Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Asymptotic analysis of a consistent subspace estimator for observations of increasing dimension

Traditional estimators of the eigen-subspaces of sample co-variance matrices are known to be consistent only when the sample volume increases for a fixed observation dimension. Due to this fact, their accuracy tends to be rather poor in practical settings where the number of samples and the observation dimension are comparable in magnitude. To overcome this effect, an estimator was recently proposed that provides consistent subspace estimates even when the dimension of the observation scales up with the number of samples. In this paper, the asymptotic distribution of this estimator is characterized by means of a central limit theorem (CLT).
Internet Topology Discovery

Capturing an accurate view of the Internet topology is of great interest to the networking research community as it has many uses ranging from the design and evaluation of new protocols to the vulnerability analysis of Internet infrastructure. The scale of the Internet topology coupled with its distributed and heterogeneous nature makes it very challenging to capture a complete and accurate snapshot of the topology. In this report, we survey some of the main research studies on the discovery and characterization of the Internet topology during the past 15 years. Toward this end, we classify prior studies based on the "resolution" of the topology that they have considered as follows: interface-level, routerlevel, PoP-level and AS-level. For studies related to each resolution, we examine techniques and tools for data collection along with their limitations and summarize their key findings. We also discuss modeling efforts and geographic characteristics for studies at certain resolution. Our structured examination of prior research on Internet topology also reveals some exciting research problems in this area that deserve further investigation.
Distinguishing tautomerism in the crystal structure of (Z)-N-(5-ethyl-2,3-dihydro-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-ylidene)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide using DFT-D calculations and 13C solid-state NMR

The crystal structure of (Z)-N-(5-ethyl-2,3-dihydro-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-ylidene)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide contains an imine tautomer, rather than the previously reported amine tautomer. The tautomers can be distinguished using dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations and by comparison of calculated and measured 13C solid-state NMR spectra.
Neuro-fuzzy based glucose prediction model for patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus

This paper presents the design, the development and the evaluation of a personalized glucose prediction model for patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM). The personalized model is based on neuro-fuzzy techniques in order to capture the metabolic behavior of a patient with T1DM. Moreover, wavelets are applied as activation functions in order to enhance the prediction performance and avoid local minimum during training stage. The model receives as input, data from sensors which record in real time glucose levels and physical activity, and provides with future glucose levels. The proposed model is evaluated using data from the medical records of 6 patients with T1DM for the time being on CGMSs and physical activity sensors. The obtained results demonstrate the ability of the proposed model to capture the metabolic behavior of a patient with T1DM and to handle intra- and inter-patient variability.
Personal Information Extraction of the Teaching Staff Based on CRFs

As the attribute information of the profile stored in a web page is usually in the form of natural language, it is very difficult to use the HTML structure to extract the target information. In this paper Conditional Random Fields is adopted to extract the personal attribute information of the personal detail in web pages. Via segmentation system the HTML document could be divided into the sequence of words, and then to establish the appropriate template of characteristics and train the sample sequences, at last using the characteristics function model generated by CRFs to mark the test sequences and identify the information which need to be extracted. The experimental results show that annotation and reasoning function of the CRFs in the text sequence can be used to extract the specific attributes information in the personal home page very well.
The Hidden Cost of the Recession: Two Million Fewer Births and Still Counting

The Great Recession sent an economic shock through American society that reached far beyond the stock and housing markets, including the substantial long-term impact the Great Recession is having on U.S. births. Nearly 2.3 million fewer babies were born in the United States between 2008 and 2013 than would have been expected if pre-recession fertility rates had been sustained (see Figure 1). In each of the last three years, this birth deficit has resulted in nearly 500,000 fewer births. CARSEY RESEARCH
Circle Polarization Shift Keying With Direct Detection for Free-Space Optical Communication

A binary polarization shift-keying scheme with two circle polarization states, circle polarization shift keying (CPolSK), is proposed and discussed. The propagation of the circle-polarized Gaussian Schell model beam is studied based on the cross-spectral density matrix. The results show that the state of polarization remains unchanged and the degree of polarization slightly increases upon propagation in a turbulent atmosphere. The analysis of the bit-error-rate performance shows that the CPolSK system has about a 3 dB lower requirement in signal-to-noise ratio than the on-off keying system. The modulation scheme will be helpful for practical free-space optical communication systems in the future.
Driving on Fumes : Truck Drivers Face Elevated Health Risks from Diesel Pollution Literature

s9 1. Davis ME, Smith TJ, Laden F, Hart JE, Ryan LM, Garshick E. Modeling particle exposure in the U.S. trucking terminals. Environ Sci Technol. 2006 Jul 1;40(13):4226-32 Multi-tiered sampling approaches are common in environmental and occupational exposure assessment, where exposures for a given individual are often modeled based on simultaneous measurements taken at multiple indoor and outdoor sites. The monitoring data from such studies is hierarchical by design, imposing a complex covariance structure that must be accounted for in order to obtain unbiased estimates of exposure. Statistical methods such as structural equation modeling (SEM) represent a useful alternative to simple linear regression in these cases, providing simultaneous and unbiased predictions of each level of exposure based on a set of covariates specific to the exposure setting. We test the SEM approach using data from a large exposure assessment of diesel and combustion particles in the U.S. trucking industry. The exposure assessment includes data from 36 different trucking terminals across the United States sampled between 2001 and 2005, measuring PM2.5 and its elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC) components, by personal monitoring, and sampling at two indoor work locations and an outdoor “background” location. Using the SEM method, we predict the following: (1) personal exposures as a function of work-related exposure and smoking status; (2) work-related exposure as a function of terminal characteristics, indoor ventilation, job location, and background exposure conditions; and (3) background exposure conditions as a function of weather, nearby source pollution, and other regional differences across terminal sites. The primary advantage of SEMs in this setting is the ability to simultaneously predict exposures at each of the sampling locations, while accounting for the complex covariance structure among the measurements and descriptive variables. The statistically significant results and high R2 values observed from the trucking industry application supports the broader use of this approach in exposure assessment modeling.
The fate of the Assyrian minority in early independent Iraq: a test case of political violence based on rational primordialism

Abstract Analyzing ethno-national conflicts is usually not easy in that not all quantitative scientific tools are useful to the student of a conflict based on primordial elements. The burden of studying the outcome of a conflict is all the more complex given that the two conflicting groups might be at two different stages of their political development at any given time during the course of the conflict. In the case of the fate of the [Eastern Christian] Assyrian community in early independent Iraq, the political rationale for decisions taken by each party was drawn from different sociological, historical and political realms. Decisions in times of conflict and their political and historical ramifications are not always rational, since they draw upon primordial/communal considerations rather than the accurate reading of the overall true strategic scene. The violence was an outcome of a combination of primordial differences and rational choice. The Iraqis sought to establish a new sovereign state with minimal disturbances from its Christian minority that they perceived as not belonging to the new nation. As for the Assyrians, they chose violence believing that at least some superpowers would support them. Historically, this rational decision based upon a primordial dispute turned out to be a mistake primarily because of lack of external support, weak internal cohesion of the group, and feeble leadership.
Compulsive Sexual Behavior in HIV-Infected Men in a Community Based Sample, Russia

Abstract This is the first study in Russia to explore Compulsive Sexual Behavior in HIV-infected men. The aims of the present study were to estimate the frequency of Compulsive Sexual Behavior in HIV-infected men in community-based sample in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. The study sample consisted of 119 HIV-infected men. Compulsive Sexual Behavior was found in 18 men who have sex with men and 7 men who have sex with women (29.5% and 12.1%). Our results suggest that Compulsive Sexual Behavior could be a significant risk factor for HIV-infection.
Coping with emotional labor in high stress hospitality work environments

ABSTRACT Hospitality environments, particularly casino VIP rooms, are often overlooked as “high stress” work environments. Faced with challenging work situations, frontline employees experience tremendous emotional demands during interpersonal interactions. As this leads to emotional exhaustion, frontline employees must find ways of managing emotional labor through coping strategies to reduce its negative impacts. This research explores strategies that VIP room’s frontline employees use in coping with emotional demands. The research identifies four families of strategies: opposition, rumination, emotional regulation, and positive cognitive restructuring, corresponding to surface acting, deep acting and genuine emotions, respectively. The study opens new avenues for further understanding of the coping and emotional labor concepts.
Plant natriuretic peptides induce proteins diagnostic for an adaptive response to stress

In plants, structural and physiological evidence has suggested the presence of biologically active natriuretic peptides (PNPs). PNPs are secreted into the apoplast, are systemically mobile and elicit a range of responses signaling via cGMP. The PNP-dependent responses include tissue specific modifications of cation transport and changes in stomatal conductance and the photosynthetic rate. PNP also has a critical role in host defense responses. Surprisingly, PNP-homologs are produced by several plant pathogens during host colonization suppressing host defense responses. Here we show that a synthetic peptide representing the biologically active fragment of the Arabidopsis thaliana PNP (AtPNP-A) induces the production of reactive oxygen species in suspension-cultured A. thaliana (Col-0) cells. To identify proteins whose expression changes in an AtPNP-A dependent manner, we undertook a quantitative proteomic approach, employing tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling, to reveal temporal responses of suspension-cultured cells to 1 nM and 10 pM PNP at two different time-points post-treatment. Both concentrations yield a distinct differential proteome signature. Since only the higher (1 nM) concentration induces a ROS response, we conclude that the proteome response at the lower concentration reflects a ROS independent response. Furthermore, treatment with 1 nM PNP results in an over-representation of the gene ontology (GO) terms “oxidation-reduction process,” “translation” and “response to salt stress” and this is consistent with a role of AtPNP-A in the adaptation to environmental stress conditions.
Coupling Algorithms for Calculating Sensitivities of Population Balances

We introduce a new class of stochastic algorithms for calculating parametric derivatives of the solution of the space‐homogeneous Smoluchowski’s coagulation equation. Currently, it is very difficult to produce low variance estimates of these derivatives in reasonable amounts of computational time through the use of stochastic methods. These new algorithms consider a central difference estimator of the parametric derivative which is calculated by evaluating the coagulation equation at two different parameter values simultaneously, and causing variance reduction by maximising the covariance between these. The two different coupling strategies (‘Single’ and ‘Double’) have been compared to the case when there is no coupling (‘Independent’). Both coupling algorithms converge and the Double coupling is the most ‘efficient’ algorithm. For the numerical example chosen we obtain a factor of about 100 in efficiency in the best case (small system evolution time and small parameter perturbation).
THE IMPACT OF ASD ON MACEDONIAN FAMILIES AND THEIR EXPERIENCE OF PARENT EDUCATION

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is identified as having a significant impact on family life. Educating parents of children with ASD about the condition benefits both child and family. However, such programmes are typically unavailable in South-east Europe. To address this, the ESIPP project developed, provided and evaluated parent education for Croatian, Cypriot and Macedonian families, training 335 family members. A parent education curriculum and locally differentiated materials were developed, as well as recommendations for European policymakers. The project was evaluated using a mixed methods programme evaluation methodology in which families were surveyed regarding their experience of family life and the impact of parent education. This paper presents the findings of the study regarding the 70 Macedonian family members. Pre-training (n=70) and post training questionnaires (n=42) were completed, and semi-structured interviews were undertaken (n=16). The impact of ASD on quality of life, families’ experience of stigma and isolation, the inadequacy of professional support and the importance of family support are discussed. The positive impact of attending parent education is identified, as is its impact on parental happiness and relational issues and the need for continued parent and professional education regarding ASD.
RELIABLE SMOKE DETECTION SYSTEM IN THE DOMAINS OF IMAGE ENERGY AND COLOR

Smoke detection calls for a reliable and fast distinction between background, moving objects and variable shapes that are recognizable as smoke. In our system we propose a stable background suppression module joined with a smoke detection module working on segmented objects. It exploits two features: the energy variation in wavelet model and a color model of the smoke. The decrease of energy ratio in wavelet domain between background and current image is a clue to detect smoke representing the variations of texture level. A mixture of Gaussians models this texture ratio for temporal evolution. The color model is used as reference to measure the deviation of the current pixel color from the model. The two features have been combined using a Bayesian classifier to detect smoke in the scene. Experiments on real data and a comparison between our background model and Gaussian Mixture(MOG) model for smoke detection are presented.
Ontology Design through Modular Repositories

Many real world problems require a language at least as expressive as first order logic, yet there exist many barriers to the generation of first-order ontologies. One of the biggest hurdles is the specification of axioms that capture the intended semantics of a users concepts. This paper presents an ontology design algorithm enabled by modular ontology repositories that consist of theories organized into disjoint hierarchies, each of which is a set of nonconservative extensions. The ontology design algorithm provides axiomatizations of relations by eliciting intended models from the users, identifying the strongest theories in the repository that are satisfied by the intended models, and incorporating user feedback to verify the proposed set of axioms. This approach emphasizes the communication of semantics rather than syntax, allowing users to express intuitions about their domains without extensive background in the intricacies of formal languages.
Mitochondrial cytochrome redox states and respiration in acute pulmonary oxygen sensing

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is an essential mechanism to optimise lung gas exchange. We aimed to decipher the proposed oxygen sensing mechanism of mitochondria in HPV. Cytochrome redox state was assessed by remission spectrophotometry in intact lungs and isolated pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC). Mitochondrial respiration was quantified by high-resolution respirometry. Alterations were compared with HPV and hypoxia-induced functional and molecular readouts on the cellular level. Aortic and renal arterial smooth muscle cells (ASMC and RASMC, respectively) served as controls. The hypoxia-induced decrease of mitochondrial respiration paralleled HPV in isolated lungs. In PASMC, reduction of respiration and mitochondrial cytochrome c and aa3 (complex IV), but not of cytochrome b (complex III) matched an increase in matrix superoxide levels as well as mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarisation with subsequent cytosolic calcium increase. In contrast to PASMC, RASMC displayed a lower decrease in respiration and no rise in superoxide, membrane potential or intracellular calcium. Pharmacological inhibition of mitochondria revealed analogous kinetics of cytochrome redox state and strength of HPV. Our data suggest inhibition of complex IV as an essential step in mitochondrial oxygen sensing of HPV. Concomitantly, increased superoxide release from complex III and mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarisation may initiate the cytosolic calcium increase underlying HPV.
Development of research on facial expression recognition

Facial expression recognition is a challenging problem in computer vision, and has been actively researched currently. In this paper, the current research states of facial expression recognition are analyzed mostly from the aspects of facial expression feature extract, expression recognition methods, and facial expression database involved in the research, and a comparison is made of these methods. Finally, the research challenges are generally concluded, and the possible trends are outlined.
A Survey of Source Authentication Schemes for Multicast transfer in Adhoc Network

An adhoc network is a collection of autonomous nodes with dynamically changing infrastructure. Multicast is a good mechanism for group communication. It can be used in the group oriented applications like video/audio conference, interactive group games, video on demand etc. The security problems obstruct the large deployment of the multicast communication model. Multicast data origin authentication is the main component in the security architecture. The authentication schemes should scalable and efficient against packet loss. In this article we discuss varies authentication scheme for multicast data origin with their advantage and disadvantage
The Mediator Role of Resilience between Self-Determination and Self-Efficacy.

This ex post facto research examined the mediator role of resilience in the relationship between self-determination and self-efficacy. The authors analyzed the cross-sectional data collected from a total of 302 university students. The participants answered 3 standardized questionnaires on self-efficacy, resilience and self-determination. It was found that resilience may act as a full mediator in the relationship between self-determination and self-efficacy. Findings imply that being self-determined increases self-efficacy through the mediation of resilience. Since the relationship between self-determination and self-efficacy is weak, it is noteworthy to include resilience when considering establishing such relationship between the two variables. The findings indicate a need for educators and administrators in understanding and exploring the individuality of students because these are potentially helpful bases in designing and implementing appropriate educational policies and setting overall quality learning environment. It is recommended that teaching professionals who would like to focus on increasing the self-efficacy levels of students should consider students’ perceived resilience.
“I’m totally transariffic”: Exploring how Transgender and Gender-expansive Youth and Young Adults Make Sense of their Challenges and Successes

Abstract As transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) youth and young adults (YYA) navigate challenging environments, they often seek spaces for safety and acceptance. This study explores ways in which a group of TGE YYA who were engaged with a community-based service organization make sense of their experiences, challenges, and successes in ways that illuminate the factors and processes associated with resilience. Secondary data analysis was conducted on qualitative responses from 85 TGE YYA ages 13–24. The themes that emerged provide insight into the ways community-based programs and providers can understand and support the resilience of TGE YYA.
The Role of Price Spillovers in the American Housing Boom

This paper investigates whether price spillovers across metropolitan areas were an important factor in the spreading of the last housing boom. We estimate the magnitude of those spillovers by measuring price changes in a focal market following positive shocks to neighboring markets. To identify shocks to neighboring markets, we exploit sharp structural breaks in house price growth rates. There is strong evidence of spillovers following such shocks. These effects arise mostly from very close neighbors and imply an elasticity of focal market price changes to nearest neighbor price changes of 0.15-0.33. Changes in local fundamentals cannot explain these spillovers.