Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing the Agile IS Development Practices in Large-Scale IT Projects: The Trust-Mediated Organizational Controls and IT Project Team Capabilities Perspectives

This paper is based on multiple case studies on the construction of the Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games that investigated the processes of instilling agile IS development practices in large-scale IT projects. This study develops useful theoretical constructs that will help researchers and practitioners who wish to learn about agile IS development practices as developed in largescale IT projects. Adopting a contingent view, we uncover four factors that are critical in this development processes, namely: project uncertainty profile and project completion urgency; IT project team capabilities; organizational control mechanisms; and trust relationships among the IT project team, the vendors, and the users. Depending on the unpredictable nature of the project and the trust level among the IT project team, the vendors, and the users, we have uncovered the IT project team capabilities and the organizational control mechanisms that are needed to assure the success of a large-scale IT project. We posit that the interplay between the IT project team capabilities and the trust-mediated organizational control mechanisms forms the theoretical basis that defines agile IS development practice in large-scale IT projects. We argue that our findings provide insights to practitioners who are attempting to introduce agile IS development practices into any large-scale IT project. From a research perspective, the theory developed in this paper also sheds light on the importance of adopting a contingency view when researching agile IS development practices in a largescale IT project and the factors to consider. This underpinning theoretical perspective will aid in the design of all future researches.
Asymptotic performance of MIMO wireless channels with limited feedback

We consider a single-user, point-to-point communication system with M transmit and N receive antennas with independent flat Rayleigh fading between antenna pairs. The mutual information of the multi-input/multi-output (MlMO) channel is maximized when the transmitted symbol vector is a Gaussian random vector with covariance matrix Q. The optimal Q depends on how much channel state information is available at the transmitter. Namely, in the absence of any channel state information, the optimal Q is full-rank and isotropic, whereas with perfect channel knowledge, the optimal Q has columns which are the eigenvectors of the channel, and has rank at most min {M, N}. We assume that the receiver can feed back B bits to the transmitter (per codeword). The feedback bits are used to choose the columns of Q from a random set of i.i. d. vectors. We compute the mutual information as a function of both B and the rank of Q. Our results are asymptotic in the number of antennas, and show how much feedback is needed to achieve a rate, which is close to the capacity with perfect channel knowledge at the transmitter.
Corporate governance, stickiness and losses

Purpose – This paper aims to study the impact of a significant negative shock (the reporting of an initial loss) on the stickiness of corporate governance. This paper examines whether corporate governance changes in response to the reporting of an initial loss and also whether ex ante corporate governance weakness impacts on the propensity for change. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses three years of corporate governance information spanning the report of an initial loss for companies listed on the UK Stock Exchange. An industry- and size-matched control sample is used in a difference-in-difference analysis to isolate the impact of the loss from underlying changes in governance. Findings – The results indicate that an initial loss precipitates an improvement in corporate governance and that this improvement is significantly more pronounced in those companies which displayed either weak or extreme governance before the loss. There is also evidence that the improvement in corporate governance begi.
Achievable Rates of Secure Transmission in Gaussian MISO Channel with Imperfect Main Channel Estimation

A Gaussian multiple-input single-output (MISO) fading channel is considered. We assume that the transmitter, in addition to the statistics of all channel gains, is aware instantaneously of a noisy version of the channel to the legitimate receiver. On the other hand, the legitimate receiver is aware instantaneously of its channel to the transmitter, whereas the eavesdropper instantaneously knows all channel gains. We evaluate an achievable rate using a Gaussian input without indexing an auxiliary random variable. A sufficient condition for beamforming to be optimal is provided. When the number of transmit antennas is large, beamforming also turns out to be optimal. In this case, the maximum achievable rate can be expressed in a simple closed form and scales with the logarithm of the number of transmit antennas. Furthermore, in the case when a noisy estimate of the eavesdropper's channel is also available at the transmitter, we introduce the SNR difference and the SNR ratio criterions and derive the related optimal transmission strategies and the corresponding achievable rates.
Vehicle tracking control on piecewise-clothoidal trajectories by MPC with guaranteed error bounds

For control architectures of autonomous and semi-autonomous driving features, we design a vehicle steering controller with limited preview ensuring that the vehicle constraints are satisfied, and that any piecewise clothoidal trajectory, that is possibly generated by a path planner or supervisory algorithm and satisfies constraints on the desired yaw rate and the change of desired yaw rate, is tracked within a preassigned lateral error bound. The design is based on computing a non-maximal, yet polyhedral, robust control invariant (RCI) set for a system subject to bounded disturbances with state-dependent bounds, which also allows to determine the constraints describing the reference trajectories that can be followed. The RCI set is then enforced by model predictive control, where the cost function enforces additional objectives of the vehicle motion.
Farmers' markets as small business incubators and safety nets

Purpose – The paper seeks to explore the importance of a sample of New Zealand farmers' markets in providing a supportive setting for the take‐off as well as the decline stage of the small business life cycle, with a view to identifying factors that may enhance rural small business survivability.Design/methodology/approach – The task was achieved by use of a combination of interviews and case studies. A list of new generation farmers' markets was compiled. Managers from four of these markets were interviewed to identify the possible existence of businesses that had been fostered by, but had now outgrown, the market. Four incubated businesses were selected from one of the longer established markets. From a more recently established market, 18 stallholders were selected for examination of their attitudes towards the market as a nurturing environment in relation to the life‐cycle stage of the business. Data were analysed using qualitative techniques of theme identification and analysis.Findings – It was foun.
BUPTTeam Participation in NTCIR-12 Short Text Conversation Task

This paper provides an overview of BUPTTeam’s system participated in the Short Text Conversation (STC) task of Chinese at NTCIR-12. STC is a new NTCIR challenging task which is defined as an IR problem, i.e., retrieval based a repository of post-comment pairs from Sina Weibo. In this paper, we propose a novel method to retrieve post result from the repository based on the following four steps: 1) preprocessing, 2) building search index, 3) comment candidates generation, 4) comment candidates ranking. The evaluation results show that our method significantly outperforms state-of-the-art STC Chinese task.
Automated Reliability Prediction from Formal Architectural Descriptions

Quantitative assessment of quality attributes (i.e., non-functional requirements, such as performance, safety or reliability) of software architectures during design supports important early decisions and validates the quality requirements established by the stakeholder. In current practice, these quality requirements are most often manually checked, which is time-consuming and error-prone due to the overwhelmingly complex designs. We propose an automated approach to assess the reliability of software architectures. It consists in extracting a Markov model from the system specification written in an Architecture Description Language (ADL). Our approach translates the specified architecture to a high-level probabilistic model-checking language, supporting system validation and quantitative reliability prediction against usage profile, component arrangement and architectural styles. We validate our approach by applying it to different architectural styles and comparing those with two different quantitative reliability assessment methods presented in the literature: the composite and the hierarchical methods.
Regulation of delta opioid receptor expression by anti‐CD3‐ε, PMA, and ionomycin in murine splenocytes and T cells

Previous studies have shown that low levels of delta opioid receptor (DOR) mRNA were detectable by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) in unstimulated splenocytes from BALB/c female mice. This study demonstrates that DOR transcripts can be detected in freshly obtained splenocytes from CD1 female mice as well. The results of studies using quantitative competitive RT‐PCR showed that DOR transcripts in splenic T cells increased from < 1 copy/cell to 22 and 42 copies/cell, respectively, after stimulation with anti‐CD3‐ε for 24 and 48 h compared to the level in freshly obtained T cells. In the presence of actinomycin D, anti‐CD3‐ε did not affect the rate of degradation of DOR mRNA, suggesting that its stability is not altered by anti‐CD3‐ε. After incubation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and ionomycin, the expression of DOR mRNA in splenocytes and T cells was significantly reduced compared with unstimulated cells in culture. In addition, the inhibitory effect of PMA prevented anti‐CD3‐ε‐stimulated DOR expression. These data suggest that signaling through the T cell receptor complex by anti‐CD3‐ε regulates DOR expression differently than PMA and ionomycin. J. Leukoc. Biol. 65: 707–714; 1999.
Access to higher education: the case of the career preparation programme at the University of the Free State

When it comes to education, the legacy of apartheid in South Africa has had major implications for the higher education system. The White population group long dominated the nrolment of students in higher education institutions, although they were, and still are, one of the minority population groups in the country. The under-preparedness of black students means that they require structures to prepare and assist them within the higher education environment. In order to assist these disadvantaged students, higher education institutions have established certain Academic Support Programmes. One such programme is the Career Preparation Programme (CPP) being offered at the University of the Free State. This study attempts to measure the success rate of the Career Preparation Programme and to time to completion of graduates.
A Mathematical Spline-Based Model of Cardiac Left Ventricle Anatomy and Morphology

Computer simulation of normal and diseased human heart activity requires a 3D anatomical model of the myocardium, including myofibers. For clinical applications, such a model has to be constructed based on routine methods of cardiac visualization, such as sonography. Symmetrical models are shown to be too rigid, so an analytical non-symmetrical model with enough flexibility is necessary. Based on previously-made anatomical models of the left ventricle, we propose a new, much more flexible spline-based analytical model. The model is fully described and verified against DT-MRI data. We show a way to construct it on the basis of sonography data. To use this model in further physiological simulations, we propose a numerical method to utilize finite differences in solving the reaction-diffusion problem together with an example of scroll wave dynamics simulation.
ATINER ' s Conference Paper Series COM 2014-1002

The paper proposes a framework for business IT alignment that merges traditional IT assessment parameters, such as application portfolio coverage and integration, with technological and architectural parameters providing flexibility to the System. The framework proves to be a practical decisional instrument, overcoming theoretical approaches which lack applicability to decision processes, and is useful in turbulent environments, where business needs may vary quickly and the adaptation capability of the Information System’s is a crucial competitive benefit.
AN-4140 Transformer Design Consideration for Offline Flyback Converters Using Fairchild Power Switch ( FPS TM ) 1

For flyback coverters, the transformer is the most important factor that determines the performance such as the efficiency, output regulation and EMI. Contrary to the normal transformer, the flyback transformer is inherently an inductor that provides energy storage, coupling and isolation for the flyback converter. In the general transformer, the current flows in both the primary and secondary winding at the same time. However, in the flyback transformer, the current flows only in the primary winding while the energy in the core is charged and in the secondary winding while the energy in the core is discharged. Usually gap is introduced between the core to increase the energy storage capacity.
TrkB.T1 Contributes to Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury through Regulation of Cell Cycle Pathways

Spinal cord injury (SCI) frequently causes severe, persistent central neuropathic pain that responds poorly to conventional pain treatments. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling appears to contribute to central sensitization and nocifensive behaviors in certain animal models of chronic pain through effects mediated in part by the alternatively spliced truncated isoform of the BDNF receptor tropomyosin-related kinase B.T1 (trkB.T1). Mechanisms linking trkB.T1 to SCI-induced chronic central pain are unknown. Here, we examined the role of trkB.T1 in central neuropathic pain after spinal cord contusion. Genetic deletion of trkB.T1 in mice significantly reduced post-SCI mechanical hyperesthesia, locomotor dysfunction, lesion volumes, and white matter loss. Whole genome analysis, confirmed at the protein level, revealed that cell cycle genes were upregulated in trkB.T1+/+ but not trkB.T1−/− spinal cord after SCI. TGFβ-induced reactive astrocytes from WT mice showed increased cell cycle protein expression that was significantly reduced in astrocytes from trkB.T1−/− mice that express neither full-length trkB nor trkB.T1. Administration of CR8, which selectively inhibits cyclin-dependent kinases, reduced hyperesthesia, locomotor deficits, and dorsal horn (SDH) glial changes after SCI, similar to trkB.T1 deletion, without altering trkB.T1 protein expression. In trkB.T1−/− mice, CR8 had no effect. These data indicate that trkB.T1 contributes to the pathobiology of SCI and SCI pain through modulation of cell cycle pathways and suggest new therapeutic targets.
Compensating frequency drift in DPSK systems via baseband signal processing

A new baseband signal processing method for compensating frequency shift in DPSK systems is introduced. This method consists of a signal processor for initial acquisition of the frequency shift and a simple adaptive equalizer for tracking. The former is based on the observation that the effect of the frequency shift can be eliminated by using boundary values of the received baseband signal between symbol periods. The latter is a single tap equalizer employing the least mean square (LMS) adaptation algorithm. Computer simulation results demonstrate that the proposed frequency shift compensation technique outperforms existing methods and works well for a wide range of frequency shifts.
Uncertainty assessment via Bayesian revision of ensemble streamflow predictions in the operational river Rhine forecasting system

Ensemble streamflow forecasts obtained by using hydrological models with ensemble weather products are becoming more frequent in operational flow forecasting. The uncertainty of the ensemble forecast needs to be assessed for these products to become useful in forecasting operations. A comprehensive framework for Bayesian revision has been recently developed and applied to operational flood forecasting with deterministic weather forecasts. The Bayesian revision yields a posterior density, conditional on all information available to the forecaster at the onset of a forecast run. This conditional density objectively quantifies the uncertainty. Here the Bayesian approach is generalized for use with ensemble weather predictions. An end‐to‐end application of a Bayesian postprocessor for ensemble streamflow forecasts in the river Rhine forecasting system is presented. A verification of the postprocessor shows good performance when compared in terms of the ranked probability skill score to non‐Bayesian uncertainty assessment, such as ranking threshold exceedance probabilities for members of a streamflow ensemble prediction. In this context it is also addressed how the proposed Bayesian processor can serve in supporting rational decision making for flood warning under conditions of uncertainty.
Democracy, Property Rights and FDI in Developing Countries: A Regional Analysis

The effect of institutional change on economic outcomes is a growing area of interest: academic and otherwise. This paper examines the influence of democracy and property rights on foreign direct investment (FDI), using data from 54 developing and transitional countries, between 1986 and 1997. Democracy and property rights are both shown to positively affect per capita FDI inflows generally; however, this paper finds regional differences in the relationship between institutions and FDI – driven largely by regional and country-specific idiosyncrasies – suggesting the absence of a consistent relationship between institutions and FDI inflows. *Special thanks to Pete Ferderer, Gary Krueger, Andrew Latham and Raymond Robertson for their comments and assistance with this study.
Design and Implementation of User-centered Home Appliance Controlling Service Environment

Home appliances are becoming more multifunction and intelligent every day. Many manufacturers are making their new products, and there are also many smartphone applications for appliances controlling. However, between different manufacturers there are many compatibility problems. On the other hand, the complex interface of those applications sometimes make users more confused. This research is developing an User-centered universal controlling system that will provide a new experience of appliances controlling. Task based controlling process will be introduced so that users' activities and their appliances can be connected. The system includes an universal infrared(IR) controller for sending commands to different types of IR controlled appliances, a web-based application for managing appliances and controlling tasks, and a server that communicating with the application and controller side. The initial prototype was developed based on Arduino and web platform. The detail design and implementation of will be described further in this paper.
Video Test Collection with Graded Relevance Assessments

Relevance is a complex, but core, concept within the field of Information Retrieval. In order to allow system comparisons the many factors that influence relevance are often discarded to allow abstraction to a single score relating to relevance. This means that a great wealth of information is often discarded. In this paper we outline the creation of a video test collection with graded relevance assessments, to the best of our knowledge the first example of such a test collection for video retrieval. To directly address the shortcoming above we also gathered behavioural and perceptual data from assessors during the assessment process. All of this information along with judgements are available for download. Our intention is to allow other researchers to supplement the judgements to help create an adaptive test collection which contains supplementary information rather than a completely static collection with binary judgements.
LABORATORY-DERIVED FRICTION LAWS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO SEISMIC FAULTING

This paper reviews rock friction and the frictional properties of earthquake faults. The basis for rate- and state-dependent friction laws is reviewed. The friction state variable is discussed, including its interpretation as a measure of average asperity contact time and porosity within granular fault gouge. Data are summarized showing that friction evolves even during truly stationary contact, and the connection between modern friction laws and the concept of “static” friction is discussed. Measurements of frictional healing, as evidenced by increasing static friction during quasistationary contact, are reviewed, as are their implications for fault healing. Shear localization in fault gouge is discussed, and the relationship between microstructures and friction is reviewed. These data indicate differences in the behavior of bare rock surfaces as compared to shear within granular fault gouge that can be attributed to dilation within fault gouge. Physical models for the characteristic friction distance are discussed and related to the problem of scaling this parameter to seismic faults. Earthquake afterslip, its relation to laboratory friction data, and the inverse correlation between afterslip and shallow coseismic slip are discussed in the context of a model for afterslip. Recent observations of the absence of afterslip are predicted by the model.
Pakistan's Quagmire: Security, Strategy, and the Future of the Islamic-nuclear Nation

Contributors Preface Introduction Chapter 1. Pakistan's Salvation: Islam or Western Inspired Secular-Liberal Democracy? Chapter 2. Promising Partnership? American Af-Pak Strategy and Pakistan's Counter-terrorism Response Chapter 3. The Economic Cost of Extremism Chapter 4. Insurrection, Terrorism, and the Pakistan Army Chapter 5. The Existential Threat: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al Qaeda in Pakistan? Chapter 6. Al Qaeda: The Threat from Tribal Pakistan Chapter 7. Safety and Security of Pakistan's Nuclear Assets Chapter 8. Politics of IDPs: A fall out of Politics of Domestic and Foreign Actors Chapter 9. The Prospect of a Populist Islamist Takeover of Pakistan Chapter 10. "We are the Soldiers of Islam": Tehreek-e-Taliban and the Ideology of Terror Chapter 11. Women in Jihad: Emerging Discourses in Pakistan Epilogue Glossary.