Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SAMOA: a platform for mining big data streams

Social media and user generated content are causing an ever growing data deluge. The rate at which we produce data is growing steadily, thus creating larger and larger streams of continuously evolving data. Online news, micro-blogs, search queries are just a few examples of these continuous streams of user activities. The value of these streams relies in their freshness and relatedness to ongoing events. However, current (de-facto standard) solutions for big data analysis are not designed to deal with evolving streams. In this talk, we offer a sneak preview of SAMOA, an upcoming platform for mining dig data streams. SAMOA is a platform for online mining in a cluster/cloud environment. It features a pluggable architecture that allows it to run on several distributed stream processing engines such as S4 and Storm. SAMOA includes algorithms for the most common machine learning tasks such as classification and clustering. Finally, SAMOA will soon be open sourced in order to foster collaboration and research on big data stream mining.
Administrator Responses to Financial Incentives: Insights from a TIF Program

ABSTRACT This article provides evidence and generates insights about the power of financial rewards to motivate school administrators and the design features that influence their motivational potency. The multi-year mixed-methods study is grounded in expectancy and goal setting theories that suggest (a) awards must be salient and sizable enough to appeal to educators; (b) the award structure must evidence credible connections between work, performance, and reward; and (c) goals, measures, and awards must be perceived as fair. Since this framework helps explain administrators’ mixed reactions to their awards, it could help guide future efforts to develop and evaluate administrator incentive programs.
Research on speech endpoint detection under low signal-to-noise ratios

A novel speech endpoint detection algorithm was proposed to improve the accuracy in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. Core technology was based on the complementarity between the short-time energy-zero-product and discrimination information, which used short-time energy-zero-product algorithm to make judgment firstly, and then used discrimination information based on the sub-band energy distribution probabilities algorithm to recheck when met with the transition for noise frame and speech frame, so as to avoided error-detected owing to the sharp change of noise amplitude and the ending speech frames which were polluted by noise. Moreover, we proposed a novel dynamically update the noise energy threshold algorithm, which could trace the changes for noise energy better. The simulation experimental results show that the new method gives a precise and rapid endpoint detection in the case of the seriously changed noise environment, and it plays a very good foreshadowing role in the latter speech research.
Research on the Relationship between Knowledge Management Infrastructure, Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Management Performance

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of KM infrastructure on knowledge sharing and KM performance. Knowledge sharing is the center of KM, so we take knowledge sharing as a mediator variable in the impact of KM infrastructure on KM performance . Based on the survey of enterprises from IT and software industry in Pearl River Delta, this paper examined the relationship between KM infrastructure, knowledge sharing and KM performance. The results revealed that KM infrastructure positively and significantly influenced the knowledge sharing, and knowledge sharing was an important mediator between KM infrastructures and KM performance.
Who Travels Visa-Free? Insights into Tourist Hassle-Free Travel

In line with recent tourism international organizations’ outcry on stringent visa regulations for short-term travel negatively impacting the tourism industry, this paper sheds light into why some countries have more tourist visa-free access than others. We contribute to the politics of tourism literature by providing an understanding of the underlying determinants of political decisions with regard to the number of visa-free privileges offered. The empirical analysis uses count regression models while guided by relevant theories borrowed from migration studies, given that some visitors overstay and become illegal immigrants, which result in visa policies mitigating this phenomenon. Findings underscore the role of public policies centered on improving governance and economic development, deepening their financial sector and engaging in appropriate social networking groups. Such policies will promote global economic welfare, which can eradicate poverty and ignite economic recovery. The results also inform theory in devising an appropriate framework for visa strategic analysis.
On the Lagrange interpolation in multilevel fast multipole algorithm

In this paper the Lagrange interpolation employed in the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) is considered as part of the efforts to obtain faster and more efficient solutions for large problems of computational electromagnetics. For the translation operator, this paper presents the choice of the parameters for optimal interpolation. Also, for the aggregation and disaggregation processes, the interpolation matrices are discussed and an efficient way of improving the accuracy by employing the poles are introduced
A path for diagnosis and therapy of colon cancer: a continuous quality improvement.

OBJECTIVE Prognosis of colorectal cancer strongly depends on stage at diagnosis, which can be cured in most cases at an early stage. The results were supported by different screening programmes. Few data concerning analysis of different phases of Colorectal Cancer Program were reported in literature. The aim of this study is to analyze "step by step", from a longitudinal type, the Colorectal Cancer Program, active at our Institution, verifying compliance with standards of care. METHODS We compared two different populations during the same period: patients referring to our Clinical Oncology Unit coming from Regional Colorectal Cancer Screening Program and the other population that was not in any Colorectal Cancer Program. RESULTS Considering patients from the Regional Colorectal Cancer Screening Program (19 patients, corresponding to 24.0% of the general case study), 3 (15.8%) were deceased and 16 (84.2%) were alive without evidence of the disease (NED). Concerning patients that are not coming from Regional Colorectal Cancer Screening Program (61 patients, corresponding to 76.0% of the general case study), 9 (14.8%) were deceased, 43 (70.5%) were NED, 8 (13.1%) were alive with metastases and 1 (1.6%) was lost during follow-up (PFU). CONCLUSIONS On the basis of this experience, we concluded for high-quality care for both populations. Any critical point should be carefully analyzed in order to implement quality of care.
A Frobenius norm approach to glottal closure detection from the speech signal

The detection of glottal closure instants has been a necessary step in several applications of speech processing, such as voice source analysis, speech prosody manipulation and speech synthesis. The paper presents a new algorithm for glottal closure detection that compares favorably with other methods available in terms of robustness and computational efficiency. The authors propose to use the singular value decomposition (SVD) approach to detect the instants of glottal closure from the speech signal. The proposed SVD method amounts to calculating the Frobenius norms of signal matrices and therefore is computationally efficient. Moreover, it produces well-defined and reliable peaks that indicate the instants of glottal closure. Finally, with the introduction of the total linear least squares technique, two other proposed methods are reinvestigated and unified into the SVD framework. >
Soft wheat instead of hard wheat in pelleted diets results in high starch digestibility in broiler chickens

1. The aim of the experiment was to re-examine variations in digestibilities of food components in 3-week-old broiler chickens fed on pelleted diets based on wheats differing in lipase activity and hardness. Fourteen wheat (Triticum aestivum) samples, each from a different cultivar, were included at 550 g /kg in 14 different diets given to male Ross broiler chicks from 7 d of age. The other main ingredients consisted of soyabean meal (353 g /kg) and rapeseed oil (55 g /kg). A 15th diet containing durum wheat (Triticum durum) was also tested. 2. Hardness of wheats (Triticum aestivum) varied between 14 (very soft) and 88 (very hard), and lipase activity of wheats varied from 1 to 13·1 (relative scale). No significant correlation was found between in vitro viscosities and other parameters such as hardness, particle size of wheat flours and lipase. Hardness was correlated with the mean particle size of wheat flours and durability of pellets. 3. Individual lipid digestibilities were negatively correlated with in vitro viscosities of wheats. 4. Individual starch digestibilities were negatively correlated with wheat hardness, particle size of wheat flour before pelleting, and pellet durability. The ratio of measured AMEN to predicted AMEN was also negatively correlated with wheat hardness. Simple regression calculation showed that a 100-point increase in wheat hardness resulted in a 3% decrease in the AMEN value of diets. Multiple regression calculation showed the food/gain ratio (d 10 to d 21) to be positively related to wheat hardness and negatively related to pellet durability. 5. Wheat lipase activity was positively correlated with individual starch digestibility, which was the reverse of a result obtained in a previous experiment. Thus, wheat lipase activity did not seem consistent for predicting starch digestibility and AMEN values. 6. Among all wheat samples, durum wheat showed the highest protein content and the lowest content of water-insoluble cell-wall. Starch digestibility of durum wheat tended to be lower than that of other wheats (0·916 vs 0·936). However, no significant difference in AMEN was observed between the durum wheat sample and other wheats. 7. Gut morphometric data measured at d 24 did not show significant differences between dietary treatments.
Arginine transport in human monocytic leukemia THP‐1 cells during macrophage differentiation

l‐arginine metabolism in myeloid cells plays a central role in the processes of macrophage activation and in the regulation of immune responses. In this study, we investigated arginine transport activity and the expression of the related transporter genes during the differentiation of monocytes to macrophages. We show here that the induction of THP‐1 monocyte differentiation by PMA markedly increases the expression of SLC7A7 mRNA and of y+LAT1 protein and consequently, the activity of system y+L‐mediated arginine transport. Conversely, the activity of system y+ decreases during macrophage differentiation as a result of a reduction in CAT1 protein expression. The PMA‐induced, macrophage‐differentiated phenotype and the increased activity of system y+L through the induction of SLC7A7 gene are mediated by the specific activation of PKCβ. SLC7A7 gene silencing causes a significant reduction of system y+L activity and a subsequent, marked increase of arginine and lysine cell content, thus suggesting that in macrophagic cells, system y+L activity is mainly directed outwardly. Differentiating agents other than PMA, i.e., VD3 and ATRA, are equally effective in the stimulation of system y+L transport activity through the increased expression of SLC7A7 mRNA and y+LAT1 protein. Moreover, we found that also during differentiation of human monocytes from peripheral blood SLC7A7 mRNA and system y+L activity are increased. These findings point to SLC7A7 gene as a marker of macrophage differentiation.
Determination of the Optimal Allocation of Testing Resource for Modular Software Reliability Growth Using LINGO

It is quite natural to produce reliable software systems since the breakdown of the computer systems, which is caused by software faults, results in a tremendous loss and damage for social life. Hence, software reliability is a key factor in software development process. Testing phase of software begins with module testing whereby, modules are tested independently to remove substantial amount of faults within a specified testing resource. Therefore, in this paper four optimization problems are discussed for optimal allocation of testing resources for a modular software system. These optimization problems are formulated as nonlinear programming problems (NLPP), which incorporates log-logistic testing-effort function into inflection S-shaped software reliability growth model based on a non-homogeneous Poisson process. The NLPPs are solved using LINGO, a user-friendly software package for optimization. Finally, numerical example is given to demonstrate and to validate the performance of proposed strategies. In addition, the results of the strategies proposed in this paper are compared with [1]. It is revealed that the proposed strategies yield a gain in efficiency.
Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 gene polymorphisms: malignancy related or geographically distributed variants?

The ubiquitous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is related to the development of several lymphoid and epithelial malignancies and is also the aetiological agent for infectious mononucleosis (IM). BZLF1, an immediate early gene, plays a key role in modulating the switch from latency to lytic replication, hence enabling viral propagation. Polymorphic variations in the coded protein have been studied in other geographical regions in a search for viral factors that are inherent to malignancies and differ from those present in benign infections. In the present study, in samples of paediatric patients with benign IM and paediatric patients with malignant lymphomas, we detected previously described sequence variations as well as distinctive sequence polymorphisms from our region. By means of phylogenetic reconstruction, we characterized new phylogenetically distinct variants. Moreover, we described an association between specific variants and the studied pathologies in our region, particularly variant BZLF1-A2 with lymphomas and BZLF1-C with IM. Additionally, length polymorphisms within intron 1 were also assessed and compared between pathologies resulting in an association between 29-bp repeated units and lymphomas. In conclusion, this is the first report to characterize BZLF1 gene polymorphisms in paediatric patients from our geographical region and to suggest the association of these polymorphisms with malignant lymphomas.
Disaster and fortune risk in asset returns

Do Disaster risk and Fortune risk fetch a premium or discount in the pricing of individual assets? Disaster risk and Fortune risk are measures for the co-movement of individual stocks with the market, given that the state of the world is extremely bad and extremely good, respectively. To address this question measures of Disaster risk and Fortune risk, derived from statistical Extreme Value Theory, are constructed. The measures are non-parametric and the number of order statistics to be used in the analysis is based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance. This alleviates the problem of an arbitrarily chosen extreme region. The extreme dependence measures are used in Fama-MacBeth cross-sectional asset pricing regressions including Market, Fama-French, Liquidity and Momentum factors. I find that Disaster risk fetches a significant premium of 0.43% for the average stock.
The Influence of Carbon Emission Cost to Getting Excess Profit by Chinese Oil Supply Chain——Based on Shapley Game Model

Group control and coordination is one of the characteristics of China's oil supply chain.Coordination makes China's oil supply chain to obtain excess profit and making several independent oil production sections under the control of one group will help increase the profit of oil supply chain significantly.The Low-carbon economy brings new opportunity and challenge to Chinese oil supply chain.In this paper,based on analysis to features of Chinese oil supply chain,the authors construct a oil supply chain structure model;and for the first time,they analyze the way,that collectivize operating,to get excess profit of oil supply chain,based on Shapley game model;and then the authors innovatively introduce the carbon emission cost to game model,through model developing,discuss the influence of carbon emission cost to the excesses profit getting of oil supply chain.In this paper the authors think that,influenced by Low-carbon economy,the traditional getting profit model of Chinese oil supply chain was challenged;their excess profit would be reduced with the increasing of carbon emission cost.So the authors think,for making oil supply chain getting sustainable competitive ability,they should research Low-carbon technologies and develop new energies.
Corallomonas stylophorae gen. nov., sp. nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from the reef-building coral Stylophora pistillata.

A heterotrophic marine bacterium, designated strain KTSW-6(T), was isolated from the reef-building coral Stylophora pistillata in Kenting, Taiwan. Cells of strain KTSW-6(T) were Gram-stain-negative, facultatively anaerobic, halophilic, non-motile rods surrounded by a thick glycocalyx-like coat and forming creamy white colonies. Growth occurred at 15-37 °C (optimum, 25-30 °C), at pH 7.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.5-8.0) and with 0.5-7 % NaCl (optimum, 3-4 %). Polar lipids comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an uncharacterized aminophospholipid and three uncharacterized phospholipids (PL1-PL3). The respiratory quinones of strain KTSW-6(T) were Q-8 (62 %) and Q-7 (38 %). Major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c, 29.6 %), C18 : 1ω7c (27.6 %) and C16 : 0 (19.5 %). The major cellular hydroxy fatty acid was C10 : 0 3-OH. The DNA G+C content of strain KTSW-6(T) was 48.6 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain KTSW-6(T) belongs to the family Oceanospirillaceae of the order Oceanospirillales, class Gammaproteobacteria. Strain KTSW-6(T) shared 92.7 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Neptuniibacter caesariensis MED92(T) and 92.0 % with Neptunomonas naphthovorans NAG-2N-126(T). On the basis of the genotypic and phenotypic data, strain KTSW-6(T) represents a novel species of a new genus of the Oceanospirillaceae, for which the name Corallomonas stylophorae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Corallomonas stylophorae is KTSW-6(T) ( = BCRC 80176(T) = LMG 25553(T)).
Turkey and the Long Decade with The IMF: 1998-2008

Background to the “Long Decade” In May this year Turkey has ended its last stand-by with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that covered 2005 through 2008. To some this meant the long awaited declaration of autonomy for Turkey and the loss of the final “consumer” for the IMF. For some others who adhere to the neoliberal orthodoxy, this meant the graduation of Turkey and the successful completion of the IMF programme. The reality is that neither of these assessments is correct, as Turkey is currently trapped in a high debt, speculative growth environment with jobless patterns; and its government institutions are put under siege by the eradication of numerous independent bodies of governance which are under the direct supervision of both the Bretton Woods Institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, as well as the International Finance Institutions (IFIs). Thus, there is neither autonomy, nor successful graduation. Turkey and the IMF signed a Staff Monitoring Program in 1998 to enable closer supervision and control of the Turkish economy by the IMF staff. Turkey experienced a severe economic crisis in November 2000 and again in February 2001 when it was following the exchange-rate based disinflation program led and engineered by the IMF. 1 During the year 2001, GNP fell by 5.7% in real terms, consumer price inflation soared to 54.9%, and the currency lost 51% of its value against the major foreign monies. The burden of adjustment fell disproportionately on the laboring classes as the rate of unemployment rose steadily to 10% and the real wages were reduced abruptly by 20% upon impact in 2001 and have not recovered to this day. The IMF had been involved with the macro management of the Turkish economy both prior to and after the crisis, and provided financial assistance of $20.4 billion, net, between 1999 and 2003. Following the crisis, Turkey implemented an orthodox strategy of raising interest rates and maintaining an “overvalued” exchange rate. The government followed a contractionary fiscal stance, and promised to initiate further steps towards “market friendly” reforms.
Routine Use of PET Scans After Completion of Therapy in Pediatric Hodgkin Disease Results in a High False Positive Rate

Purpose Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography scans are becoming standard of care in the evaluation of Hodgkin disease (HD). The frequency of false positive (FP) PET scans in pediatric HD after completion of therapy has not been well studied. Patients and Methods All PET scan reports on pediatric HD patients at our institution between February 2000 and February 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. Scans were considered positive if the interpretation was most consistent with malignancy. FP results were determined by pathologic evaluation, resolution on scan, or absence of disease progression over at least 1 year without intervention. Results We reviewed 255 PET scans on 47 patients, including 156 posttherapy scans on 34 patients. Positive predictive value for scans obtained during routine follow-up was 11%, with an FP rate of 16%. Identifiable etiologies of FP scans included: fibrosis, progressive transformation of germinal centers, abdominal wall hernia, appendicitis, thymus and HIV associated lymphadenopathy. Conclusions Routine PET scans after completion of therapy in pediatric HD patients have a low positive predictive value and a high FP rate. Prospective studies are needed to reduce the ambiguity of positive results. In the interim, positive PET scans after treatment should be interpreted cautiously and therapeutic decisions should not be made without histologic confirmation.