Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Growing Presence of Hispanics in the U.S. Work Force.

Between 1980 and 1987 the number of Hispanic workers in the US rose dramatically accounting for almost 1/5 of the nations employment growth. The increase for Hispanic women was especially sharp. Although Hispanics made up slightly under 7% of total employment they accounted for almost 1/5 of the total increase in jobs. In all Hispanic employment increased by 2.3 million from 1980 to 1987. Mexican-Americans--by far the largest group of Hispanics--were also the fastest growing group. The employment levels of Hispanic women have shown an increase of almost 50% since 1980 about 2 1/2 times the rate for other women. Although the rate of job growth for Hispanic men during the 1980s was somewhat less than that of Hispanic women it was sharply higher than that of nonHispanic men. Because much of the sharp rise in Hispanic employment since 1983 was accompanied by an increase in the labor force the decline in the level and rate of unemployment among Hispanics was in line with that of the rest of the work force over the 1983-1987 economic expansion. Reasons for the high rates among Hispanics include 1) their relatively low levels of educational attainment; 2) the large numbers who have migrated to the US in recent years and thus their greater likelihood of being labor market entrants; and 3) their concentrations in job categories which are especially vulnerable to business cycle turndowns. Although Hispanic men and women have had some degree of occupational upgrading during the decade they are still somewhat more likely than the overall work force to be employed in lower skilled lower paid occupations. Reflecting their concentration in occupations requiring lower levels of training and formal education Hispanic wage and salary workers employed full-time typically earned less than their nonHispanic counterparts. Hispanic workers averaged $284 a week in 1987 about 3/4 the earnings of all full-time wage and salary workers.
TIME BREAK CORRECTION IN MULTICHANNEL SIMULATION WITH ONE RECEIVER ( MSOR )

Recent investigations in the seismic evaluation of pavement systems indicates that the multichannel approach is indispensable. This is because of the complicated seismic phenomenon that originates from the unique seismic setting of a pavement system. A true multichannel survey would be a formidable task that would require an expensive multichannel (e.g., 48 channel) recording device and so-many receivers with complicated wiring deployed in a small area on the pavement. Instead, the multichannel simulation with one receiver (MSOR) approach can produce a simulated multichannel record by using only one receiver and a single (or two) channel recording device readily available for various types of engineering measurements. For this approach to be an effective alternative, a consistent timing of wave generation at each impact is the most critical condition to be met. Considering the necessary accuracy of tens of microseconds to deal with seismic waves in the range of kilohertz, it seems that a certain degree of inconsistency in time break can always occur in spite of a carefully designed timing mechanism. For a given inconsistency, extraction of the dispersion curve for surface waves is adversely affected most in the high frequencies and least in the low frequencies, making the lower frequencies still useful. This low-frequency dispersion information is then used to construct an impulsive surface wave event that should align perfectly at zero time if there were no time break inconsistency. The appropriate amount of time break correction can therefore be assessed from the amount of misalignment. The correction procedure may continue in an iterative manner because the extractable bandwidth of the dispersion curve would extend after each correction.
Impacts of Creolization on Trust and Knowledge Sharing in IT-Enabled Global Services Sourcing

Creolization seems to play a key role in driving success in global IT sourcing, but the impacts of creolization on trust and knowledge sharing between the supplier and the client have not been study. We attempt to theorize why and how creolization affects performance through trust in IT-enabled global services sourcing. In this paper, we theoretically link creolization to trust, knowledge sharing, and performance. In a crosssectional, questionnaire-instrumented field study undertaken in China, we gathered data in twenty companies engaged in IT provisioning from 369 knowledge workers. Results of the study show that creolization is positively associated with trust, knowledge sharing, and performance. In addition, trust has a significant, positive influence on both knowledge sharing and performance. However, knowledge sharing has no immediate influence on performance. These findings add more theoretical understanding to existing theories on cross-cultural trust and knowledge sharing, and give practical implications to global IT sourcing industry.
Searching for tidal tails - investigating galaxy harassment

Galaxy harassment has been proposed as a physical process that morphologically transforms low surface density disc galaxies into dwarf elliptical galaxies in clusters. It has been used to link the observed very different morphology of distant cluster galaxies (relatively more blue galaxies with ‘disturbed’ morphologies) with the relatively large numbers of dwarf elliptical galaxies found in nearby clusters. One prediction of the harassment model is that the remnant galaxies should lie on low surface brightness tidal streams or arcs. We demonstrate in this paper that we have an analysis method that is sensitive to the detection of arcs down to a surface brightness of 29 Bμ and we then use this method to search for arcs around 46 Virgo cluster dwarf elliptical galaxies. We find no evidence for tidal streams or arcs and consequently no evidence for galaxy harassment as a viable explanation for the relatively large numbers of dwarf galaxies found in the Virgo cluster.
On the Restraining Power of Guards

Abstract Guarded fragments of first-order logic were recently introduced by Andréka, van Benthem and Németi; they consist of relational first-order formulae whose quantifiers are appropriately relativized by atoms. These fragments are interesting because they extend in a natural way many propositional modal logics, because they have useful model-theoretic properties and especially because they are decidable classes that avoid the usual syntactic restrictions (on the arity of relation symbols, the quantifier pattern or the number of variables) of almost all other known decidable fragments of first-order logic. Here, we investigate the computational complexity of these fragments. We prove that the satisfiability problems for the guarded fragment (GF) and the loosely guarded fragment (LGF) of first-order logic are complete for deterministic double exponential time. For the subfragments that have only a bounded number of variables or only relation symbols of bounded arity, satisfiability is Exptime-complete. We further establish a tree model property for both the guarded fragment and the loosely guarded fragment, and give a proof of the finite model property of the guarded fragment. It is also shown that some natural, modest extensions of the guarded fragments are undecidable.
Discovering Novelty Patterns from the Ancient Christian

Studying Greek and Latin cultural heritage has always been considered essential to the understanding of important aspects of the roots of current European societies. However, only a small fraction of the total production of texts from ancient Greece and Rome has survived up to the present, leaving many gaps in the historiographic records. Epigraphy, which is the study of inscriptions (epigraphs), helps to fill these gaps. In particular, the goal of epigraphy is to clarify the meanings of epigraphs; to classify their uses according to their dating and cultural contexts; and to study aspects of the writing, the writers, and their “consumers. ” Although several research projects have recently been promoted for digitally storing and retrieving data and metadata about epigraphs, there has actually been no attempt to apply data mining technologies to discover previously unknown cultural aspects. In this context, we propose to exploit the temporal dimension associated with epigraphs (dating) by applying a data mining method for novelty detection. The main goal is to discover relational novelty patterns—that is, patterns expressed as logical clauses describing significant variations (in frequency) over the different epochs, in terms of relevant features such as language, writing style, and material. As a case study, we considered the set of Inscriptiones Christianae Vrbis Romae stored in Epigraphic Database Bari, an epigraphic repository. Some patterns discovered by the data mining method were easily deciphered by experts since they captured relevant cultural changes, whereas others disclosed unexpected variations, which might be used to formulate new questions, thus expanding the research opportunities in the field of epigraphy.
Investigating the effect of feature selection and dimensionality reduction on phishing website classification problem

Phishing is a term given to the method of gaining unauthorized access to a person's private information like passwords, account or credit card details. It is a deception technique that utilizes social engineering & technology to convince a victim to provide personal information, usually for monetary benefits. Phishing attacks have become frequent and involve the risk of identity theft and financial losses. Detection of phishing website has become very important for online banking and e-commerce users. We proposed an effective model that is based on preprocessing (Feature selection and dimensionality reduction) and classification DataMining algorithms. These algorithms were used to characterize and identify all the factors to classify the phishing website. We implemented five different classification algorithm and four preprocessing techniques to classify a websites legitimate or phishy. We also compared their respective performances in terms of accuracy and AUC.
A Control Approach Based on Passive Behavior to Enhance User Interaction

This paper proposes a new control approach for an active (motorized) robotic walking support system based on passive behavior concept. The control approach aims to enhance the interaction between the support system and the user. The passive behavior of a support system allows the user to safely interact with the system since it removes the system's capability to move when there is no user's intention. This passive behavior is realized using imposed apparent dynamics, which uses the user's intention represented by the applied force/torque to derive the system's desired motion. The control approach is extended into a user-oriented motion control algorithm to adapt user's controlling characteristics. This is implemented by varying the point of application of the apparent dynamics. The control approach is further extended to use environment information and realize environment feedback concept. This is implemented by varying the parameters of the apparent dynamics based on environment data. Experimental results are presented to show the validity of the proposed control approach.
Can bronchodilators improve exercise tolerance in COPD patients without dynamic hyperinflation? *

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the modulatory effects that dynamic hyperinflation (DH), defined as a reduction in inspiratory capacity (IC), has on exercise tolerance after bronchodilator in patients with COPD. METHODS: An experimental, randomized study involving 30 COPD patients without severe hypoxemia. At baseline, the patients underwent clinical assessment, spirometry, and incremental cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). On two subsequent visits, the patients were randomized to receive a combination of inhaled fenoterol/ipratropium or placebo. All patients then underwent spirometry and submaximal CPET at constant speed up to the limit of tolerance (Tlim). The patients who showed ΔIC(peak-rest) < 0 were considered to present with DH (DH+). RESULTS: In this sample, 21 patients (70%) had DH. The DH+ patients had higher airflow obstruction and lower Tlim than did the patients without DH (DH-). Despite equivalent improvement in FEV1 after bronchodilator, the DH- group showed higher ΔIC(bronchodilator-placebo) at rest in relation to the DH+ group (p < 0.05). However, this was not found in relation to ΔIC at peak exercise between DH+ and DH- groups (0.19 ± 0.17 L vs. 0.17 ± 0.15 L, p > 0.05). In addition, both groups showed similar improvements in Tlim after bronchodilator (median [interquartile range]: 22% [3-60%] vs. 10% [3-53%]; p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in TLim was associated with an increase in IC at rest after bronchodilator in HD- patients with COPD. However, even without that improvement, COPD patients can present with greater exercise tolerance after bronchodilator provided that they develop DH during exercise.
Face recognition with varying facial expression using local directional number pattern

This paper presents a method for face recognition using local directional number pattern (LDN). LDN adopts encoding the directional pattern of the face and produces a more selective code than methods listed in the literature. The directional patterns are computed using the compass mask and the information is encoded using the prominent direction indices (directional numbers) and sign - which distinguishes among similar structural features. The proposed method divides the face into several blocks, and computes the LDN features for each block. Later feature vector for each block is constituted based on these LDN features. The face descriptor is obtained by concatenating these feature vectors. An experimental result shows that the proposed LDN performs consistently under noise, illumination, expression, and time lapse variations. The performance is evaluated using FRET databases.
Framework for end-to-end optimal traffic control law based on overlay mesh

Along with the development of network, more and more functions and services are required by users, while traditional network fails to support all of them. Although overlay is a good solution to some demands, using them in an efficient, scalable way is still a problem. This paper puts forward a framework on how to construct an efficient, scalable overlay mesh in real network. Main differences between other overlays and ours are that our overlay mesh pocesses some nice features including class-of-service (CoS) and traffic engineering (TE). It embeds the end-to-end optimal traffic control law which can distribute traffic in an optimal way. Then, an example is given for better understanding the framework. Particularly, besides good scalability, and failure recovery, it possesses other characteristics such as routing simplicity, self-organization, etc. In such an overlay mesh, an applicable source routing scheme called hierarchical source routing is used to transmit data packet based on UDP protocol. Finally, a guideline derived from a number of simulations is proposed on how to set various parameters in this overlay mesh, which makes the overlay more efficient.
Rapid Sequence Change and Geographical Spread of Human Parvovirus B19: Comparison of B19 Virus Evolution in Acute and Persistent Infections

ABSTRACT Parvovirus B19 is a common human pathogen maintained by horizontal transmission between acutely infected individuals. However, B19 virus can also be detected in tissues throughout the life of the host, although little is understood about the nature of such persistence. In the current study, we created large VP1/2 sequence data sets of plasma- and tissue (autopsy)-derived variants of B19 virus with known sample dates to compare the rates of sequence change in exogenous virus populations with those in persistently infected individuals. By using linear regression and likelihood-based methods (such as the BEAST program), we found that plasma-derived B19 virus showed a substitution rate of 4 × 10−4 and an unconstrained (synonymous)-substitution rate of 18 × 10−4 per site per year, several times higher than previously estimated and within the range of values for mammalian RNA viruses. The underlying high mutation frequency implied by these substitution rates may enable rapid adaptive changes that are more commonly ascribed to RNA virus populations. These revised estimates predict that the last common ancestor for currently circulating genotype 1 variants of B19 virus existed around 1956 to 1959, fitting well with previous analyses of the B19 virus “bioportfolio” that support a complete cessation of genotype 2 infections and their replacement by genotype 1 infections in the 1960s. In contrast, the evolution of B19 virus amplified from tissue samples was best modeled by using estimated dates of primary infection rather than sample dates, consistent with slow or absent sequence change during persistence. Determining what epidemiological or biological factors led to such a complete and geographically extensive population replacement over this short period is central to further understanding the nature of parvovirus evolution.
Real Time Autonomous Point of Interest Mining through Ambient Smartphone Sensing

The advancement of sensor equipped smartphones provides tremendous opportunities for fine-grained monitoring of user Points of Interest (POIs) for a range of mobile applications such as place-based advertisement, personalised healthcare services, location based social networks. Existing systems, however, cannot infer both indoor and outdoor POIs using a single approach and typically require a mix of technologies for localization such as GPS, GSM or Wi-Fi. The accuracy of these techniques depend on the availability of local infrastructure and normally can retrieve POIs only at a coarse level, for example at the level of a building or region. We develop a novel algorithm to automatically detect user POIs in near real time at room level accuracy using only lightweight ambient environment sensors. Our method can infer both indoor and outdoor POIs at a fine granularity without depending on local infrastructure or without using GPS or Wi-Fi. It works in an unsupervised manner using covariances of ambient sensor data to detect user visits to POIs. An experimental study with real-world data shows that our system can achieve an F1 score of approximately 80% for the top 3 retrieved locations and outperforms the existing approaches such as Google place search and Foursquare venue search.
A Simple Modi fi cation to Improve the Finite Sample Properties of Ng and Perron ’ s Unit Root Tests

The tests introduced by Ng and Perron (2001, Econometrica) have the drawback that for non-local alternatives the power can be very small. The aim of this note is to point out an easy solution to this power reversal problem, which in addition leads to tests having an exact size even closer to nominal size. It involves using OLS instead of GLS detrended data when constructing the modified information criterion. Ng and Perron (2001), henceforth NP, introduced a class of unit root tests that have a local asymptotic power function close to the Gaussian local power envelop (see Elliott, Rothenberg and Stock, 1996, henceforth ERS). Also, with the use of a modified information criterion, the tests have exact size close to nominal size even in the presence of a large negative moving-average component. This is achieved without sacrificing power for local alternatives. Hence, they have become often used and are now available as options in several popular statistical software packages (for a review that highlight the importance of these tests, see Haldrup and Jansson, 2005). Consider a univariate time series {yt; t = 1, . , T} generated by yt = z 0 tγ + vt (1) vt = αvt−1 + ut where ut is a linear process of the form ut = P∞ j=0 cjet−j with P∞ j=0 j|cj| <∞ and et ∼ i.i. d. (0, σe). Also, σ 2 = limT→∞ T−1E( PT t=1 ut) 2 is the “long run variance” or (2π) times the ∗Department of Economics, Boston University, 270 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA, 02215 (perron@bu.edu). †Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 S. Sixth Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820 (zqu@uiuc.edu).
The Effect of Unitizing Word Pairs on Recollection Versus Familiarity-Based Retrieval— Further Evidence From ERPs

We investigated the contribution of familiarity and recollection to associative retrieval of word pairs depending on the extent to which the pairs have been unitized through task instructions in the encoding phase. Participants in the unitization condition encoded word pairs in the context of a definition that tied them together such that they were treated as a coherent new item, while in the control condition word pairs were inserted into a sentence frame in which each word remained an individual unit. Contrasting event-related potentials (ERERPs) elicited in a subsequent recognition test by old (intact) and recombined (a new combination of two words from different study pairs) word pairs, an early frontal effect, the putative ER P correlate of familiarity-based retrieval, was apparent in the unitization condition. The left parietal old/new effect, reflecting recollection-based retrieval, was elicited only in the control condition. This suggests that in the unitization condition only, familiarity was sufficiently diagnostic to distinguish old from recombined pairs, while in the control condition, recollection contributed to associative recognition. Our findings add to a body of literature suggesting that unitization of associations increases the relative contribution of familiarity to subsequent associative retrieval.
An Implementation of the Efros and Freeman Image Quilting Algorithm Computer Science 766 Fall 2004 Final Project

The focus of this project is an implementation of the Efros and Freeman “Image Quilting” Algorithm. The algorithm is designed to solve the texture synthesis problem in a unique way. It proposes to tile together patches of an input image in order to produce the output image. The novelty of the algorithm is in allowing neighboring patches to meet at edges that are not simply straight lines. I will specifically discuss the parameters that control the behavior of the algorithm and the experimental results that I obtained when implementing according to the original paper. After this I discuss some of the common problems that appear when applying the algorithm to structured and semistructured textures, my thoughts on why they appear, and my proposals for how to compensate for them. I then discuss the experimental results obtained from implementing some extensions with specific emphasis on how effective the extensions were at achieving their intended goals. Finally I offer some concluding remarks on the algorithm itself, as well as on texture synthesis in general.