the last window of data. This document describes the F-RTO detection algorithm for detecting spurious TCP retransmission timeouts. F-RTO is a TCP sender-only algorithm that does not require any TCP options to operate. After retransmitting the first unacknowledged segment triggered by a timeout, the F-RTO algorithm of the TCP sender monitors the incoming acknowledgments to determine whether the timeout was spurious. It then decides whether to send new segments or retransmit unacknowledged segments. The algorithm effectively helps to avoid additional unnecessary retransmissions and thereby improves TCP performance in the case of a spurious timeout. The F-RTO algorithm can also be applied to the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP).
A framework for human activity recognition based on accelerometer data

Monitoring and classification of human activity has been an active area of research for the past few years due to the increasing demands in healthcare sector. Quick aid for falls in elderly persons and detecting emergency situations are few leading cause of such interest. In this paper, a human activity recognition system based on motion patterns on a smartphone is proposed for classification of activities such as fall, walk, run, ascending, and descending stairs. The binned distribution based feature of acceleration data has been used for classification purpose. A systematic approach for classification of different activities using threshold and multistage Support Vector Machine (SVM) has been developed. Experimental results show considerable accuracy in activity recognition with the proposed scheme.
Social responsibility and succession planning: A qualitative application of the theory of planned behavior among small businesses in Vermont

Small businesses are critically important to the current U.S. economy. This is especially true for Vermont. In 2010, small Vermont businesses represented 96.3% of all employers accounting for approximately 60% of the private sector workforce (SBA, 2013). Entrepreneurs are drawn to Vermont for the quality of life, progressive atmosphere, and its distinction for fostering companies with socially, ethically and environmentally driven missions. Succession is an important stage in a company’s lifecycle. Thus, succession planning is a crucial activity for founders, owners or high-level managers, (here after referred to as leaders,) in which to participate. This study explores the current environment of the intersection of social responsibility and succession planning. In order to examine the confluence of social responsibility value retention and succession planning, each aspect of a leader’s intentions needed to be understood. Thus, this study incorporates: a description and analysis of leader’s social responsibility attitudes, intentions and behaviors; a description and analysis of leader’s succession planning attitudes, intentions and behaviors; and an analysis of the commonalities and distinctions found in the combination of social responsibility and succession planning attitudes, intentions and behaviors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with small business leaders from September through December, 2013. The interview sample was intentionally weighted towards business leaders who are known for being socially responsible, due to their expected ability to speak more knowledgeably about social responsibility and its implications for their business. Findings indicate there is a lack of consensus among leaders in defining social responsibility values/orientation. Most leaders interviewed are thinking about succession planning and how their value-orientation might fit into that process. Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study attempted to identify how attitudes towards social responsibility would impact the leaders’ intentions and ultimately their behavior in succession planning.
Characteristics of on-body 802.15.4 networks

One would expect a body-area network to have consistently good connectivity, given the relatively short distances involved. However, early experimental results suggest otherwise. This poster examines the characteristics of the links in an on-body IEEE 802.15. 4 network and the factors that influence link performance. We demonstrate that node location, as well as body position, significantly affects connectivity. For example, connectivity in the sitting position tends to be much worse than standing. We will present a comprehensive evaluation including various combinations of changes in node orientation, node placement, body position, and environmental factors. Preliminary results clearly demonstrate the need for researching different radios, topologies and protocol design to make body area networks viable.
Sociocultural and Socioeconomic Influences on Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Overweight/Obese African-American and Latino-American Children and Adolescents

Purpose. It is unclear whether sociocultural and socioeconomic factors are directly linked to type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese ethnic minority children and adolescents. This study examines the relationships between sociocultural orientation, household social position, and type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese African-American (n = 43) and Latino-American (n = 113) children and adolescents. Methods. Sociocultural orientation was assessed using the Acculturation, Habits, and Interests Multicultural Scale for Adolescents (AHIMSA) questionnaire. Household social position was calculated using the Hollingshead Two-Factor Index of Social Position. Insulin sensitivity (SI), acute insulin response (AIRG) and disposition index (DI) were derived from a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGT). The relationships between AHIMSA subscales (i.e., integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization), household social position and FSIGT parameters were assessed using multiple linear regression. Results. For African-Americans, integration (integrating their family's culture with those of mainstream white-American culture) was positively associated with AIRG (β = 0.27 ± 0.09, r = 0.48, P < 0.01) and DI (β = 0.28 ± 0.09, r = 0.55, P < 0.01). For Latino-Americans, household social position was inversely associated with AIRG (β = −0.010 ± 0.004, r = −0.19, P = 0.02) and DI (β = −20.44 ± 7.50, r = −0.27, P < 0.01). Conclusions. Sociocultural orientation and household social position play distinct and opposing roles in shaping type 2 diabetes risk in African-American and Latino-American children and adolescents.
How do doctoral students in STEM fields engage in scientific knowledge practices?

Knowledge creation is at the core of scientific endeavour. As early career researchers, doctoral students take part in knowledge creation through engaging in various knowledge practices and make their original contribution to knowledge, and become experts in their particular domain. However, our understanding of what doctoral knowledge practices entails is still insufficient. For this study, a total of 34 doctoral students from STEM fields, including natural sciences, bio- and environmental sciences and medicine were interviewed to gain a better understanding of the kinds of knowledge practices in which doctoral students in the sciences engage. The data were collected with semi-structured interviews, which were qualitatively content analysed. The results showed that the participants mostly described activities that were established everyday knowledge practices of the researcher community (75 %), whereas practices that were innovative (25 %), entailing transformation of the current practices and developing new ones, were less often reported. Moreover, the practices were typically collective, involving the students, their supervisors or other members of their research groups (67 %). Further investigation showed that the participants were typically actively engaged in knowledge practices (79 %) rather than just adapting existing ones (13 %). Perceiving oneself as a bystander was even less typical (8 %). The significance of this study lies in exploring doctoral students’ self-reported knowledge practices in STEM fields, and demonstrates that they perceive themselves as actively and collaboratively engaged in creating knowledge.
Vowel identity conditions the time course of tone recognition

Using eye-tracking in a visual world paradigm, we sought converging evidence for the time course of Mandarin Chinese tone recognition as predicted by the availability of information in f0 and past results from a gating experiment. Our results showed that tones 1 and 2 are recognized earlier than tone 4, followed by tone 3. With the exception of tone 2, which was recognized earlier than expected, our results are consistent with those found in gating. The speed of tone 2 recognition varied significantly across vowels in our study, part of a broader pattern whereby vowels systematically influenced the time course of tone recognition. Rising tones, tone 2 and tone 3, were recognized earliest when co-produced with /a/. The falling tone, tone 4, was recognized earliest when co-produced with /u/. Intrinsic f0 and spectral cues to tone are discussed as possible explanations for the vowel quality effect.
Market Liberalization, Regulatory Uncertainty, and Firm Investment

Abstract This paper analyzes the effects of regulatory uncertainty regarding labor costs on investment in a liberalized market. We distinguish between the external investment margin (market entry) and the internal investment margin (technology), and establish that regulatory uncertainty affects these margins differently, encouraging market entry, but discouraging technological investment. As a consequence, the impact of regulatory uncertainty on competition in liberalized markets is a combination of these two countervailing forces.
Influence of nitrogen trap states on the electronic properties of high-k metal gate transistors

The origin of the defects associated with the nitridation of the interface layer between Si and HfO2 is investigated. The electronic properties change upon nitridation which impact severely the gate capacitance and gate leakage current. We modeled the temperature-dependent leakage current in SiON/HfO2 gate dielectrics for positive and negative gate voltages by means of a multi-phonon trap-assisted tunneling scheme to extract the trap distribution. The results are supported by charge pumping measurements and simulation. To clarify the origin of the additional traps in the SiON interface we performed ab-initio calculation and correlated the results with the gate leakage current measurements. Finally, we shed new light on the relation between stress-induced leakage current and positive bias temperature instability.
Multi-Objective Optimization of a Complex System using GPSIA + DS 1

In this study, an efficient biologically inspired constrained multi-objective optimization algorithm called Genetic Pareto Set Identification Algorithm plus Different Sex (GPSIA+DS) was developed. A complex system comprising of mixed configuration, k-out-of-n and redundant subsystem was used to validate GPSIA+DS in comparison with Genetic Pareto Set Identification Algorithm (GPSIA) and Fast Non–Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm plus Constrain Domination (NSGA-II+CD). The optimization strategy based on Genetic Pareto Set Identification Algorithm (GPSIA) only considered feasible solutions. That is, solutions, which satisfies all constraints conditions. Infeasible solutions could facilitate faster convergence to the true Pareto front. GPSIA+DS, which considers feasible and infeasible solutions in it optimization strategy was shown to outperform GPSIA and NSGA-II for the test problem considered.
A Hybrid Support Vector Machine Ensemble Model for Credit Scoring

Credit risk is the most challenging risk to which financial institution are exposed. Credit scoring is the main analytical technique for credit risk assessment. In this paper a hybrid model for credit scoring is designed which applies ensemble learning for credit granting decisions. The hybrid model combines clustering and classification techniques. Ten Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers are utilized as the members of ensemble model. Since even a small improvement in credit scoring accuracy causes significant loss reduction, then the application of ensemble in hybrid model leads to better performance of classification. A real dataset is used to test the model performance. The test results shows that proposed hybrid SVM ensemble has better classification accuracy when compared with other methods.
Weight centile crossing in infancy: correlations between successive months show evidence of growth feedback and an infant-child growth transition1

Background: Early rapid weight gain is associated with later overweight, which implies that weight centile crossing tracks over time. Objective: Centile crossing is defined in terms of the change or deviation in weight z score during 1 mo, and the correlations between successive deviations are explored at different ages. Design: Two Cambridge (United Kingdom) growth cohorts were used: Widdowson (1094 infants born during 1959–1965) and the Cambridge Infant Growth Study (CIGS; 255 infants born during 1984–1987), each with weights measured monthly in the first year. Weights were converted to WHO age- and sex-adjusted z scores, deviations were calculated as the change in z score between adjacent measurement occasions, and the correlations between deviations were studied. Results: In both cohorts, the correlations between successive monthly deviations were positive in the first 6 mo and highest at ages 3–4 mo (r = 0.3, P < 0.0001), whereas after 6 mo they were negative and were lowest at ages 10–11 mo (r = –0.3, P < 0.0001), with the correlation decreasing linearly with age between these extremes. Thus, during the first 6 mo of age, infants crossing centiles in 1 mo tended to continue crossing centiles in the same direction the following month, whereas after 6 mo they tended to cross back again. This represents positive and negative feedback, respectively. At age 12 mo, the correlation was close to zero, which suggests an infant-child transition in growth. Conclusions: The results confirm that weight centile crossing tracks over time, with the correlations between successive periods that change with age suggesting a complex feedback mechanism underlying infant growth. This may throw light on the link between early rapid weight gain and later overweight. Clinically, the correlations indicate that when predicting future weight from current weight, recent centile crossing affects the prediction in an age-dependent manner.
XS-Diff: XML schema change detection algorithm

Detecting changes in XML data has emerged as an important research issue in the last decade, but the majority of change detection algorithms focus on XML documents rather than on their schemas because documents that contain data are deemed more significant than the schema itself. However, the XML schema change detection tool is essential, especially in situations where we need to maintain related XML documents with evolving schema, sustain relational schema generated by schema-conscious approach for storing XML data and provide support for XML versioning. This paper focuses on XML Schema XSD changes and provides a more meaningful description of the detected changes. Our proposed algorithm XS-Diff uses the technique of storing XML Schema versions in a relational database where the detection and storage of delta changes are employed on relational tables. We demonstrate the correctness of the proposed algorithm through both synthetic and real data sets without deteriorating the execution time.
Communication Via Decentralized Processing

The problem of a nomadic terminal sending information to a remote destination via agents with lossless connections to the destination is investigated. Such a setting suits, e.g., access points of a wireless network where each access point is connected by a wire to a wireline-based network. The Gaussian codebook capacity for the case where the agents do not have any decoding ability is characterized for the Gaussian channel. This restriction is demonstrated to be severe, and allowing the nomadic transmitter to use other signaling improves the rate. For both general and degraded discrete memoryless channels, lower and upper bounds on the capacity are derived. An achievable rate with unrestricted agents, which are capable of decoding, is also given and then used to characterize the capacity for the deterministic channel.
Rethinking languages of instruction in African schools

In most African countries, languages of instruction come from overseas. The variety and the use of those languages depend very much on the colonialist legacy. Languages of instruction in African schools include English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Afrikaans. In some countries also, African languages are used as the language of instruction but only at the elementary school level. What does it mean to learn in foreign languages and in a foreign context? To what extent do languages of instruction contribute to the qualitative transformation of personal and social processes? The idea about the use of indigenous languages in Africa is not new. By the end of the 1960s and through the 1970s, the debate attained its highest point. The major obstacle was that most of the countries in Africa have many languages, except a few such as Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia, where all people speak one language throughout the country. It would be very ambitious, even superfluous to reduce the complexity of African languages to one single language used in one single nation. Maybe, the debate should be contextualised and arguments supported according to the needs of the population concerned. Feasibility is another issue which needs to be addressed (for further development). In this paper, the Rwandan context is an illustrative case. However, this paper is not a result of an empirical study. It is rather a reflection based on the literature, and on my own experience as a teacher.
E-government Implementation : A Case Study of Dubai e-Government

E-government is a new approach followed by nations in providing better services to people and businesses. It increases the efficiency of departments, reduces the cost, streamlines the processes and thus provides several benefits to all stakeholders involved. In this paper, we describe a case study on the successful implementation of e-government in Dubai using Chan, Lau, & Pan’s (2008) e-government Implementation Framework. The various e-government initiatives undertaken by Dubai government have been described using the four components, namely information content, ICT infrastructure, egovernment infostructure, and e-government promotion.
Bayes in the sky: Bayesian inference and model selection in cosmology

The application of Bayesian methods in cosmology and astrophysics has flourished over the past decade, spurred by data sets of increasing size and complexity. In many respects, Bayesian methods have proven to be vastly superior to more traditional statistical tools, offering the advantage of higher efficiency and of a consistent conceptual basis for dealing with the problem of induction in the presence of uncertainty. This trend is likely to continue in the future, when the way we collect, manipulate and analyse observations and compare them with theoretical models will assume an even more central role in cosmology. This review is an introduction to Bayesian methods in cosmology and astrophysics and recent results in the field. I first present Bayesian probability theory and its conceptual underpinnings, Bayes' Theorem and the role of priors. I discuss the problem of parameter inference and its general solution, along with numerical techniques such as Monte Carlo Markov Chain methods. I then review the theory and application of Bayesian model comparison, discussing the notions of Bayesian evidence and effective model complexity, and how to compute and interpret those quantities. Recent developments in cosmological parameter extraction and Bayesian cosmological model building are summarised, highlighting the challenges that lie ahead.
Homomorphism and Embedding Universal Structures for Restricted Classes

This paper unifies problems and results related to (embedding) universal and homomorphism universal structures. On the one side we give a new combinatorial proof of the existence of universal objects for homomorphism defined classes of structures (thus reproving a result of Cherlin, Shelah and Shi) and on the other side this leads to the new proof of the existence of dual objects (established by Ne\v{s}et\v{r}il and Tardif). Our explicite approach has further applications to special structures such as variants of the rational Urysohn space. We also solve a related extremal problem which shows the optimality (of the used lifted arities) of our construction (and a related problem of A. Atserias).
5Z-7-Oxozeanol Inhibits the Effects of TGFβ1 on Human Gingival Fibroblasts

Transforming growth factor (TGF)β acts on fibroblasts to promote the production and remodeling of extracellular matrix (ECM). In adult humans, excessive action of TGFβ is associated with fibrotic disease and fibroproliferative conditions, including gingival hyperplasia. Understanding how the TGFβ1 signals in fibroblasts is therefore likely to result in valuable insights into the fundamental mechanisms underlying fibroproliferative disorders. Previously, we used the TAK1 inhibitor (5Z)-7-Oxozeaenol to show that, in dermal fibroblasts, the non-canonical TAK1 pathway mediates the ability of TGFβ1 to induce genes promoting tissue remodeling and repair. However, the extent to which TAK1 mediates fibroproliferative responses in fibroblasts in response to TGFβ1 remains unclear. Herein, we show that, in gingival fibroblasts, (5Z)-7-Oxozeaenol blocks the ability of TGFβ1 to induce expression of the pro-fibrotic mediator CCN2 (connective tissue growth factor, CTGF) and type I collagen protein. Moreover, genome-wide expression profiling revealed that, in gingival fibroblasts, (5Z)-7-Oxozeaenol reduces the ability of TGFβ1 to induce mRNA expression of essentially all TGFβ1-responsive genes (139/147), including those involved with a hyperproliferative response. Results from microarray analysis were confirmed using real time polymerase chain reaction analysis and a functional cell proliferation assay. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that TAK1 inhibitors might be useful in treating fibroproliferative disorders, including that in the oral cavity.