Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Losers in market transition: the unemployed, the retired, and the disabled

The market transition debate is almost primarily focused on the ‘winners’ and on what happens to the formerly privileged during the market transformation process in post-Communist societies. This study emphasizes the impact of the market transformation process on the income of those who have few resources and are eligible for social benefits. Are these people the ‘real’ losers of the market transformation process in post-Communist societies? OLS regression models are estimated based on 50 standardized cross-sectional surveys on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Slovakia covering a period from 1991 to 2002. The analyses show that the unemployed have the lowest income and that the income of retirement and disability pensioners is relatively protected, especially during the early transformation years. Education seems to be a helpful resource for the unemployed and pensioners, but not specifically during the turbulent early transformation years. Results on the income effect of urban residence are inconclusive.
BetaCube : A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach to Solving 2 x 2 x 2 Rubik ’ s Cubes Without Human Knowledge

Advances in the field of deep reinforcement learning have led to the development of agents that can teach themselves how to solve problems in large, complex domains without relying on any encoded human domain knowledge. The most wellknown of these agents was AlphaGo Zero, which was able to achieve superhuman performance in the game of Go without any human supervision. Similar agents have done well in games like Chess and Shogi. However, these games always have guaranteed termination and a reward received at the end of the game, and often contain rewards throughout. By contrast, there are many interesting environments, such as combinatorial optimization problems, which involve sparse rewards and episodes that are not guaranteed to terminate. One such task is finding a solution to a Rubik’s Cube, which has only one successful reward state and no guarantee of episode termination, since you can possibly continue making moves forever and never achieve the solved state. In this paper we discuss our attempts to solve a 2x2x2 cube (Mini Cube) using Autodidactic Iteration, a reinforcement learning algorithm that is able to teach itself how to solve a cube without human guidance. In the end, given only the very basic physical rules that govern the evolution of the Rubik’s Cube as different moves are applied, our best model was able to solve 100% of randomly scrambled cubes that were 4 moves away from the solved state.
Managing Multiple Change Projects in Supply Chains: A Case Study of a Moroccan Multi-Technical Services Company

— In this paper, we try to address the topic of multiple change management by adopting an engineered research methodology, conducted within a Moroccan company during its implementation of several change projects that aim at improving its supply chain management performance. Firstly, we present the key concepts related to our research, namely change management, multi-project management and supply chain management. Then, we try to assess how the change management and multi-project management are applied in this company. Finally, we try to propose an approach that will help managers in dealing with multiple change projects. This approach proposes to integrate change management, project management and multi-project management for managing change projects according to three organizational levels: executive level, project portfolio level and change project level.
Neuronal expression of Cd36, Cd44, and Cd83 antigen transcripts maps to distinct and specific murine brain circuits

Cells recruited by the innate immune response rely on surface‐expressed molecules in order to receive signals from the local environment and to perform phagocytosis, cell adhesion, and others processes linked to host defense. Hundreds of surface antigens designated through a cluster of differentiation (CD) number have been used to identify particular populations of leukocytes. Surprisingly, we verified that the genes that encode Cd36 and Cd83 are constitutively expressed in specific neuronal cells. For instance, Cd36 mRNA is expressed in some regions related to circuitry involved in pheromone responses and reproductive behavior. Cd44 expression, reanalyzed and detailed here, is associated with the laminar formation and midline thalamic nuclei in addition to striatum, extended amygdala, and a few hypothalamic, cortical, and hippocampal regions. A systemic immune challenge was able to increase Cd44 expression quickly in the area postrema and motor nucleus of the vagus but not in regions presenting expressive constitutive expression. In contrast to Cd36 and Cd44, Cd83 message was widely distributed from the olfactory bulb to the brain stem reticular formation, sparing the striatopallidum, olivary region, and cerebellum. Its pattern of expression nevertheless remained strongly associated with hypothalamic, thalamic, and hindbrain nuclei. Unlike the other transcripts, Cd83 mRNA was rapidly modulated by restraint stress. Our results indicate that these molecules might play a role in specific neural circuits and present functions other than those attributed to leukocyte biology. The data also suggest that these surface proteins, or their associated mRNA, could be used to label neurons in specific circuits/regions. J. Comp. Neurol. 517:906–924, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Kinetic Study of Acid Hydrolysis of Rice Straw

Rice straw is a renewable, cheap, and abundant waste in tropical countries. The pentose content of rice straw can be used as a substrate for many types of value-added products such as xylitol and biofuel. Dilute acid hydrolysis mainly releases pentose from rice straw. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of H2SO4 concentration and reaction time on the xylose production. The variation of the main product xylose with the reaction time was described by a kinetic model and kinetic parameters were calculated to describe the variation of the xylose production with time. The optimum yield (19.35 g/L) was obtained at 0.24 mol/L H2SO4 and 30 minutes.
The Effect of Charge Redistribution on Flat-Band Voltage Turnaround in 4H-SiC MOS Capacitors

The existence of a turnaround in flat-band voltage shift of stressed MOS capacitors, fabricated on N-type 4H–SiC substrates, is reported in this paper. The turnaround is observed by room-temperature C–V measurements, after two minutes gate-bias stressing of the MOS capacitors at different temperatures. The existence of this turnaround effect demonstrates that a mechanism, in addition to the well-stablished tunneling to the near-interface oxide traps, is involved in the threshold voltage instability of 4H–SiC MOSFETs. This newly identified mechanism occurs due to charge redistribution of the compound polar species that exist in the SiO2–SiC transitional layer.
Non-PLL for fast grid-inverter synchronization in microgrids applications

In this paper, a fast-synchronization between grid and inverter based on virtual synchronous converter (VSCon) technique is achieved in single-phase inverter. Consequently, this technique is designed and simulated in Matlab/Simulink platform to perceive the significances during variation of grid load parameters. The VSCon is implemented for inverter output control that has a behavior of grid voltage and frequency synchronization using droop control mechanism. This technique has been tested in inverter-microgrid connection with several loads connected. In case of 0.1 Hz grid frequency changes in grid test, it takes nearly 230ms to synchronize between inverter and grid frequency even with loads connected to the test system. Hence, this proposed technique can be implemented in microgrids with several distributed generation sources without using the PLL for fast synchronization between grid-inverters.
Problematic Internet Use in the Context of Perceived Social Support and Self-esteem among Network Users Aged 15-26 .

Problematic Internet Use is a cognitive-behavioral construct based on the diathesis-stress model. As research shows, more and more people who are adolescents or in the period of early adulthood encounter the problem of excessive use of the Internet [1]. The phenomenon itself, classified as a behavioral addiction, has a heterogeneous picture and structure [2]. In the presented study, based on the diathesis-stress model, the subject of protection factors such as perceived social support and self-esteem will be raised. These factors, acting as a buffer, are particularly important in the age range that has been tested [3]. The vulnerability window in which the examined persons are located increases the risk of Problematic Internet Usage, which is why among these people protective factors are examined. The aim of this study is to check the relationship between self-esteem and perceived social support with Problematic Internet Use. In addition, based on the available literature, the hypothesis that the perceived social support will remain in the negative relationship with the problematic use of the Internet will be checked.
A search for Theory of Financial Market Failure in Lower Income Countries (LICs) and implication for Financial Exclusion

We demonstrate in this paper using transdisciplinary approach that the same theory of information asymmetry that explains the raison d’etre of financial intermediaries also explains why financial exclusion exists. This paper synthesises some elements of theories of finance and economics in developing a theoretical framework towards the understanding of why financial exclusion exists, and appears to be widespread in lower-income countries (LICs). The paradigm emphasises that financial market frictions that generate information asymmetry, risk and transaction cost associated with lending, contribute significantly to why exclusion occurs. The role fiscal deficit financing that crowds-out the private sector completely plays towards exclusion is also emphasised. The model predicts that excessive fiscal borrowing, market imperfection that allows ‘arbitrage value’ to be exploited, and excessive taxation, tend to widen the financial exclusion gap for the private agent. In contrast, growth in income and private investments tend to reduce the exclusion gap, hence, inclusion stimulating. The policy direction is curved towards choices that will minimise the tendencies and prevalence of financial exclusion in economies, especially the developing world.
Realistic Indoor Wi-Fi and Femto Deployment Study as the Offloading Solution to LTE Macro Networks

This paper investigates the downlink performance of indoor deployed Wi-Fi and Femto as the offloading solution to the LTE macro cellular networks in a realistic large-scale denseurban scenario. With an assumed broadband traffic volume growth of 50x compared to today’s levels, it is evaluated that a dual-carrier LTE macro network will not be able to provide sufficient service coverage with a 1 Mbps minimum data rate and, indoor coverage is identified as the major bottleneck. We evaluate the performance of indoor Wi-Fi and Femto cell deployment to offload the congested LTE macro network. We show that, in a dual-carrier LTE macro case with a total of 30 MHz spectrum, Wi-Fi access point density of 230/km2 is required to meet the set target of 90% coverage with a minimum user data rate of 1 Mbps. For the same scenario it was found that an outband Femto access point density of 1200/km2 is required. Furthermore, we show that in-band Femto cell cannot meet the set network requirement even at a very high access point density. We also show that Wi-Fi and Femto cell can offload the same amount of traffic when they are deployed at the same access point density.
Measuring knowledge of English orthotactics in Japanese learners of English towards the establishment of a training scheme for /l/-/r/ perception

Existing regimes on training Japanese learners of English to acquire the nonnative contrast /l/ and /r/ in English focus on having the learners attend to differences in acoustics cues. Such training does show a certain amount of improvement in /l/-/r/ discrimination among Japanese learners, yet the level of achievement is not equivalent to the performance of native speakers. In light of the fact that phonological contrasts are based not only on acoustic information and that other dimensions such as phonotactics also plays a significant role, the current study explores the possibility of setting up a training scheme that supplements Japanese learners of English with an understanding of the probabilistic phonotactics of /l/ and /r/ for better discrimination of the two categories. This training would be meaningful only if it is made clear that Japanese learners of English do not possess such phonotactic knowledge while native English speakers do. As a first step, native speakers of English were tested on whether they are able to make a category decision based solely on probabilistic orthotactic information, to simulate a situation where the category is ambiguous between /l/ and /r/ in terms of acoustic cues but can be clearly defined by phonotactic constraints in English. It was confirmed that native English speakers do have knowledge on orthotactics and were overall successful in making a correct category judgment. However, although it had been predicted that Japanese native speakers lack the orthotactic knowledge of L and R and would fail in the category judgment, the Japanese speakers tested in this study performed just as well as the native speakers of English. However, having orthotactic knowledge only suggests a possibility of having phonotactic sensitivity indirectly, since processing of a written word and speech sound is not the same. Emphasis is often placed on reading and writing in the English classroom in Japan, and many students find processing spoken language more demanding. Besides, English is notorious for its unsystematic writing system and the letter-to-phoneme correspondence is very inconsistent. Further studies that directly measure the phonotactic knowledge of Japanese learners of English are necessary.
Improved diagnostic yield of endoscopic biliary brush cytology by digital image analysis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the accuracy of digital image analysis (DIA) for distinguishing between benign and malignant strictures of the biliary tract. PATIENTS AND METHODS Our pathology databank was used to identify all biliary brush cytology specimens obtained during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography between June 1997 and June 1999. Corresponding medical records were reviewed to determine whether patients had benign or malignant strictures. Strictures were further classified into benign strictures with negative routine cytology, malignant strictures with negative routine cytology, and malignant strictures with positive routine cytology. Papanicolaou-stained smears of available brush cytology specimens were destained and then restained with Feulgen dye. Nuclear images were quantified for DNA content without knowledge of stricture type. DNA histograms were generated and ploidy results compared with the class of stricture. RESULTS We analyzed 27 specimens from 69 confirmed benign or malignant strictures. Assuming that the presence of any aneuploid cells indicated malignancy, the sensitivity of DIA was 85%. Furthermore, aneuploid cells were detected by DIA in 13 of 16 specimens in which routine cytology was unrevealing. CONCLUSION Ploidy assessment by DIA has potential to enhance the sensitivity of diagnosing malignant strictures compared with routine cytology alone.
Classification Model for Visual Spatial Design Guidelines in the Digital Domain

The process of spatial information visualization is shaped by various factors including interactive, perceptual, navigational as well as organizational and metaphorical aspects and as such requires an interdisciplinary approach. Therefore, in researching spatial visual design, it is crucial to use guidelines facilitating the process of sharing competencies among different disciplines. Furthermore, bringing the knowledge form different disciplines requires development of a model which host and classifies the interdisciplinary features important in designing effective spatial visualizations. Note: This work is based on experience gathered as an architect designing interfaces for digital domain. Since in architecture the notion of the architectural patterns introduced by Alexander is considered to be controversial the author uses the term guideline to describe the ‘vehicle’ for sharing experience as information visualization designer.
More oil, less quality of education? New empirical evidence

The resource curse hypothesis suggests that resource-rich countries show lower economic growth rates compared to resource-poor countries. We add to this literature by providing empirical evidence on a new transmission channel of the resource curse, namely, the negative effect of rents on the quality of education. The cross-country analysis for more than 70 countries shows a significantly positive effect of oil rents on the quantity of education measured by government spending on primary and secondary education. Hence, the underspending hypothesis championed by Gylfason (2001) no longer holds with newer data. However, we find a robust and negative effect of oil rents dependency on the current objective and subjective indicators of quality of education, controlling for a set of other drivers of education quality and regional dummies. Despite pending significant shares of GDP on education, oil-rich countries still suffer from an insuficient quality of primary and secondary education,which may hamper their growth potentials. The significant negative effect of oil rents dependency on education quality can be explained by both the demand (e.g., skill acquisition) and supply (e.g., teacher quality) side channels.
Reflective planar microcavity with enhanced electro-optic activity of a poled polymer

We investigated the enhancement of the voltage-induced phase difference by embedding an electro-optic (EO) polymer into a reflective planar microcavity in a reflection ellipsometric configuration. We fabricated the microcavity with efficient light localization in the EO polymer and evaluated the resultant enhancement of voltage-induced phase-difference between s- and p-polarized components. We obtained 48 times larger phase-difference than that for the EO polymer only. The enhancement was attributed to the polarization-dependent local field effect for oblique incidence.
Model simplification and variable selection: A replication of the UK inflation model by Hendry (2001)

In this paper, we revisit the well-known UK inflation model by Hendry (Journal of Applied Econometrics 2001, 16:255-275. doi: 10.1002/jae.615). We replicate the results in a narrow sense using the gretl and PcGive programs. In a wide sense, we extend the study of model uncertainty using the Bayesian averaging of classical estimates (BACE) approach to compare model reduction strategies. Allowing for the investigation of other specifications, we confirm the same set of significant determinants but find that Hendrys' model is not the most probable.
Optimization of the Dutch Matrix Test by Random Selection of Sentences From a Preselected Subset

Matrix tests are available for speech recognition testing in many languages. For an accurate measurement, a steep psychometric function of the speech materials is required. For existing tests, it would be beneficial if it were possible to further optimize the available materials by increasing the function’s steepness. The objective is to show if the steepness of the psychometric function of an existing matrix test can be increased by selecting a homogeneous subset of recordings with the steepest sentence-based psychometric functions. We took data from a previous multicenter evaluation of the Dutch matrix test (45 normal-hearing listeners). Based on half of the data set, first the sentences (140 out of 311) with a similar speech reception threshold and with the steepest psychometric function (≥9.7%/dB) were selected. Subsequently, the steepness of the psychometric function for this selection was calculated from the remaining (unused) second half of the data set. The calculation showed that the slope increased from 10.2%/dB to 13.7%/dB. The resulting subset did not allow the construction of enough balanced test lists. Therefore, the measurement procedure was changed to randomly select the sentences during testing. Random selection may interfere with a representative occurrence of phonemes. However, in our material, the median phonemic occurrence remained close to that of the original test. This finding indicates that phonemic occurrence is not a critical factor. The work highlights the possibility that existing speech tests might be improved by selecting sentences with a steep psychometric function.
Judging Emotion from EEGs Using Convolutional Neural Network

For a robot to converse naturally with a human, it must be able to accurately gauge the emotional state of the person. Techniques for estimating emotions of a person from facial expressions, intonation and speech content have been proposed. This paper presents a technique for judging the emotion of a person from EEGs using CNN. Accuracy of emotion judgment from EEG features using SVM was 31.5%, and using CNN was 58.8%. However, performance accuracy remains low, and continued development is required through further development of methods for both reducing noise mixed in with EEGs.
Impact of large-scale climate extremes on biospheric carbon fluxes : An intercomparison based onMsTMIP data

Understanding the role of climate extremes and their impact on the carbon (C) cycle is increasingly a focus of Earth system science. Climate extremes such as droughts, heat waves, or heavy precipitation events can cause substantial changes in terrestrial C fluxes. On the other hand, extreme changes in C fluxes are often, but not always, driven by extreme climate conditions. Here we present an analysis of how extremes in temperature and precipitation, and extreme changes in terrestrial C fluxes are related to each other in 10 state-of-the-art terrestrial carbon models, all driven by the same climate forcing. We use model outputs from the North American Carbon Program Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP). A global-scale analysis shows that both droughts and heat waves translate into anomalous net releases of CO2 from the land surface via different mechanisms: Droughts largely decrease gross primary production (GPP) and to a lower extent total respiration (TR), while heat waves slightly decrease GPP but increase TR. Cold and wet periods have a smaller opposite effect. Analyzing extremes in C fluxes reveals that extreme changes in GPP and TR are often caused by strong shifts in water availability, but for extremes in TR shifts in temperature are also important. Extremes in net CO2 exchange are equally strongly driven by deviations in temperature and precipitation. Models mostly agree on the sign of the C flux response to climate extremes, but model spread is large. In tropical forests, C cycle extremes are driven by water availability, whereas in boreal forests temperature plays a more important role. Models are particularly uncertain about the C flux response to extreme heat in boreal forests.
Restructured Eigenfilter Matching for Novelty Detection in Random Textures

A new eigenfilter-based novelty detection approach to find abnormalities in random textures is presented. The proposed algorithm reconstructs a given texture twice using a subset of its own eigenfilter bank and a subset of a reference (template) eigenfilter bank, and measures the reconstruction error as the level of novelty. We then present an improved reconstruction generated by structurally matched eigenfilters through rotation, negation, and mirroring. We apply the method to the detection of defects in textured ceramic tiles. The method is over 90% accurate, and is fast and amenable to implementation on a production line.