Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transaction Cost Economics and Open Innovation: Reinventing the Wheel of Boundary

Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) has with no doubt had a strong impact on theories of economic exchange, with a suggestion that the boundaries of firms are consequences of transaction costs. But although such costs are evident also in contemporary post-bureaucratic contexts, in terms of for instance collaboration costs and the risk for opportunistic behaviour, firms tend to open their boundaries for knowledge exchange. In this paper, we highlight the problematic use of TCE in the context of open innovation, arguing for its limited descriptive power and potentially harmful normative practice. A case study of the Volvo Group ? a Swedish builder for commercial vehicles moving in the direction of opening up their innovation processes ? will help illustrating these claims. The case questions the belief that hierarchical control defeats transaction costs. Also, it suggests that an overemphasis on calculative reduction of transaction costs together with a focus on governance and rationality leave little space for an innovative and creative climate, thus diverting the attention away from potential transaction benefits. The self-fulfilling prophecy character of subscribing to the assumptions of TCE may therefore not merely hamper but actually undermine innovation.
Deep-Plane Lipoabdominoplasty in East Asians

Background The objective of this study was to develop a new surgical technique by combining traditional abdominoplasty with liposuction. This combination of operations permits simpler and more accurate management of various abdominal deformities. In lipoabdominoplasty, the combination of techniques is of paramount concern. Herein, we introduce a new combination of liposuction and abdominoplasty using deep-plane flap sliding to maximize the benefits of both techniques. Methods Deep-plane lipoabdominoplasty was performed in 143 patients between January 2007 and May 2014. We applied extensive liposuction on the entire abdomen followed by a sliding flap through the deep plane after repairing the diastasis recti. The abdominal wound closure was completed with repair of Scarpa's fascia. Results The average amount of liposuction aspirate was 1,400 mL (700–3,100 mL), and the size of the average excised skin ellipse was 21.78×12.81 cm (from 15×10 to 25×15 cm). There were no major complications such as deep-vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. We encountered 22 cases of minor complications: one wound infection, one case of skin necrosis, two cases of undercorrection, nine hypertrophic scars, and nine seromas. These complications were solved by conservative management or simple revision. Conclusions The use of deep-plane lipoabdominoplasty can correct abdominal deformities more effectively and with fewer complications than traditional abdominoplasty.
Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy in the Study of Colonic Mucosa in IBD Patients: A Review

Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is one of several novel methods that provide real-time, high-resolution imaging at a micronscale via endoscopes. CLE and related technologies are often termed “virtual biopsy” as they simulate the images seen in traditional histology. Recently, the use of CLE was reported in the study of colonic mucosa in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases and in particular in patients affected by ulcerative colitis. CLE has the potential to have an important role in management of IBD patients as it can be used to assess the grading of colitis and in detection of microscopic colitis in endoscopically silent segments. Moreover, CLE can be used in surveillance programs especially in high-risk patients. This report aims to evaluate the current data on the application of confocal endomicroscopy in clinical gastroenterology and particularly in the study of colonic mucosa in UC patients.
Asymmetrical dimethylarginine independently predicts total and cardiovascular mortality in individuals with angiographic coronary artery disease (the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health study).

BACKGROUND Asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) is increased in conditions associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis. We investigated the use of ADMA to predict total and cardiovascular mortality in patients scheduled for coronary angiography. METHODS In 2543 persons with and 695 without coronary artery disease (CAD) identified by angiography we measured ADMA and recorded total and cardiovascular mortality during a median follow-up of 5.45 years. RESULTS ADMA was correlated positively to age, female sex, diabetes mellitus, former and current smoking, and C-reactive protein and inversely to HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. ADMA was not associated with body mass index, hypertension, LDL cholesterol, or the presence or absence of angiographic CAD. Glomerular filtration rate and homocysteine were the strongest predictors of ADMA. At the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quartile of ADMA, hazard ratios for all-cause mortality adjusted for age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors were 1.12 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83-1.52], 1.35 (95% CI 1.01-1.81), and 1.87 (95% CI 1.43-2.44), respectively, compared with the 1st quartile. Hazard ratios for cardiovascular death were 1.13 (95% CI 0.78-1.63), 1.42 (95% CI 1.00-2.02), and 1.81 (95% CI 1.31-2.51). ADMA in the highest quartile remained predictive of mortality after accounting for medication at baseline. The predictive value of ADMA was similar to that in the entire cohort in persons with CAD, stable or unstable, but was not statistically significant in persons without angiographic CAD. CONCLUSIONS ADMA concentration predicts all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in individuals with CAD independently of established and emerging cardiovascular risk factors.
Maximum likelihood speed and distance estimation for OFDM radar

A distance and speed estimation algorithm for OFDM based radar is analysed statistically. The maximum likelihood estimator is derived and compared to previous results. A connection to spectral analysis is drawn, simplifying the analysis of the estimator in question. Finally, a method to evaluate the performance of the algorithm is presented and conclusions for the structure of the OFDM signals are drawn. It is shown that the estimation algorithm works well above an SNR threshold, but rapidly degrades below.
Line reconstruction from many perspective images by factorization

This paper proposes a method for line reconstruction from many perspective images by factorization of a matrix containing line correspondences. No point correspondences are used. We formulate the reconstruction from line correspondences in the language of Plucker line coordinates. The reconstruction is posed as the factorization of 3m /spl times/ n matrix S into the product S = QL of 3m /spl times/ 6 projection matrix Q and 6 /spl times/ n line matrix L, both satisfying Klein identities. The matrix S contains coordinates of lines detected in perspective images. Similarly to reconstruction from point correspondences in perspective images, the matrix S has to be properly rescaled before it can be factorized. We propose a scaling of image line coordinates based on trifocal tensors that are analogical to the scaling proposed by Sturm and Triggs (1996) for points. We propose an SVD based factorization enforcing Klein identities on Q and L in a noise-free situation. We show experiments on real data that suggest that a good reconstruction may be obtained even if data is noisy and the identities are not enforced exactly. We also discuss an extension of the method for images with occlusions.
Passive Delayed Static Output Feedback Control f or a Class of T-S Fuzzy Systems

This paper investigates the problem of passive delayed static output feedback control for a class of fuzzy systems. The system is described by a state- space Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model with additive delays and interval parameter uncertainties. The aim is to design a fuzzy delayed static output feedback controller which ensures the closed-loop system is passive for all admissible uncertainties. In terms of linear matrix inequalities, a delay-dependent condition for the solvability of the above passive control problem is presented. A simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design approach.
Risk Perception of Migrating Legacy Systems to the Cloud

With the utilization of Cloud Computing as the way to provide Information Technology services, the organizations can migrate legacy systems to the cloud in order to reach several benefits. There are in the literature several proposals to model the critical elements of migration and many have been validated by specific case studies. Also several reference models were defined on top of these proposals and were created with the intention to consolidate different researches, trying to expand their applicability. Based on the above, this paper selects a reference model for migrating legacy systems to the cloud and proposes a method for calculating a score of perceived risk associated with each legacy system migration. The paper presents a proof of concept on government domain to show the method’s applicability.
A feature and appearance based method for eye detection on gray intensity face images

This paper presents a robust and precise eye detection algorithm on gray intensity face images. Our method combines the strength of two existing methods which are a feature based method and an appearance based method to detect and locate a precise pupil center. It includes the following three steps. First, the feature based method is used. The method uses a projection function to detect all possible regions of each left and right eye. Second, the appearance based method is used to filter out all non eye regions, and keep only one region for each left and right eye. All possible regions will go through a principal component analysis (PCA). Third, a modified hybrid projection function is used to locate the pupil center for both eyes. The experimental results show that the proposed method has an efficient performance with the accuracy of more than 90.52%.
Computer supported cooperative software engineering with Beyond-Sniff

Teamwork is a prerequisite for the development of large complex software systems. In conventional software engineering coordination of teamwork is achieved by exchanging formal documents and by providing support for keeping these documents consistent even while several developers are evolving them. In order to support teamwork more effectively it is important to move the focus beyond coordination towards cooperation. The goal of the Beyond-Sniff project is to provide cooperation support in three ways. First, by providing a terminological and conceptional foundation for the field of cooperative software engineering. Second, by developing tools for computer supported cooperative software engineering. Third, by developing a platform for control and data integration, a technical prerequisite for computer supported cooperative software engineering. <<ETX>>
Learning Target Predictive Function without Target Labels

In the absence of the labeled samples in a domain referred to as target domain, Domain Adaptation (DA) techniques come in handy. Generally, DA techniques assume there are available source domains that share similar predictive function with the target domain. Two core challenges of DA typically arise, variance that exists between source and target domains, and the inherent source hypothesis bias. In this paper, we first propose a Stability Transfer criterion for selecting relevant source domains with low variance. With this criterion, we introduce a TARget learning Assisted by Source Classifier Adaptation (TARASCA) method to address the two core challenges that have impeded the performances of DA techniques. To verify the robustness of TARASCA, extensive experimental studies are carried out with comparison to several state-of-the-art DA methods on the real-world Sentiment and Newsgroups datasets, where various settings for the class ratios of the source and target domains are considered.
Automatic recognition of communication signal modulation based on neural network

In order to solve the problem of low modulation recognition rate of digital communication signals and the difficulty of selecting the appropriate decision threshold, the paper features a recognition method for communication signal modulation. The paper constructs characteristic parameters for recognizing signals in the cyclic frequency domain, and uses a 3-layer neural network as a classifier to identify the modulation mode. The experiment indicates that it can recognize 2FSK, 4FSK, 8FSK, BPSK, QPSK, MSK and 2ASK When signal to noise ratio (SNR) is higher than 0 dB, the recognition rate achieves 95%. The results suggest that recognition of communication signal modulation based on neural network is accurate and feasible.
CAMNEP: An intrusion detection system for high-speed networks

The presented research aims to detect malicious traffic in high speed networks by means of correlated anomaly detection methods. In order to acquire the real-time traffic statistics in NetFlow format, we deploy transparent inline probes based on FPGA elements. They provide traffic statistics to the agent-based detection layer, where each agent uses a specific anomaly detection method to detect anomalies and describe the flows in its extended trust model. The agents share the anomaly assessments of individual network flows that are used as an input for the agents trust models. The trustfulness values of individual flows from all agents are combined to estimate their maliciousness. The estimate of trust is subsequently used to filter out the most significant events that are reported to network operators for further analysis. We argue that the use of trust model for integration of several anomaly detection methods and efficient representation of history data shall reduce the high rate of false positives (legitimate traffic classified as malicious) which limits the effectiveness of current intrusion detection systems.
Matrilysin cleavage of corneal collagen type XVIII NC1 domain and generation of a 28-kDa fragment.

PURPOSE To localize endostatin and collagen type XVIII in human corneas and to characterize the enzymatic action of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the cleavage of collagen type XVIII and generation of endostatin in the cornea. METHODS Anti-endostatin and anti-hinge antibodies were generated using peptide fragments corresponding to the endostatin region and the adjacent nonendostatin hinge region of collagen XVIII noncollagenous (NC)1 domain, respectively. Confocal immunostaining was performed to localize collagen XVIII in human corneas. SV40-immortalized corneal epithelial cells were immunoprecipitated and incubated with active MMP-1, -2, -3, -7, or -9, and Western blot analysis was performed to study collagen XVIII cleavage. Incubation with MMP-7 was performed at various concentrations (0, 2, 4, and 6 microg/ml) and time intervals (0, 1, 5, and 12 hours). Purified recombinant NC1 fragment of collagen XVIII was also digested with MMP-7, and the cleavage product was sequenced. RESULTS Collagen XVIII was immunolocalized to the human corneal epithelium, epithelial basement membrane, and Descemet membrane. Western blot analysis demonstrated a 180- to 200-kDa band corresponding to collagen XVIII. MMP-7 (but not MMP-1, -2, -3, and -9) cleaved corneal epithelium-derived collagen XVIII to generate a 28-kDa endostatin-spanning fragment in a time- and concentration-dependent fashion. MMP-7 cleaved purified recombinant 34-kDa NC1 fragment of collagen XVIII in the hinge region to generate a 28-kDa fragment. CONCLUSIONS Collagen XVIII is present in human cornea. MMP-7 cleaves the collagen XVIII NC1 domain to generate a 28-kDa fragment in the cornea.
Contrast enhancement algorithm for colour images

Conventional contrast enhancement techniques often fail to produce satisfactory results for low-contrast images, and cannot be automatically applied to different images because processing parameters must be specified manually to produce satisfactory results for a given image. This paper proposes a contrast enhancement technique to enhance colour images captured under poor illumination and varying environmental conditions. Images are converted from RGB to HSV colour space where enhancement is achieved and reconverted to the RGB. Class Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) is used to enhance the luminance component (V). Discrete Wavelet Transform is applied to the Saturation (S) components, and the decomposed approximation coefficients are modified by a mapping function derived from scaling triangle transform. The enhanced S component is obtained through Inverse Wavelet transforms. The image is then converted back to the RGB colour space. Subjective (visual quality inspection) and objective parameters (Peak-signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), Absolute Mean Brightness Error (AMBE) and Mean squared error (MSE)) were used for performance evaluation. The algorithm implemented in MATLAB was tested images and compared with outputs of HE and CLAHE enhancement techniques. The result shows that the new algorithm gave the best performance of the three methods.
Quantum phases of trapped ions in an optical lattice

We propose loading trapped ions into microtraps formed by an optical lattice. For harmonic microtraps, the Coulomb coupling of the spatial motions of neighboring ions can be used to construct a broad class of effective short-range Hamiltonians acting on an internal degree of freedom of the ions. For large anharmonicities, on the other hand, the spatial motion of the ions itself represents a spin-1/2 model with frustrated dipolar XY interactions. We illustrate the latter setup with three systems: the linear chain, the zigzag ladder and the triangular lattice. In the frustrated zigzag ladder with dipolar interactions we find chiral ordering beyond what was predicted previously for a next-nearest-neighbor model. In the frustrated anisotropic triangular lattice with nearest-neighbor interactions we find that the transition from the one-dimensional (1D) gapless spin-liquid phase to the 2D spiraling ordered phase passes through a gapped spin-liquid phase, similar to what has been predicted for the same model with Heisenberg interactions. Further, a second gapped spin-liquid phase marks the transition to the 2D Néel-ordered phase.
A Novel Ultra-Wideband Channel Estimation Based on Random Coding Convert Compressed Sensing

A novel Ultra-wideband (UWB) Communication channel estimation method based on random coding convert compressed sensing (CS) is proposed in this paper. By utilizing pulse modulation and UWB channel response as parts of CS measurement matrix, channel estimation is realized with Bernoulli random coding convert CS theory. Simulation results with channel model of IEEE 802.15. 3a show that the proposed method is effective for UWB channel estimation, and compared with other estimation system it is simpler and easier to realize. In addition, it can greatly decrease the sampling rate of received signal.
Data-driven interactive quadrangulation

We propose an interactive quadrangulation method based on a large collection of patterns that are learned from models manually designed by artists. The patterns are distilled into compact quadrangulation rules and stored in a database. At run-time, the user draws strokes to define patches and desired edge flows, and the system queries the database to extract fitting patterns to tessellate the sketches' interiors. The quadrangulation patterns are general and can be applied to tessellate large regions while controlling the positions of the singularities and the edge flow. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm through a series of live retopology sessions and an informal user study with three professional artists.
Identity Salience: The Switch of Self

When an individual is categorized as a member of a group, the individual’s social identity becomes his or her frame for perceiving the world. This phenomenon reflects the important role of identity salience which means the possibility of related identity activated in special situation on individual’s cognition and behavior. Recently, theories about identity salience are constructed from several perspectives, such as personality, self-categorization, and social construal. All of these theories indicate that identity salience have close relationship with the process of self-concept integration. In addition, many studies found that effects of identity salience could be moderated by level of identity commitment, emotion, group size, social status, and dominant cue of related identity in specific situation. And many effective strategies, including decategorization, recategorization, and subcategorization, are used to reduce negative influence of identity salience. The future research should pay more attention to interaction between different levels of identities, integration of self-concept, strategies to reduce negative effects of identity salience, and cross-culture research about identity salience.
Why Don’t Labor and Capital Flow Between Young and Old Countries?

To counter the effects of population aging in rich industrialized countries, raising immigration from and raising capital exports to younger developing countries are often seen as alternative solutions. In this paper, we explicitly account for mobility constraints in the form of immigration restrictions in industrialized countries and expropriation risk in developing countries to investigate whether efficiency gains from factor movements are likely to be realized. We set up a one-period general equilibrium model of two economies with young and old individuals. Emigration from the developing country weakens its young generation's expropriation preferences, permitting more FDI. However, if the bulk of capital is invested abroad, the old investor's utility gain from immigration is low. Our model suggests that large differences in age structures do not unambiguously encourage large factor flows, when the level of factor flows is determined by policy.
Rediscovery of Time Memory Tradeoffs

Some of the existing time memory tradeoff attacks (TMTO) on specific systems can be reinterpreted as methods for inverting general oneway functions. We apply these methods back to specific systems in ways not considered before. This provides the following startling results. No streamcipher can provide security equal to its key length; some important blockcipher modes of operations are vulnerable to TMTO; and no hash function can provide preimage resistance equal to its digest length.